TExES Social Studies 4-8 (118) case studies
TExES Social Studies 4-8 (118) · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The TExES Social Studies 4–8 (118) exam is the Texas certification test for candidates who plan to teach social studies in upper elementary and middle school classrooms. It is a computer-administered test consisting of 100 selected-response questions. You receive 4 hours and 45 minutes of testing time inside a 5-hour total appointment, which includes a 15-minute CAT tutorial and compliance agreement. Content reaches across the social studies disciplines Texas middle-grades teachers are expected to command - history, geography, economics, government and civics, and culture - along with inquiry skills, research, and the instructional decision-making that turns that content into lessons. The TExES Social Studies 4-8 (118) case studies are 5 cases and about 2,945 words.
1When "Biased" Becomes a Dead End: Sourcing in the Ratification Debate
history, 26 students, five days before the unit test on ratification. Students read paired excerpts from Federalist No.
581 words, about 3 min2The Item That 41 Percent Answered Better Than the Key
Your seventh-grade Texas history team - four teachers, 132 students - reviews the common assessment. One item reads: "Which of the following was the most important cause of the Texas Revolution?" with four options.
575 words, about 3 min3Three Maps, Three Boundaries: Teaching Regions as Constructs
Sixth-grade world cultures, 30 students, 40 percent identified as emergent bilingual. After a mapping lesson, students drew the Middle East as one region with a single "correct" boundary and argued about where it ends.
639 words, about 3 min4Seven Documents, Twelve Minutes: Sourcing That Stops at the Name
history, document-based question on industrialization, seven documents, 45-minute periods. You notice students spend about 12 minutes reading Document 1 and then write answers that quote a 1910 company diary as if it were neutral fact.
534 words, about 3 min5A Local Ordinance, a Parent Email, and the Teaching of Federalism
Eighth-grade civics unit on federalism. Your city has just passed an ordinance restricting new short-term rentals; state law limits how far municipalities may regulate them.
616 words, about 3 min