College of Education & Human Services

Center for Social Studies Education

The Social Studies Center houses a collection of resources related to the teaching of history and the social sciences.  The Center has a collection of law-related education materials which are utilized by students in their course work. Several years ago the Center began housing a collection of American History resources for a U.S. History Education Grant entitled Learning Our Past, Securing Our Future: An Enduring Partnership in Excellence.  In addition, the Center also has a collection of elementary, middle level, and secondary social studies textbooks which includes a number of teacher’s editions and supplementary materials.   The Center also has a small collection of children’s literature related to social studies themes.

Students in both undergraduate methods courses, SSED 365 Teaching Our Heritage and SSED 495 Teaching With a Global Perspective, utilize the Center to complete assignments in our standards-based program related to geographic skills, economic concepts, historical inquiry, Native Americans, global issues, and WebQuest creation. Through the use of a SmartBoard, the Center is used each year for microteaching in elementary and secondary methods classes.

Social Studies Center staff also maintain two traveling trunks, one on Illinois Indians and one on Southwest Indians, which are both designed for grades 3-5. They are available for check-out to area elementary schools.  Teachers are expected to make arrangements for pick-up and delivery.

Finally, Social Studies Center staff can make themselves available to local schools for classroom presentations and various social studies curriculum projects, K-12. Click here for Social Studies Resources.