ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces a project-based approach to teaching social studies, examines current and past ideas for implementing a project approach, and suggests a variety of classroom projects that can be integrated into the social studies curriculum to enhance student understanding of social studies and history. Over the years, many of my students have concluded oral history projects with personal statements about how important the class project was to them and their families. The most successful social studies projects achieve their goals because the projects connect the subject matter of the class with the lives of students. These projects engage students as historians or social scientists and stimulate them to want to know more about the events and people they investigate. They also encourage students to read and write, playing an important role in the development of student literacy and achieving Common Core and state literacy standards. Civics projects involve students as active participants in a democratic society.
