Category Archives: Social Sciences

You’ll find domain-specific material designed to meet Common Core Standards in social studies, along with adapted and differentiated materials that deal with a broad array of conceptual knowledge in the social sciences. See the Taxonomies page for more about this category.

Cultural Literacy: Xenophobia

Posted on September 11, 2026 | Leave a comment

For some reason, I have held back this Cultural Literacy worksheet on xenophobia for just the right moment; this blog is now ten years old, and so it goes without saying there have been a plethora of just the right moments since then.

This is a half-page document with a reading of one sentence and two comprehension questions. Just enough to help student understand the social and economic implications and costs of this particular phobia.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

Felix Adler

Posted on September 11, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Felix Adler: (1851-1933) German-born American educator and leader in social welfare. Adler came to America as a youth, graduated from Columbia (1870), and pursued further studies in Germany. He founded the New York Society of Ethical Culture in 1876, from which a worldwide movement later developed. The society emphasized the need for a stronger morality (apart from any single theological dogma) in all personal, professional, and political relationships and placed great importance on the moral education of children. Adler established the first free kindergarten for New York City’s poor, which later grew into the first vocational school that combined manual training and ethical instruction in its curriculum. In 1884 Adler helped to establish the first Tenement House Commission; he arranged for trained nurses to visit the poor, lobbied for parks and playgrounds in depressed urban areas, and served for a time as chairman of the National Child Labor Committee. Adler advanced his view in such books as The Moral Instruction of Children (1892), An Ethical Philosophy of Life (1918), and The Reconstruction of the Spiritual Ideal (1923).”

 Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

Leave a comment

Posted in Independent Practice, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , , ,

Laurence J. Peter on Education

Posted on August 28, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Education is a method whereby one acquires a higher grade of prejudices.”

Laurence J. Peter

Excerpted from: Winokur, Jon, ed. The Portable Curmudgeon. New York: Plume, 1992.

Leave a comment

Posted in Quotes, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,

Cultural Literacy: Liberal Arts

Posted on August 28, 2026 | Leave a comment

When I set off for college at an advanced age, I confess that I had little understanding of what the term liberal arts education actually meant. This Cultural Literacy worksheet on the liberal arts does a quick but thorough job of explaining the concept of liberal arts, and even enough about their history to provoke some thought about education and social class.

This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three relatively straightforward–albeit longish–sentences and three comprehension questions. Graphically, the document looks to me a bit crowded. If one wanted to add a couple of questions to arouse critical thinking about the liberal arts (e.g. “Why would a student pursue a liberal arts education?”), this could easily become a full page of questions for students to ponder.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , , , ,

Alfred Adler

Posted on August 28, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Alfred Adler: (1870-1937) Austrian psychiatrist and psychologist. A disciple of Sigmund Freud, Adler later rejected Freud’s emphasis on the libido and developed a system of ‘individual psychology.’ Adler maintained that, because of their dependence, all children begin with a sense of inferiority, which they can successfully overcome by developing a sense of their competence and their secure place in the social order. He coined the term ‘inferiority complex’ to describe the neurotic reaction by which one either succumbs to or overcompensates for feelings of inadequacy. His major work on the subject is The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology (1923). Cooperation Between the Sexes (1978) is a collection of his writings on women, love, marriage, and sexuality.”

Excerpted from: Murphy, Bruce, ed. Benet’s Reader’s Encyclopedia, Fourth Edition. New York: Harper Collins, 1996.

Leave a comment

Posted in Independent Practice, Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , ,

Term of Art: Special Education

Posted on August 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

“special education: Programs to identify and meet the education needs of students with emotional, learning, or physical disabilities. Federal law requires that all students with disabilities be provided a free and appropriate education according to the specifications of an Individualized Education Program from infancy until 21 years of age. See also free appropriate public education (FAPE); Individualized Education Plan (IEP); Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

Leave a comment

Posted in Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , ,

Cultural Literacy: Bibliography

Posted on August 21, 2026 | Leave a comment

OK, I am confident that this Cultural Literacy worksheet on the bibliography in form and function (which is a half-page long with a three-sentence reading and three comprehension questions and is straightforward enough to present to any student) has already been published elsewhere on this blog, most likely as a do-now in unit on writing research papers.

So here it is as an easy-to-search-and-find standalone post.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

Cultural Literacy: Jurisprudence

Posted on August 7, 2026 | Leave a comment

Here is a Cultural Literacy worksheet on the concept of jurisprudence. This is a half-page worksheet with a reading of three relatively comprehensible sentences and two comprehension questions. I must admit, until I reviewed this document prior to publication on this blog, I didn’t have quite the grasp of this concept that I thought I did.

Any student looking down the road at law school might benefit from a look at this material.

If you find typos in this document, I would appreciate a notification. And, as always, if you find this material useful in your practice, I would be grateful to hear what you think of it. I seek your peer review.

Leave a comment

Posted in English Language Arts, Independent Practice, Social Sciences, Worksheets

Tagged , , ,

The Doubter’s Companion: Bretton Woods

Posted on July 31, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Bretton Woods: A system for international financial management and stability which was put in place by the Allies, minus the Soviets, in 1944 and destroyed in 1973 by President Richard Nixon without consideration being given to a replacement.

Nixon hoped in this way to solve some short-term American economic problems by recreating the sort of financial disorder in which the largest power would be the best placed to benefit. It could be said that this was the single most evil act undertaken by a leader in the postwar period. Other leaders should be discouraged, however. The opportunity to do worse is perpetual.”

Excerpted from: Saul, John Ralston. The Doubter’s Companion. New York: The Free Press, 1994.

Leave a comment

Posted in Quotes, Social Sciences

Tagged , , , ,

Term of Art: Socratic Seminar

Posted on July 24, 2026 | Leave a comment

“Socratic seminar: A class discussion in which the teacher advances a lesson on a specific topic or text by interacting with students, continually asking challenging questions about an assigned reading and responding to the students’ answers by posing more questions. This method, proposed by Mortimer Adler in the Paideia, is intended to encourage students to think rather than just look for the ‘right’ answer. Socratic seminars are based on primary-source works of literature, philosophy, and history instead of textbooks. See also developmental lesson; Paideia Program.”

Excerpted from: Ravitch, Diane. EdSpeak: A Glossary of Education Terms, Phrases, Buzzwords, and Jargon. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 2007.

Leave a comment

Posted in Quotes, Reference, Social Sciences

Tagged , , , ,