Following in the vein of her best-selling elementary book, June Chapin focuses on key topics that are critical to the teaching of social studies in the middle and secondary classrooms. This text enables students to concentrate on the crucial, relevant strategies and content within socials studies methods, while incorporating a strong focus on skills. Provides up-to-date discussion of the impact of the national and state standards movement on the teaching of middle and secondary social studies. Foundational chapters cover standards and issues in social studies education, and remaining chapters focus on topics and methods that are basic and critical to social studies teaching. The first half of the text focuses on foundational issues of social studies instruction. The second half is devoted to the four core areas: history, geography, economics, and civic education. Standards-based assessment and learning activities are emphasized. Small group and individual activities are interwoven throughout the text to show how to apply the methods and strategies to actual classroom experiences. Sample units and lesson plans also give teacher ideas to use in their own classrooms.