
Beginning last year, the DHS social studies faculty adopted new strategies to accomplish their main task of educating students on history and the humanities, and to integrate other subjects to help students realize why the topics are relevant to their lives.
Social studies teachers reportedly are incorporating music, art, science, data tables, charts, graphs and other tools not typically found in a history or geography classroom to help give students the context around historical events or places.
When learning about a foreign country, for example, the students will not merely look at a map and discuss basic demographics or events concerning the nation, but might listen to music from the country or view photos and videos of customs and other practices.
DHS teacher Jeannette Cox said when English classes use certain books, she works to make connections to those books in her lectures. When teaching about the Scientific Method during the Renaissance, she said she refers to its use in science classes.
And in the criminal justice and government classes, Cox said the teachers are connecting the curriculum to students’ everyday lives, making the material more relevant.