TOS Review: All Together Social Studies

Vendor:  Pearson
Product: Scott: Foresman Social Studies
Title: All Together
Intended Age: First Grade
Price:$43.47
Main Website: http://www.pearsonschool.com/
Product Page Website: All Together
Web page for ordering: Price Chart

This resource is divided into 4 sections:

• Explore the United States:These glossy pages are numbered E2-E16.  There are 7 two-page spreads focusing on one state and introducing a particular social studies topic such as History, Culture, Geography, etc.
• Social Studies Handbook: These pages are bright and colorful but not glossy.  Pages are numbered H2-H26 and divided into subsections: Citizenship Skills, Research Skills, Geography Skills.
• The Units: This is the bulk of the book and contains the lessons
• Reference Guide: These pages are numbered R1-R27 and include subsections of Atlas, Geography Terms, Picture Glossary, and Index.

The heart of All Together is the Unit section.

• Unit 1: Time for School
• Unit 2  In My Community
• Unit 3  Work! Work! Work!
• Unit 4  Our Earth, Our Resources
• Unit 5  This Is Our Country
• Unit 6  Our County, Our World

Each unit contains 4-6 lessons and a review section.  Additionally sprinkled throughout the lessons are target skills such as:

• Reading Social Studies—Use A Picture, Alike and Different, Put Things in Order, Find the Main Idea, Recall and Retell, and Predict
• Chart and Graph Skills – Read a Calendar, Use a Chart, Read a Timeline,  Read a Bar Graph
• Map & Globe Skills – Use a map Key, Use Four Directions, Follow a Route, Locate Land and Water, Use a History Map,

There are three more types of pages interspersed through the lessons:

• Then and Now—for example Things We Use, or Our Country’s Flag
• Citizen Heroes---These are two page spreads and includes people like Ruby Bridges Hall, & Eleanor Roosevelt
• Biographies--- These are also two pages spreads and includes people like Sacagawea, and Mary MecLeod Bethune.

Because All Together was written for the classroom, I struggled with how to implement it in my home education program for Supergirl.  I love that it has a sturdy hardcover and has bright, colorful pages, but it doesn’t include any information on how to use the textbook.  I like the information.  I like how it is presented in bite size pieces.  I like that it includes photographs as well as drawings, but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do it!

I decided to divide up the E pages and H pages to create 4 days of lessons as an “Introduction to Social Studies”.  Then we simply started with Unit 1.   For our “lessons”  I would read aloud and we would discuss the Lesson and any pages such as Citizen Hero or Then and Now. I would stop when we got to the next numbered lesson.  When first starting the Unit I would read from the beginning of the until until we got to lesson number 2.  These beginning pages include vocabulary preview, unit introduction and a song.

We are enjoying it, but, without some type of teacher guide,  I just feel like I am missing something and that there is more that I could be doing with this resource.

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All information is correct and accurate as of the date of this review.

Disclaimer: As a TOS Crew member, I received Scott Foresman 1st Grade Social Studies free of charge to review.

This review is my honest opinion with, hopefully, enough detail as to why I liked or did not like a product so that my readers can make an informed decision. I received no compensation.