ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how social studies and visual literacy can help preschool and primary grades children foster a sense of identity and community. It offers a few classroom strategies and activities related to fostering identity and community with an explicit social studies and visual literacy learning context. Social studies is a multi-dimensional subject. Its value extends beyond building skills and learning content to important classroom management functions. The K-12 social science standards are divided into two categories: inquiry skills and disciplinary concepts. Often, in primary grades, students engage in longer projects that have them create a book or other portfolio-like project, either in physical or electronic format. Neighborhoods has students study varied examples, their own, one from the past, and possibly one in a different country. A “play” on the old adage that a picture is worth a thousand words offers some final thoughts.
