Studies Weekly - Customer Testimonial - John Krenek

So our experience in the Oak Creek-Franklin Joint School District has been extremely positive. Students are engaged and enjoy the different projects, videos, and activities that are within Studies Weekly. The activities are highly engaging, grade level appropriate, and allow students to think like historians which they really enjoy. It's been quoted by, by students, that social studies is their favorite part of the day.

Our teachers use Studies Weekly to develop and build academic vocabulary. And to also teach the higher level thinking skills focused on inquiry. We have shifted our model from students basically receiving information to getting students more engaged and involved and investigating history, and econ standards, and political science, behavioral standards, the geography standards. We want our students to be investigative and critical thinkers and that's how we use Studies Weekly to help promote those skills.

So first and foremost, whether it's science, social studies, math, or literacy, we want all of our students to be critical thinkers. And in order to do that, we use social studies to get our students to think like historians, to read like historians. And we use these ELA standards, the writing standards, the reading and comprehension standards, informational text, for students to access so that they are able to apply those ELA standards and skills within social studies. We never believe and we know best practice is not to teach science, social studies, math, or ELA or literacy in silos. It should be integrated interdisciplinary learning and teaching to best serve our students.

So teaching Wisconsin History in grades 3-5 is really important because it integrates not only the skills that students learn in previous grade levels, K-2, but also as they learn different skills in grades 3-5, they're able to apply those skills and standards that they've learned over multiple years to learn Wisconsin history. I think that is really, really important. As I said earlier that it's not about the content, it's about students developing those skills and analyzing and using inquiry to really learn more about Wisconsin in grades 3, 4, and 5.

While Wisconsin history is important, I would argue the skills that are taught are equally important as well. The content is the vehicle, the standard should be used to guide instruction and to support instruction. And I would say, you know, I'm aligned with DPI that they've developed an updated scope and sequence to respond to Wisconsin History to be taught in multiple grade levels. Just not a specific grade level. It's important that students are able to use their skills that they learn within social studies in all content areas, whether it be Wisconsin History or US History.