The first article I found in my research assignment was 30 for 30: An Inquiry into Sports

Documentaries to Engage in Social History. Kristy A. Brugar is the author of this article written
from the University of Oklahoma. The premise of the article is to use one of the 30 for 30
documentaries from ESPN to teach historical concepts from the NCSS. Brugar gives specific
examples as to how a teacher could use a specific documentary in her classroom with attaching
discussion sheets in the appendices. She also gives a short list of the documentaries and how they
line up with the NCSSs College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State
Standards (Brugar, 2016).
The example that would fit nicely into the Georgia US History standards is Ghosts of Ole
Miss. After teaching the standards, which cover the Civil Rights Movement, a teacher could
easily show this documentary. Brugar provides discussion questions for teachers to use and even
projects students can do. One example she gives is students making their own version of 30 for
30 (Brugar, 2016). Students could easily find stories from the Civil Rights Movements from old
newspaper stories to use in their films.
This article was not a research article even though certain parameters were set while
searching. The article was really more of a perspective or opinion article. The author used
research to back up her findings, but did not conduct any research of her own.
I learned quite a bit from this article. As a social studies teacher, I normally show films or
film clips in class including documentaries. However, I never thought to show sports
documentaries. The author made a great claim in using sports documentaries to teach the NCSSs
College, Career, and Civic Life Framework for Social Studies State Standards and I found many
ways I could easily incorporate the sports documentaries 30 for 30 from ESPN into my state
standards that students will be tested on.

The second article I read was Graphic Global Conflict: Graphic Novels in the High
School Social Studies Classroom by Lila L. Christensen. Although this article is 10 years old, it
still holds relevance today. Christensen recounts how many students, particularly boys, love
comic books and graphic novels, but not many teachers use them in their classrooms, as we have
read this semester. She gives some background on the differences between graphic novels and
comic books, but then dives deeper into why teachers and how teachers can use them in their
classrooms (Christensen, 2006).
The main idea of the article is to give social studies teachers practical ways they can use
graphic novels in their classrooms. She dives deep into discussing graphic novels when
discussions particularly hard to teach concepts such as the war in Bosnia, the creation of
Israel/breaking up of Palestine and other issues current in the Middle East, the Holocaust, and
conflicts in Africa (Christensen, 2006). All of these are taught currently in Georgia World History
classes towards the end of the semester and using graphic novels and asking kids tough questions
is exactly what Christensen suggests.
As with the previous article, this was not a research article. It was really more of a book
review, or graphic novel review. The author provided the reader with 8 graphic novels: a
summary of each and ideas for discussions in class. A teacher could easily use this as a tool for
jumping off to use graphic novels in their classroom. Giving this article to an administrator is a
way to prove that graphic novels are great assets to the classroom.
From reading this article, I can easily see how more and more graphic novels could be
used in my classroom. For me, just reading, Use graphic novels isnt enough; I need some
great ideas to get me started and this article is just the thing. This is especially great for social

studies teachers whose classrooms are often seen as boring from students. Using graphic novels
would engage the students more.
The last article I read was Making Politics Palatable: Using Television Drama in High
School Civics Classes written by Wayne Journell and Lisa Brown Buchanan from UNC
Greensboro. Teaching government is easy, but really getting students to understand the political
process is another entirely. This article discusses using the television show The West Wing to do
just that. The authors discuss why using film in history classes is typically done already, but also
why film can also be used in other aspects of social studies curriculum. The authors give a brief
summary of the basis of The West Wing before diving in to 2 specific episodes, which Journell
used in his civics class.
The authors give a plot description to episodes, Five Votes Down and Take This
Sabbath Day. They then give classroom use ideas for each and describe discussions a teacher
had with his students during their research (Journell & Buchanan, 2012). The authors make sure
to let readers know each individual teacher needs to know her students and her school
community. Individually, they will know what is appropriate and what is not; they discuss the
sexual tension between a few characters and how some of the characters use salty language
(Journell & Buchanan, 2012).
This, as with the other 2 articles, was not a research article, but a perspective or opinion
article. There were practical tools given for teachers to use in their classroom as soon as they
finished reading. Episode guides were given in the appendices for teachers to use with each of
the episodes discussed in the article (Journell & Buchanan, 2012). Based on their study, which
they did not go into much detail, if any other than small mentions, in this article, using television

shows and movies like The West Wing in all social studies classes, students will gain a more real
sense of how social studies actually works in the real world.
I loved this article! It is exactly what I need in journal articles. It gives research to back
up their point and practical applications for the real world. This article is not just a pie in the sky
idealist. Its real. I dont teach civics/government, but there is always a possibility that I could get
assigned a class. I am a fan of The West Wing, but never thought to show it to a class. After
reading this article, I would greatly consider using clips or even full episodes of television shows
in my classroom.
After searching for and reading the articles, I can see why this is an important
assignment. Teachers, especially teacher leaders, need to be up-to-date on activities that impact
them and their schools. They need to know what others are doing and how they are doing it.
They need to know what is trending and find out if it would work for their school. The reason I
researched this topic, visual aids in high school social studies classes, was because its very
applicable to my life and courses I teach. I already use quite a few visual aids in my class, but
researching more ways and having them be practical is just adding another tool in my tool belt.

References
Brugar, K. A. (2016). 30 for 30: An Inquiry into Sports Documentaries to Engage in Social
History. History Teacher, 49(2), 285-299.
Christensen, L. L. (2006). Graphic Global Conflict: Graphic Novels in the High School Social
Studies Classroom. Social Studies, 97(6), 227.
Journell, W. a., & Buchanan, L. B. (2012). Making Politics Palatable: Using Television Drama in
High School Civics and Government Classes. Social Studies, 103(1), 1-11.