CREATING A SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM

1. CREATING A SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM JULY 19, 2010

2. OBJECTIVES • WHY TEACH SOCIAL STUDIES? • CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE SS CLASSROOMS • PURPOSE OF INSTRUCTION • KNOWING YOUR STUDENTS • INSTRUCTIONAL CONSIDERATIONS

3. WHY TEACH SOCICAL STUDIES? • Talk to your neighbor about why you think Social Studies should be taught… • Why isn’t it taught – particularly in elementary classrooms?

4. Why? • Critical Thinking • Preparing Students to become Good Citizens • Encourage Lifelong Learning • Social Studies is the content that… • Explains us as human beings • Connects us to our world physically and culturally • Tells us where we have been • Helps us understand where we are going and why • Explains the reasons for the choices we make and the ways we organize our lives

5. Why History is Important • PSEA and the PSERS “spike” • http://www.psea.org/pensions/ • Toyota • http://www.mycarstats.com/reports/recalls.aspx

6. Characteristics of Effective SS Classrooms • Utilization of a variety of strategies • Student Engagement • Challenging • Stimulating • Interactive • Thought-provoking • Student-Centered • Relevant, Purposeful Learning • Focus on Essential Questions and Understandings • Wide-Variety of Resources • Flexible Physical Room Set-Up • Reading, Writing, Observing, Discussion, Presenting, and Researching • Collaboration • Connected to Personal Experiences • Building Background Knowledge • Measured by Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative Assessment

7. Purposes of Instruction • How many of my students learned the planned content? • How do I know? • Standards are foundation for planning • Resist the temptation to catch kids up!! • Plan for what students should Know – Understand – Do (KUD) • Activate student background knowledge • Enlarge and deepen the understanding of concepts in context of the content being taught • Help students make connections to real-life experiences

8. Knowing Your Students • They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care… • Talk to your partner about this statement… • Plan your instruction… • Around student needs… • In authentic tasks… • To provide challenging opportunities… • In a variety of ways

9. Instructional Considerations(Practices to Increase…) • In-depth study of topics in each social studies field in which students make choices about what to study and discover the complexities of human interaction. • Emphasis on activities that engage students in inquiry and problem solving about significant human issues. • Participation in interactive and cooperative classroom study processes that bring together students of all ability levels. • Integration of social studies with other areas of the curriculum. • Richer content in elementary grades, building on the prior knowledge children bring to social studies topics, includes study of concepts from psychology, sociology, economics, and political science, as well as history and geography; understand, within their experience, American social institutions, issues for social groups, and problems of everyday living.

10. Continued… • Students’ valuing and sense of connection with American and global history, the history and culture of diverse social groups, and the environment that surrounds them. • Students’ inquiry about the cultural groups they belong to and other cultural groups represented in their school and community in order to promote the students’ sense of ownership in the social studies curriculum. • Use of evaluation that involves further learning and that promotes responsible citizenship and open expression of ideas.