Reviewed by Cossondra George
Middle Grades Math & Social Studies
Newberry, Michigan

This book opens by explaining Bloom’s Taxonomy and listing words associated
with each of the six levels of learning. Ten sections follow with
Bloom’s sheets for various themes of social studies, aligned with the
10 standards or themes developed by the National Council for the Social
Studies. Each sheet offers an outline of activities for each level of
the taxonomy, related to a specific topic. Some topics are more
general, such as civil rights, food as a cultural influence, or the
magic of castles. Others are more specific, like Thomas Edison, the
United Nations, or the Three Branches of Government.

While the Bloom’s sheets are interesting and offer many useful ideas for
classroom study of the topics, their scope does not lend itself to any
particular grade level or course of study. My social studies curriculum
is strictly mandated according to grade-level content expectations, so
few of the sheets would be easily transferable to my own classroom work.

Part II of the book, Imaginative Assessment Options and Real-Life Applications,
was more useful to me. The lists of suggestions for portfolio
artifacts, performances, and global connections were ideas I could
easily adapt to my curriculum and classroom. I especially like the
suggestions for developing social studies “products” -- a set of social
studies-related fact cards or flash cards, an original game designed to
teach others about a topic or set of concepts, or a time line for an
important historical event (or key historical figure) are all ideas I
can see easily incorporated into my current unit on Europe. They are
also activities students will enjoy and find engaging, and they can
help students synthesize the material we’ve covered in this unit.

The book finishes with Part III, More Instructional Tools and Techniques,
another collection of ideas I found exciting. The authors tout the
ideas as methods to take social studies from the “then and there” into
the “here and now”. I love that concept. It seems too often my students
have difficulty seeing the connections between what we study and their
own world despite my attempts to create those links for them. Some of
the ideas are time intensive, such as setting up permanent learning
stations geared towards each of the Bloom’s levels. I like the idea of
a six-question quiz based on the taxonomy. The structured point
hierarchy (5 points = knowledge question, 10 points =comprehension
question, 15 points = application question, 20 points = analysis
question, 25 points = synthesis and evaluation questions) would convey
the importance of the levels of thinking to my students.

Another idea in Part III -- an ABC book-- is one I have used with my middle grads social studies students, so
I was tickled to see it there. Students love making these deceptively
simple products and I find it a task which lends itself to
differentiation naturally. Other fun ideas include games such as
Hollywood Squares, Jeopardy and Tic-Tac-Toe for review of concepts.

The last page in the book is a list of 10 Traits of Young Adolescents to Keep in Mind When Selecting Instructional Materials for Social Studies.
In typical NMSA style, this simple list validated my reasons for
teaching middle schoolers, with their unique interests and varied
abilities, their desire to belong to a group, their curiosity about the
world, and their need for flexible time and learning opportunities.
Middle schoolers are self-conscious young adolescents who need adults
but do not want to admit it -- they want to make their own decisions,
prefer active over passive learning, and are idealistic. The list
reminds all of us who teach and love middle schoolers about the best
ways to create conducive classrooms.