All Set for Social Studies!

My freebie today has been a couple years in the making!  My district started using the MAISA units created by Oakland Schools for Social Studies a few years ago. They are packed with activities that get the students much more involved and interested than the boring old social studies book.  I did struggle with a couple things though.  One problem was the same one we have in every subject area...the lack of time.  I discovered that with my allotted time for teaching Social Studies, I would have to really pick and choose which activities I would use so that I could still get through all the units in the year.  The second thing that drove me crazy was the abundance of handouts for students. Some students have a hard time keeping track of where their textbook is let alone several different handouts for each lesson.  

So, two summers ago I spent a great deal of time going through the units and deciding which activities I would do with my students.  I retyped all the lesson plans only using those activities I felt I had time to use and built in time for vocabulary quizzes, study guides, and tests.  I also broke the lessons down into more manageable class period sections and reorganized the colonies units.  

Then over the last two school years I created all-encompassing packets for each unit that contain all the handouts the students would need.  Here is a preview of what one of the packets looks like.  

I even created typed answer keys of these packets for my special education inclusion students.  These packets made my life so much easier!  The students knew they would be collected and graded at the end of the unit, and it was their job to guard that packet with their life!  If a student was absent, I could just let them borrow a copy of the key to help them complete the activities they missed.  

  

The students really seemed to appreciate having the packet too because it gave them an idea how long the unit was and where we were at in it.  

Since I finally have everything compiled, I'm ready to share! 

If you would like the lesson plans and student packets that will last you for the entire year, simply comment on this post and let me know you would like them.  Be sure to give me your email address so I can send them to you, and I would love for you to become a follower of my blog!

If you would like to read more about how I use these materials for Social Studies, you can read about it here. 

I hope someone else besides me can get some enjoyment and use out of them!

Stephanie

Social Studies Giveaway Update!

I have emailed everyone who requested the materials through Marcie below. If you have stumbled across this post since then, I'm still happy to share.  Click on the logo below for directions on how you can still get all the materials.