Looking for engaging, low-prep social studies-themed stations that work for your upper elementary classroom? In this episode of The Social Studies Teacher Podcast, I’m sharing 7 flexible station ideas that can fit into your ELA block, dedicated social studies time, or even a fun Social Studies Friday rotation!

📚 Whether you teach 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade and only have 30 minutes (if you're lucky!), these stations will help you reinforce reading skills like main idea, summarizing, and inferencing - all while covering key social studies topics.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

✔️ Daily Social Studies Passages

✔️ Task Cards

✔️ Primary Source Analysis

✔️ WebQuests

✔️ Journals & Writing Reflections

✔️ Digital Interactive Tools

✔️ Small Group Station Ideas

💡 You’ll also learn how to differentiate with ease, incorporate these into your existing rotations, and why you don’t need to launch all 7 stations at once.

Mentioned in the episode:

🔗 Smart & Simple Social Studies Membership (with built-in station activities!)

🔗 Episode 107 Blog Post

🔗 Related post: 5 Literacy ELA Centers

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5 Social Studies Guided Notes

Get guided notes covering 5 common social studies topics that are low-prep and easy to use as reference guides, anchor charts, and more!

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Social Studies Guided Curriculum

Easy-to-follow lesson plans and activities for social studies - just print and teach! The complete bundles for Communities, Texas History, and U.S. History are available. Click the link to learn more!

Learn more about the Smart and Simple Social Studies Guided Curriculum!