Visual Discovery
Bring images to life to discover key concepts.
Explore Strategy
The TCI Approach
What happens when educators skillfully combine their firsthand classroom experience with evidence-based research? You get the TCI Approach—a framework with teaching strategies that keep students focused, motivated, and ready to learn. Incorporating ideas from prominent experts like Elizabeth Cohen, Jerome Bruner, Grant Wiggins, Howard Gardner, Jay McTighe, and Robert Marzano, the TCI Approach is built on five key principles:
- All students can learn with a spiral curriculum.
- Students learn best through multiple modalities.
- Cooperative interaction boosts learning.
- Clear learning goals are essential.
- Both linguistic and nonlinguistic experiences are important.
Teaching Strategies for Social Studies
Walk into a TCI social studies classroom, and you will see one of these six teaching strategies in action. With these strategies, students engage in hands-on, active learning. Explore each one for tips on using them in your classroom.
Inside a TCI Classroom
Hear from TCI teachers about how these teaching strategies make a difference in their classrooms.
I love it when the kids get an opportunity to investigate and learn how to use primary sources. Social Studies Skill Builders are a wonderful tool for this purpose. It is exciting to watch the students engage and interact with the material to see the whole picture.
– Alan Plummer, 8th Grade U.S. History Teacher
I had parent-teacher conferences the other night, and one of the parents said, ‘My kids are coming home and telling me all the things they are learning about in social studies.’ It’s exciting to see that level of engagement over social studies.
– Sindy Kafka, 4th Grade Teacher
What I really like about the TCI curriculum is that it’s much more engaging than any other curricular materials I’ve ever accessed.
– Bill Casertano, High School U.S. History Teacher
