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Social Studies

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Join inquirED this fall for Exploring Inquiry Journeys, a webinar series for school and district leaders. Each session offers practical insights and strategies from our curriculum to engage students and support teachers in inquiry-based elementary social studies.

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Downloadable guides, frameworks, and tools designed to help district leaders take action on social studies curriculum and instruction. Looking for our most downloaded resesources? Check the quick links below.

Curiculum Review Guide

Literacy in Social Studies Rubric

Social Studies Pacing Guide

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Fresh ideas, research, and reflections to help district leaders stay sharp and responsive in an evolving social studies landscape.

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Real-time conversations and on-demand learning with experts and district leaders tackling challenges in social studies education.

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Social Studies Curriculum Review Guide

Download this free tool designed to help educators, districts, and curriculum developers create, evaluate, and select social studies instructional materials that meet the demands of today’s classrooms.

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inquirED Blog

Your source for inquiry-based learning and teaching strategies.

Elementary Social Studies

Creative ways districts are making time for K-5 social studies

Elementary teachers often struggle to protect time for social studies when ELA and math dominate the schedule. This post shares practical strategies from real districts that show how storytelling, clear expectations, and high-quality curriculum can keep social studies thriving. With intentional planning, districts can ensure students build the knowledge they need for literacy, civic readiness, and lifelong learning.

inquirED

Sep 2, 2025
5
MIN READ

Elementary Social Studies

How Oconomowoc made standards stick

Oconomowoc Area School District adopted a new high quality elementary social studies curriculum to meet new standards. Students now practice key inquiry skills—asking questions, analyzing sources, and collaborating—to build deeper understanding across subjects.

Sep 3, 2025
5
MIN READ

Elementary Social Studies

What is Inquiry-Based Social Studies?

No matter your entry point – we’ve created & curated information to help you build your knowledge of inquiry-based social studies!

Nov 9, 2021
4
MIN READ
Illustration of teacher reading a story to classroom

Elementary Social Studies

The Missing Piece in Reading Comprehension: Social Studies

Reading tests don’t just measure decoding – they measure what students know. When social studies disappears from the elementary day, so does some of the context that makes reading meaningful.

Nov 13, 2025
6
MIN READ
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Elementary Social Studies

Why Inquiry-Based Social Studies Matters in K–5 Classrooms

Discover how inquiry-based learning in social studies can transform elementary classrooms. Explore the benefits of student-centered instruction and get practical strategies in our free Inquiry in Social Studies Guide.

upcoming webinar

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Elementary Social Studies

Why Inquiry Skills Matter in K–5 Social Studies Classrooms

Discover the five Inquiry Skills at the heart of inquirED’s K–5 curriculum. Learn how Creative Problem Solving, Critical Thinking, Personal Agency, Communication, and Collaboration help students build essential skills and deeper understanding through inquiry-based social studies.

upcoming webinar

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Lesson Strategies

Group Roles | Inquiry Lesson Plan Strategy

In today's collaborative classrooms, the use of group roles can enhance productivity and improve the overall learning experience for students. There are two approaches to group roles: fixed and flexible. Both have their merits, depending on the lesson objectives and the needs of your students. In this blog post, we will explore the benefits of each approach, provide examples of roles, and offer tips on how to implement them effectively in your classroom.

upcoming webinar

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Webinars

Tell Me More: Using Diverse Books and Inquiry to Teach History

Picture books are a great way for students to investigate diverse perspectives in history and build literacy skills. Special guest Melissa Marks (Professor of Education, University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg) joined us for practical ideas about using inquiry, critical thinking, and diverse books in your classroom.

upcoming webinar

Free Resource

Webinars

Layers of Meaning: Knowledge Building and Complex Texts

Why do students need to grapple with complex texts? How can teachers scaffold these texts to help students build background knowledge and vocabulary? Join us as we examine how inquiry-based learning provides a framework for building layers of knowledge and meaning that help students get the most out of their interactions with complex texts.

upcoming webinar

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Webinars

Background Knowledge and the Science of Reading

What role does background knowledge play in building literacy skills? How can social studies instruction support the development of these skills through knowledge building? We asked these questions during our webinar...

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Webinars

Exploration and Meaning Making: Social Studies in K-2 Classrooms

Discover how inquiry-based social studies empowers kindergarten learners to explore their communities, build foundational skills, and integrate learning across subjects.

upcoming webinar

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Webinars

New Standards, New Directions: When Your State Goes All-In for Inquiry

States spend years crafting new inquiry-based social studies standards, but what happens after these standards are published? How are state and district leaders not only helping educators understand the ins and outs of inquiry-based social studies, but also helping them find the high-quality instructional materials they need? To discuss these questions, we were joined on our webinar by Asif Wilson, Reuben Henriques, and Christine Brennan-Davis.

upcoming webinar

Free Resource

Webinars

Inquiry in Action: Classroom Spotlights

Learn how teachers shift to inquiry-based social studies by fostering student-led learning, co-creating rubrics, and connecting projects to real-world action.

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Take a closer look at Inquiry Journeys

Inquiry Journeys (K–5 social studies curriculum) provides inquiry-based instruction for young learners through hands-on investigations and primary source analysis. Explore how elementary students build knowledge and skills by asking questions, analyzing evidence, and connecting learning to their lives and communities.

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