Social Studies Genius

Social Studies Genius is scientific research validated software consisting of 833 interactive SMARTvisuals designed for watering-up instruction in social studies literacy. Research demonstrated Social Studies Genius was significantly superior to the use of traditional graphic organizers and text-based instruction on measures of high-, typical- and low-achieving students’ breadth, depth, and accuracy of new social studies knowledge. Research also demonstrated very strong improvements in AYP writing assessment scores in intermediate, middle, and high schools as well as significant gains in vocabulary knowledge.

The SMARTvisuals target essential understandings associated with the 11 generative topics most frequently addressed in social studies standards (influential person, group, ideology, era, movement, policy/law, process, invention, event, war) across seven literacy dimensions (identifying and explaining gist and details, influences and changes, issues and conflicts, making and explaining comparisons and connections, forming and checking predictions and inferences, recognizing and explaining perspectives and bias, and taking a position and persuading). These are particularly powerful tools for supporting guided note-taking, reading comprehension, and writing about social studies in grades 5-12 as well as project-based, service-based, and problem-based learning.

Social Studies Genius also includes a series of SMARTplanners for planning units and robust lessons that utilize SMARTvisuals.

SMARTvisuals are ‘smart’ because they are interactive (info can be inputted on computer screens or white-boards) or used as printed hard-copies; audio, video, and picture files as well as internet links can be integrated into them. Most importantly, SMARTvisuals are smart because they employ embedded semantic prompts designed to:

• Signal users to engage in robust thinking and information-processing strategies as they grapple with complex social studies concepts.

• Cue users to think about and process information in specific ways that utilize very powerful language-based / brain-based cognitive learning strategies thoroughly research validated.

• Cue the user to take highly strategic actions associated with specific tasks.

• Focus attention on specific essential understandings and seven dimensions of social studies literacy associated with learning standards to improve students’ ability to think, read, and write about social studies content.