Texas Social Studies Framework - Department of Geography ...

3
Making Connections
through Social Studies
The wisdom of the adage “everything is connected to
everything else” is appreciated only by those who have
experienced the variety of relationships that exist
between and among events or other phenomena. Long
before the research of Jean Piaget was known, parents
and teachers understood that children and adolescents
needed concrete representations of relationships between
phenomena in order to understand the connections. The
writers of the TEKS for Social Studies also understood
that social studies includes more than just the independent
facts of history and geography. Because of their
efforts, the TEKS provide opportunities to make connections
across the social studies and across the curriculum.
In addition, the TEKS support connections between inschool
and out-of-school experiences.
CONNECTIONS ACROSS THE SOCIAL
STUDIES
Members of the TEKS writing team organized the TEKS
for Social Studies around eight strands because they
represent some of the most significant sources of content
for the K-12 social studies program (see Figure 2,
Chapter 2). This organization allows a clear view of the
vertical articulation or sequence of the social studies
content and skills across the grade levels. Educators at
the district, campus, and classroom levels have the
opportunity to make decisions regarding the organization
of the curriculum at each of the grade levels. This allows
districts the freedom to develop curriculum units that
combine and sequence the TEKS in a number of different
ways.
It is unlikely that all strands will be given equal weight in
any particular instructional unit. In some instances only
some strands will be chosen as the basis for instructional
planning. The richness and diversity of social studies as a
subject matter, however, come in part from the contributions
of each strand to the instructional program.
CONNECTIONS ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
Content from other school subjects can be linked to
social studies in order to help students make connections
across the curriculum (Jacobs, 1989; Maurer, 1994). The
TEKS for Social Studies require students to apply
mathematics skills and English language arts and reading
skills regularly. Social studies also influences these
subjects. When students describe the impact of historical
events and eras on art, music, and literature, and the
reciprocal effects of cultural movements on societies, a
deeper understanding of both social studies and the fine
arts is fostered. Science informs social studies just as
social studies informs science. The science, technology,
and society strand offers an obvious connection as
students examine the cause-and-effect relationships
between scientific discoveries, technological innovations,
and societal change.
Another kind of connection exists between the TEKS for
Social Studies and the TEKS for Technology Applications.
Students in elementary, middle, and high school
social studies classes are expected to use technology as a
tool to acquire, organize, and communicate social studies
information in a variety of ways including electronic