Complete 2

Social Studies Personal Reflective Journal
Leighanne Teale
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Table of Contents 1. Strategies for Teaching i. Ice Breakers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 ii. Sponge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 iii. Brainstorming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 iv. T-chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 v. Team Building. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 vi. Warm-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 vii. KWL Chart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 viii. Round Robin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 ix. Socratic Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 x. Document Based Questions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 xi. U shaped discussion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 2. Methods of Teaching i. Line-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 ii. Round Table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 iii. Think Pair Share . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 iv. Power Point Lecture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18 v. Pick a popsicle stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 vi. x stray one stay. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 3. Reading Reflections i. Designing classroom spaces to maximize social studies learning. . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 OMahony, Carolyn & Siegel Suzanne. (2008). ii. Critical thinking in a world of accelerating change and complexity . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Elder, Linda & Paul, Richard. (2008) iii. Is this candy and advertisement for cigarettes? A media literacy activity. . . . . .23 Lapham, Steven S. (2010). iv. Lesson Study: Teachers collaborating in lesson development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Hubbard, Janie. (20007). v. Primary Source of the Day: A Warm-up Activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Trenkle, Amy. (2010). vi. Hear My Voice! Teaching Difficult Subjects with Graphic Organizers. . . . . . . . . . 26 Barbieri, Kim E. (2011) vii. Course, Unit and Lesson Planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27 Case, Ronald. (1997).
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From Attics to graveyards: How to locate primary documents for your classroom. . . . 29
ix. x. xi. xii. xiii. xiv.
Gray, Tom & Owens, Susan. (2003) Thematic Unit Planning in Social Studies: Make It Focused and Meaningful. . . . 31 Horton, Todd A. & Barnett, Jennifer A. (2008). Historicalthinkingmatters.org: Using the web to teach historical thinking.. . . . . 32 Martin, Daisy & Wineburg, Sam & Rosenweig, Roy & Leon, Sharon. (2008) Bones of contention: Teaching controversial issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Hinde, Elizabeth. (2004). Going places: Geography on the internet.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 Hill, Margaret. (2002). Classroom tips: Teach your students how to write a research report. . . . . . . . . .35 Servage, Laura & Richardson, George & Parsons, Jim. (2002). Using Technology to Teach Historical Understanding. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 Stephens, R.P. & Lehr, Jane L. & Thorp, Daniel B. & Ewing, Thomas & Hicks, David. (2005). Appendix - Peer Summaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
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Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning
Ice Breakers Basic Function: To stimulate conversation between students that are unfamiliar with one another.
Additional Resources and References
Steps: Ask students to tell the class a little something about themselves. Or break them off into pairs or small groups and have them share certain things. Maybe have a list of likes and dislikes you want them to share.
AtoZ Teacher Stuff http://tips.atozteacher stuff.com/220/icebreakeractivities-getting-acquainted/
Example of class activity: On the first day of class or a return from a school break as the class to share something about their self or something they did on their break. It gives everyone a chance to say something, especially after a break since students are already familiar with one another and want to tell everyone about the time away from school.
Education World http://www.education world.com/a_lesson/lesson /lesson242.shtml
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Ask them to tell you their name and what would be their favorite continent to visit and why? You could also have students sit in the classroom and everyone who know the answer to your history questions stands and then everyone who know the questions to the next one sits some will remain sitting some will remain standing and some will sit. It gets people moving around and laughing.
Sponge Basic Function: To fill in extra time that is experienced by students who are finished a task or assignment earlier than other classmates.
Steps: Have an extra assignment or exercise available for those in the class to work on when they are done what they are supposed to be doing.
Educational Sponge Activities http://tepserver.ucsd.edu /courses/tep129/Educational Sponges.pdf
Example of class activity: When students have completed their work they might move onto a learning corner where they can explore other topic or interests they have. You could prepare an extra little problem, puzzle, or similar activity to provoke thought and extend learning. This strategy can also be used to fill extra time at the end of class or end of day with the whole group. Select a couple students to go to the front of the room and play teacher recapping what was learned in todays class
Teachers http://www.scholastic. com/teachers/article/top-5mini-quotspongequotactivities
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Have students assemble the map of Canada in puzzle form. Design a crossword puzzle where students have to determine Social Studies vocabulary words given the meaning.
Brainstorming Basic Function: To come up with ideas that you may not come to easily. It is helpful in a group setting to pool all your ideas together to create a great idea or plan for a project.
BrightHubEducation
Steps: Have students think individually or in groups and come up with ideas on a certain topic. Write down everything you think and dont stop when you think you have enough. Keep building on those ideas and even better ones may come.
http://www.brighthub education.com/middleschool-english-lessons /18821-coming-up-withwriting-topics-brainstormingideas/
Example of class activity: Have students brainstorm what elements make a perfect class. What are the things you would keep and what are the things you would get rid of. How would your classroom function how would you get your work done and who would teach.
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: The classroom runs much like a little society. There are rules, jobs, work that needs to be done and a leader. Help the students make associations with the roles in the classroom and the roles of people in society. After brain storming you can have students graffiti text meaning write their ideas all over the place on one large sheet of paper and maybe reflect as a group on some of those ideas
Motivating Middle School Students http://motivatingmiddle schoolstudents.blogspot.ca /2012/05/brainstormingbliss.html
T-chart (Sept. 3) Basic Function: To assemble information collected into two categories (True vs. False or Sounds like vs. Looks like) to be compared.
Readwritethink
Steps: Draw a large t on a piece of paper. On each side above the horizontal line list a title that will identify what is blow the line.
http://www.readwrite think.org/classroomresources/printouts/chart30225.html
Example of class activity: List the pros. and cons. of drinking coffee as a high school student.
Learnzillion http://learnzillion.com/ lessons/55-convertbetween-units-using-atchart
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: List the positive and negative differences between small communities and large cities List Provinces and their capital cities
Team Building Basic Function: To create a team.

Steps: Team building can be as simple as assigning a group of people together for a project and having them pick their own team name if necessary and identify the tasks of the individuals in the group with concern to the project itself.
eHow http://www.ehow.com /info_7927293_classroomactivities-team-building.html
Example of class activity: To create a team we were put in groups of 4 numbered off from a line-up based on month of birth. With that randomly selected group we found uncommon commonalities between us that were written on a piece of paper at our table. Then those uncommon commonalities were incorporated into a piece of artwork that was displayed as our team flag.
Classroom Teacher Recourses http://www.classroomteacher-resources.com /classroom-team-buildingt2.html#axzz2f6QOd8BA
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: This type of strategy could be used to build teams in social studies Teams can function as different cultures in the class room and educate the other teams on their unique culture and traditions
Warm-up Basic Function: To discover what students already know about a new class topic or to remind students what they have learned in a prior lesson.
EducateKidz
Steps: Warm-ups can be any variety of activities. Ex. math warm-ups could be practice problems or games. Warm-ups can begin as students enter the class room and process with instructions specific to your activity.
http://www.educatekidz. com/warmup.html
Example of class activity: Give students a list of new vocabulary words as they enter the classroom and have them find the definitions and write them on the board. It gets the students engaged immediately and learning new terms.
Classroom Management Success http://www.classroommanagement-success.org /effective-teachingstrategies.html
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Have students take turns writing provinces and capitols names on a smartboard map of Canada Provide students with a few questions about the previous days discussion Ex. 1. How much power do citizens have in a parliamentary
republic? 2. How is a Prime Minister chosen in a parliamentary republic? 3. How is a president chosen in a presidential republic? 4. What resource does OPEC control?
1st Semester Warm-ups https://cmslbanos. wikispaces.com/1st+ semester+Warm+Ups
KWL Chart Basic Function: Used to find out what students know or want to know about a new topic and to organize new information they learn in the class. what we KNOW - what we WONDER about - what we LEARNED
education.com
Steps: provide students with a 3x2 chart with the letters K W L at the top of each column. Have the students fill in the first two columns with what they know about the topic and what they want to know about the topic the last column is to include what they learn.
http://www.education. com/reference/article/K-WL-charts-classroom/
Example of class activity: Place an object on a table at the front of the room. Ex. A camera As the students to list what they know about the object, what they want to know, and then and the end of the camera instructional they can list what they have learned.
readwritethink http://www.readwrite think.org/classroomresources/printouts/chart -a-30226.html
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: In social studies you could introduce a topic, Canadian Government structure, and have the students identify what they know about it, what they dont know, and then list what theyve learned from the class discussion. You could also ask students to pick the topic and proceed by listing the facts in the KW columns and maybe be topics to be revisited later
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Round Robin Basic Function: To have students learn information a piece at a time.
Steps: Stations are set up and students are given a certain amount of time to collection data or notes from each station and then everyone switches stations until all stations have been visited.
Teaching Strategies http://teaching-trategies .wikispaces.com/Round +Robin
Example of class activity: Explore the different categories of ancient Native culture in Canada: food, shelter, tools, geographic locations, ect.
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Use stations for students to gather bits of information at a time and discuss what they have learned A round robin could be a way to have small groups of students circulate and contribute to each topic. Ex. At the food table they would look into their text books for one type of food Natives ate during that time.
ESOL Online http://esolonline.tki.org. nz/ESOL-Online/Teacherneeds/Pedagogy/ESOLteaching-strategies/Orallanguage/Listening-roundRound-robin
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Socratic Seminar Basic Function: to have a group of student discuss and elaborate on ideas to help build skills in critical thinking and engaging appropriately in a group discussion Steps: Students are selected for the socratic seminar. Selection can be based on preparedness for the class or random. A leader (usually the teacher) begins the discussion with a question and the individual on the left or right leads in the conversation with a response and anyone can jump in at any time and offer their thoughts and opinions. The round continues until everyone as contributed or the conversation is over. At the same time there are observers in the room that cannot participate but can take notes and provide feedback at the end. Example of class activity: Before doing an experiment in a science class have half the students assemble in the circle and discuss important facts of the experiment and critically analyze the steps and their purpose to prepare them for the actual experiment. Ways you could use this in Social Studies: The teacher could have the students read a primary source document (a speech from Hitler) and analyze the content to determine the meaning. Depending on the piece there could be many interpretations. Have the students follow through with the discussion and then swap and have the other half of the class sit in the circle.
Additional Resources and References ReadWriteThink http://www.readwrite think.org/professionaldevelopment/strategyguides/socratic-seminars30600.html Learn NC http://www.learnnc.org /lp/pages/4994
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Document Based Question Basic Function: Ask a topic based questions and have students sort through various primary and secondary sources to find information to answer the question. Steps: Ask students your key question. Then provide students with a number of different primary or secondary sources: graphs, diaries, journals, photographs ect. and have students read and examine the documents and interpret the info within to answer the key question. Example of class activity: During class we analyzed various documents pertaining to Simon Fraser: art work, Simon Frasers journal, aboriginal diary, ect in an attempt to answer the big question What Simon Fraser a hero?. Ways you could use this in Social Studies: - This strategy could be used to set up the plan for a whole unit with the big question answer being reflective of your conclusion at the end of the unit - As a single lesson strategy this can be used to expose students to various viewpoints on a single topic
Additional Resources and References http://www.kn.pacbell. com/wired/fil/pages/list documentpa.html Edteck http://www.edteck.com /dbq/testing/dbq.htm Mybookezzz http://www.mybookezzz. net/5th-grade-social-studiesdbq/
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U-shaped Discussion Basic Function: To stimulate discussion by asking students to line up in a u-shape formation so that at one end of the U students are prothe topic and on the other end the students are against-the topic. Steps: After a class exploring a particular topic and giving students the information they need to make a decision about what side of the topic they support have students line up in a U-shape in the classroom. Students who are strongly in favor of the topic will stand together on one end of the U, students who are undecided or neutral will stand in the center and students who are opposing will be on the other end of the U. Then ask students to use facts to support their stance on the topic. Example of class activity: After analyzing the documents that tell students about the events Simon Frasier experienced during his travels students can reflect on the events and discrepancies and determine the answer to the Big Question; Is Simon Frasier a hero?. Once students have decided how they feel have students line up accordingly in the U-shape and then ask students to tell you why they took the position they did. Ways you could use this in Social Studies:
This activity is a great way to stimulate discussion and review the key facts that you want students to retain and recognize as important. This also is a critical thinking tool that requires students to analyze the information and determine what they think is relevant, true, or important. Additional Resources and References learnalberta http://www.learnalberta .ca/content/sssm/html/ushapeddiscussion_sm.html Eberly Center http://www.cmu.edu /teaching/designteach /design/instructional strategies/discussions.html
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METHODS/STRUCTURES Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning
Line-Up (Sept. 3) Basic Function: To assemble the students in some form of line up by any characteristic. Example: height, birthdate, alphabetical order. This activity can also be used as an icebreaker since asking the participants to line up according to something that is not as obvious as `height` but maybe birthday date forces them to interact.
The Teacher`s Corner http://www.theteachers corner.net/classroommanagement/lineup.php
Steps: Give the students a characteristic or attribute to line up according to and allow them to converse with one another to get it done.
eHow
Example of class activity: Getting to know one another `Line-up` can be used to get students to know one another`s name. Have them line up but first name aphetically and they will have to ask one another their name or at least their first letter.
http://www.ehow.com /info_7993750_transitionmethods-classroom.html
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Give each a provincial title and have them line up not only by province but provincial in order. You can also use the line-up method to get students separated from their friends to be randomly sectioned off into groups
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Round Table (Sept. 3) Basic Function: To provide the opportunity for everyone at the table to contribute to the assignment being shared by the group. This method works best with small groups of less than 6.
Steps: With everyone seated around a table a piece of paper is passed around and everyone adds a piece of information that contributes to the exercise to get an inclusive response.
Center for excellence learning & teaching: Round table http://www.humboldt.edu /celt/tips/roundtable/
To get everyone talking and discussing the assignment you might ask individuals to share why they are including the word or phrase on the sheet of paper.
ekaps blog: Round Table Technique in Teaching Writing Cooperatively http://schoolsonline.british council.org/blogs/ekap/roundtable-technique-teachingwriting-cooperatively
Example of class activity: Round table can be used to get students thinking of a topic and what they already know about it. For example what do you know about the province of New Brunswick?. Students can respond with industries, environments, cities, or governments, anything about NB. It can also be used as an ice breaker and to stimulate conversation between students who do not know one another. For example ask what have you done that no one in your group has done?. This gets students interacting and talking about things that are unique about one another. Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Determine what students know or think about a topic Determine content understanding over the duration of the course
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Think-Pair-Share Basic Function: To help students expand their answer to a question before jumping in with their first instinct response even though it may be correct.
readwritethink
Steps: Students take a few seconds to think of their answer and then discuss it with the person sitting next to them. After a short period of discussion, reflection and refining their answer they are called upon to share their thoughts.
http://www.readwritethink. org/professionaldevelopment/strategyguides/using-think-pairshare-30626.html
Example of class activity: To keep everyone included in the class discussion students can be encouraged to Think-pair-share to allow for everyone a chance to process the question. This also give the teacher a chance to call on other students besides the one that are quick to recall facts or information to get a better sense of whole class understanding of a topic.
readingRockets http://www.readingrockets .org/strategies/think-pairshare/
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Ask students to share their answer with their partner and when theyre sure of their response raise their hand. Determine content understanding
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Power Point Lecture Basic Function: Used to provide information in notes or point form. Power points can also incorporate audio or video stimulators.
Steps: Prepare a power point slide presentation and show it to the class. It does not require student input or interaction. Can be interactive or it can be teacher teaches and student takes notes.
YouTube http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=TBHu1RdsXik
Example of class activity: Use a power point to identify key points in the class instruction or lesson. You could use power point slides to provide a guide for the schedule of the day.
WikiHow http://www.wikihow .com/Make-a-PowerpointTemplate
Ways you could use this in Social Studies: Power point is a great source of providing notes to the class to copy for lecture style teaching. Boring but sometimes necessary. Power points can also be used by students to present projects
SlideShare http://www.slideshare. net/guest7446625/benefitsof-using-powerpoint-in-theclassroom-1858886
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Pick a Popsicle Stick Basic Function: A method to randomize group selection.

Steps: Popsicle sticks can be plain or colored. They can be used to determine groups by color (commonly assumed) to deter students from picking the same color assuming they will be on the same team you can number the sticks or label them with images to determine groups.
The Teacher toolkit http://www.theteacher toolkit.com/index.php/ tool/popsicle
Have everyone pick a stick from the pile and arrange students by category depending on what was on their stick.
blogspot http://stickpickapp.blog spot.ca/p/how-to-use.html
Example of class activity: We want to divide the class in 5 groups for projects to be worked on. So using the pick-a-popsicle-stick method randomized the group selection. This method can also be used in group discussions to ensure everyone get a turn to speak. When they have a turn the stick goes into a basket until all sticks are in the basket and everyone has had the opportunity to contribute. Ways you could use this in Social Studies: You could write a question or topic on the stick and have the students look up the answer or tell what they know about the topic. Divide students into groups using the sticks and have them cooperate to find information on different provinces in Canada.
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X stray 1 Stay Basic Function: To have the students collect a little bit of information from a number of stations in a short period of time.
Additional Resources and References Teacher Tool Kit
Steps: Students gather in several small groups and are each given a separate topic with information. They study the information and decide who will stay and who will stray. When it is time all but one of the students move to the next station. When at the new station the students collect information on that topic from the student who stayed behind. The rotation continues until students have visited every station. Each rotation can be timed to suit the time available for the activity. When the students rotate back to their station they educate the student who stayed about what they learned. I think the time limit keeps students focused and on task
http://www.theteachertoolkit .com/index.php/tool/twostray-one-stay Blog Spot http://historyofindonesi. blogspot.ca/2013/07/theuse-of-two-stay-two-strayto.html
Example of class activity: In the activity we did we each at a different type of government and as we moved around the room we learned about all the different types of governments from the stayers at each table. When we returned to our table we told the stayer at our table about the other governments we learned about while traveling around the room. Ways you could use this in Social Studies: You could use this method to have students share ideas or facts with one another in a small group interactive way. Have the students move around the room and share one fact about
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #1 September 3, 2013 OMahony, Carolyn & Siegel Suzanne. (2008). Designing classroom spaces to maximize social studies learning. Studies and the Young Learner 21(2), pp. 20-24 There are lots of things you can do in a classroom to make it interactive and interesting. In a time where there is plenty of access to computer games, video games, and television many students need to be visually stimulated by their environment to learn. Not that every lesson has to be on a screen but students today do better in hands on learning experiences than enduring lectures for long periods. Objects that students can pick up and look at and check out help them create memories and help them develop a better understanding of how something works. When I was introduced to the microscope for the first time if the teacher had simply gave us an instructional on the equipment I would not have gained a clear understanding of the purpose of different parts but because I was given the opportunity to touch, manipulate, and work with the lenses and see how things functioned I gained a better understanding of how it was used. Newspapers, maps, globes, learning corners are examples of things that can be used in a social studies classroom to enhance learning. Some globes have raised parts to indicate mountains, which add a new level of understanding of the world by land forms. Learning corners are a great use for students that are finished their work early and need something to keep them busy while other catch up or on rainy days when students cant go outside at break. Images on the walls of the classroom can also be used to trigger memory of previous lessons. Some examples may be: a wall of historical heroes or a felt map of the world made with additional little iconic felt pieces made to represent key points from places all over the globe. I really like the time line idea instead of the alphabet around the room like in most kindergarten classes. Use the wall just below the ceiling to create a timeline that shows the occurrence of important events that you will discuss in your social studies class. Overall, creative additions to your classroom make the work interactive and interesting and most importantly memorable, even when youre bored and looking at the ceiling youre learning. Social studies is described as a subject that prepare students for becoming citizens of their country. It helps them understand how the world is broken up and how political systems function and how governments govern. Understanding these help students find their place in such a network; they must develop a sense of belonging. The article defines three dimensions of developing citizens: status, feeling and participation. The classroom is a tool that can be used to tell students who they are as people and where they are with respect to the rest of the world helping them determine their status; identify the mood by what they see around them building on their feelings; and the amount of participation they will learn by the amount of interaction they will be expected to have or if the work will be individual. Group work and participation helps
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build on social, intellectual and cooperative skills making great leaders. Felt world http://pinterest.com/pin/173599760606016429/ EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #2 September 5, 2013 Elder, Linda & Paul, Richard. (2008) Critical thinking in a world of accelerating change and complexity. Social Education. 72(7), pp. 338-391 This article was about developing critical thinkers in the classroom. Encouraging students to think beyond just what they are taught and find the origin of those teacings, develop ethical reasoning, and decipher for themselves if the information is accurate or not. The article listed several questions that a teacher can ask students to help them find the purpose and goal of something which at the same time helps them better understand their thoughts or the assignment. If the student asks what is the purpose of this assignment in exploring that purpose they will gain a better understanding of the assignment as a whole and likely get a better mark. Its also important to question information, data, and experience. As we saw in technology class we were looking for a website on Martin Luther King and the fifth link to come up seeming quite credible was a site produced by a white supremacy group. Information may not always be correct so it is our responsibility as teachers and learners to educate our students on the importance of asking questions and not taking information provided to us as full truth without checking the facts and the source. We must also consider questioning viewpoints and perspectives of other people. Information is often subjective to the authors personal opinions or interpretation of the experience. It is ultimately someones opinion and therefore their background, beliefs, and prior experiences need to be considered in how they might influence their account of what they are reporting. We often think within the means that we are comfortable and confident in and may be missing some crucial information as a result. Questioning assumptions is important because it recognizes that even though we think something is happening a certain way for a certain reason we may not be recognizing that another factor is at play and influencing the results. What do we take for granted in this situation? This is a question we ask in science since there is almost always a factor at play that we are not considering. Ultimately we need to enable our students to become critical thinkers and analyze situations to determine what factors are in play that are not being recognized. It is important to not stop analyzing when you think youve solved the problem but continue to question and get a deeper understanding of the world around us.
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #3 September 10, 2013 Lapham, Steven S. (2010). Is this candy and advertisement for cigarettes? A media literacy activity. Middle Level Learning, 39, pp. M13-M16. National Council for the Social Studies. As kids we were not allowed to have candy cigarettes and so maybe my parents had the same thoughts as what is the focus of this article. Is there a hidden intention to selling candy to children that looks like a package of cigarettes? This article is full of questions that are nearly impossible to answer so not a lot of conclusions can be drawn from it but that doesnt mean the questions are less valuable. This is a great assignment that will get students thinking critically of what they see in all types of media and how that changes their point of view. Provoking the students to think critically by asking them the questions, like the ones listed in the article could be used to analyze and speculate why we buy a number of the products that we do Why do we buy the brands we buy, drink and eat certain foods, drive certain cars; what media factors are shaping the decisions we make? Those questions were: 1. What is this? 2. Who created this message? 3. What creative techniques are used to attract my attention? 4. How might different people understand this message differently? 5. What values, lifestyles, and points of view are represented in, or omitted from, this message? 6. Why is this message being sent? 7. What should I do in response to this message? Source: See the Five Key Questions (included above as 2-6) and discussion at the Center for Media Literacy, www.medialit.org. Does it start with the candy they pretended to smoke as small children? I think some see the behaviour modeled though the adults in their life and possibly develop a desire to be like them. But also there were no smokers in my family and as a pre-teen my cousins and I thought smoking was very cool; maybe this was because we knew we werent allowed and found the rebelling exciting. It was a behaviour my parents quickly corrected.
This is a great reference for future use: http://www.medialit.org/media-values
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #4 September 12, 2013 Hubbard, Janie. (20007). Lesson Study: Teachers collaborating in lesson development. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 19(4), pp. 25-29. In this article a team of educators came together to work collaboratively on a lesson plan. Four teachers worked together to construct a single lesson plan. The first teacher taught the students the plan, while others observed and took notes, and then returned to the group where they made corrections to the lesson and repeated this process after each lesson was taught to create a perfect lesson. The goal of the proje ct was to determine how the students were learning and not so much focus on how the teachers were teaching. Observers were asked to document student responses to questions to help them gauge in the reflection how effect the lesson technique was in aiding their learning. I think collaborating together on a lesson or series of lessons helps you see the task in a number of different lights. Different teaching methods and learning patterns come together in one room to examine and adjust a lesson is a great way to improve the effectiveness of what you are teaching. More than one point of view is always better than one. It can be nerve racking to have a co-worker come into your classroom and critique the effectiveness of your classroom instruction and I think most teachers are hesitant to participate in that sort of professional development. This technique required the teachers to work together one the original lesson so that they all had a part in the project and no one would be offended by critique.
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #5 September 24, 2013 Trenkle, Amy. (2010). Primary Source of the Day: A Warm-up Activity. Middle Level Learning, 39, pp. M2-M5. National Council for the Social Studies. Primary Source of the Day Three different uses: to review yesterdays lesson introduce current days lesson get students thinking about a completely different educational topic Students benefit: developing social skills enhancing their academic learning classroom management technique Types of primary sources that the author talks about are: Quotes from people of specific historical periods Manipulatives or physical objects Historical documents Visual aids: such as pictures, drawings or other forms of art work Ways each of the types of primary sources might be presented: Individually As a group given a personal copy of source Each student is given a piece of paper at the beginning of the week with entry spots for one warm-up per class and a question is presented on the board. Students are asked to think about their answer and write it on their paper. The teacher takes this time to walk around the class and see who is at their desk, prepared to work and doing so. Points/Marking System: 3 points for being ready and prepared to work at the beginning of class 1 point for answering question (right or wrong) Additional use of this type of warm up: For an assignment, ask the students to find their own primary source that relates to something theyve learned throughout the course. Then create questions about their primary source to be discussed in class. Uses for this strategy in New Brunswick Social Studies: Present a tool used but the First Nations in the 1800s to hunt. (Depending on where you are located, something of this specific nature may be hard to get a hold of or available at local archives.) Questions to ask: What is it? How was it made? How was it used? Who used it? References http://www.princeton.edu/~refdesk/primary2.html http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/special-collections/east2.html
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #6 September 24, 2013 Barbieri, Kim E. (2011) Hear My Voice! Teaching Difficult Subjects with Graphic Organizers. Social Education 75(6), pp 301309 Hear My Voice! - Graphic Organizer Basic Function: Provides students with an opportunity to examine topics from various perspectives using an organized table to help collect their thoughts. The strategy has students place themselves in the shoes of a historical individual to get a sense of that individual`s feelings and opinions and help them understand why they thought or behaved in a particular manner. Steps: Give each student the `Hear My Voice!` table as well as a primary source document. Types of documents could include: letters, diaries, speeches, or transcripts of conversations. Give students an appropriate amount of time to read over the document and fill in the table and determine the author`s opinion. Students may also use online research to gain a better understanding of their subject. The teacher may then ask the students to share their conclusion with the class. This strategy can be used to analyze viewpoints of just about any historical event; there are always conflicting views. In New Brunswick Social Studies for example, provide students with documents that display the different views of the events that led to and followed Confederation. Include viewpoints of the First Nations, Inuit, the French, Acadians, and the British.
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Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #7 October 8, 2013 Case, Ronald. (1997). Course, Unit and Lesson Planning. In Roland Case & Penny Clark (Eds.). The Canadian Anthology of Social Studies, (pp. 290-308). Burnaby, British Columbia: Field Relations and Teacher In-Service Education, Faculty of Education, Simon Fraser University. When course planning it is important to have a destination determined created by our rationale, goals, and objectives for the year. To produce a successful destination plan it is important to be clear and focused; expect an obtainable amount of material to cover; justify your destination by students best interests; and in an aligned manner that keeps you heading towards your end destination. To thoughtfully build your plan you must consider a number of factors. Make sure the classroom supports positive learning and provokes students to take risks and come to their own conclusions. Students will also be more engaged in content that is meaningful to them. Ensure they know the earlier details of a topic that is imperative to their understanding the current topic. You cant expect students to work successfully in a group if they have never been taught how to do group work. Its important to use a wide variety sources but also to ensure the sources are valid. Integrating the content of different subjects can bring full circle student understanding and help them see the dynamic value of a topic. Use many resources for learning such as books, films, guest speakers, cartoons, ect. This type of variety is also important to incorporate in your teaching methods along with changing up who the teacher is in the room. It is important to understand that not all methods will work with every classroom of students. We have to expect diversity in student interests, give students choices in how they want to learn particular content, and remain flexible. Create one-hundred words or less a paragraph that tells you what you want to achieve in the coming year, mainly the focus and direction of the course. State a rationale that tells you the educational ideals of the course, identify priority goals that are the main focus of the year, and establish what you want the classroom climate to be with respect to how you expect for your learning procedure during the year. In social students we hope to produce quality individuals for society. Through social students we can teacher them to be critical thinkers and contributing members of society. Students can also be encouraged in personal development (helping them become all they can be) and also assist them in their academic learning and instill in them an appreciation for all learning. Its important that students become individuals that not only tolerate dif ference in society but embrace them and use them to learn more about the world around them.
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Our ideals as teachers and what we expect from our students should be backed up by the students, community, general society, and our own values. This means were no t just doing what we want but we have considered the effects on the larger picture. Established priority goals should promote: content knowledge: we need students to learn the material we are teaching them critical thinking: encourage students to decide for themselves what they should believe or how they should act successful researching: students should have a basic understanding of how to conduct research; what research is valuable and what is not and why promoting personal and social values individual and collective action: students having the ability to deconstruct problems and find a solution by themselves as well as in a group situation
In generating a course plan it is important to decide the general sequence of your goals. Decide on a main focus, specific objectives and the order of those objectives for each unit. There are six types of unit organizers: theme, narrative, issue, inquiry, problem and project. Creating a Unit Plan: they usually are composed of a summary of objectives, methods or activities, resources needed and the assessment strategy. It can be helpful to talk to other who have taught the course and get successful pointers from them. The introductory material should engage student interest, provide some background information as well and assess prior knowledge of the class. Units can be introduced with: Audiovisuals to stimulate student interest Brainstorming to assess what students assume or already know about the topic; it is important to accept all responses without judgement Discrepant event can be used to provoke student thought Displays are a great visual tool that is recommended to be displayed a week before the topic start date to get students familiar as well as to increase interest Field Experience can give students a real life account of what they are studying but it is also very valuable at the end of a unit Guest Speakers can be great unit ice breakers Music can be used to represent a time, place, or topic. Mystery box can hold many objects that can give students information about the upcoming unit Simulation can be a great way to start a unit a skit or play or demonstration using real life objects
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Story can be used to impact students; maybe a general story about a particular time or a diary account of a period in time.
Unit drafts must have an emphasis on each goal you have identified. Goals must be in the appropriate order with a nice flow from one topic to the next. There should also be a variety of activities for learning and assessment. Lesson plans are where the detail comes in: what and how are you going to carry out covering identified objectives for the lesson. One or two objectives per lesson is ideal. The classroom time should be broken down into small time bits that incorporate a variety of activities and tasks to prevent students from getting board. Prepare resources for the lesson that will aid in teaching and understanding. In closing of a lesson students can summarize what they have learned, use their new knowledge and the teacher and use that time to identify connections between previous lessons and the current one. When assessing student learning make sure they know how they are being assessed, what levels of understanding are expected of them and the criteria used in the assessment. Follow-up the lesson with a review at a later time: next day possibly. EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #8 October 14, 2013 Gray, Tom & Owens, Susan. (2003). From Attics to Graveyards: How to Locate Primary Documents for Your Classroom. Social Education, 67(7), pp. 386-388. National Council for the Social Studies. This article describes how to find primary sources that will best suit your needs; what kinds of documents and where to look. First you have to define your goals: consider time period, event, topic Where to look: Your attic, grandmas attic Cemeteries o The associationof gravestone studies www.gravestonestudies.org Have students families look in their records for o Immigration papers o Old photographs o Postcards
o Letters o Diaries o Report cards

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Using a students personal history can improve their connection to the lesson and deepen their commitment to learning. This is a US article database so most of the online resources were US based: National Archives Digital Classroom o www.archives.gov/digital_classroom o The national archives keeps records of passenger ship manifests Library of Congress American Memory Collection o memory.loc.gov/ammem/amhome.html USGenWeb o usgenweb.org o parts of census o cemetery listings
Maps can be found in: libraries, museums, town officials, historical socities Library of congress has Birds eye view of communities 150 years ago School records o Old textbooks o Library holdings o Report cards o Yearbooks o photographs o Be sure records are eligible for release: consider privacy issues with individuals that are still living.
Remember to build and keep your own document library from year to year and keep records of where information was gathered from in case you need to return to the source for more information.
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #9 October 14, 2013 Horton, Todd A. & Barnett, Jennifer A. (2008). Thematic Unit Planning in Social Studies: Make It Focused and Meaningful. Canadian Social Studies. 41(1) When planning a unit you should include: strong introduction, body of lessons, a conclusion and summative assessment. Units are a series of day-to-day lessons related to a particular theme. Without a clear explanation of what the students are supposed to be learning what is being taught they may become bored or believe the content is meaningless. Units should be used to promote knowledge, skills, attitudes and values that are important to establishing citizens. Limit the scope of the unit to achieve depth of the lesson instead of a broad but shallow knowledge of a bunch of stuff. Provide students with a choice of various activities and present their information to the class in some way. Identify the importance of what they are learning to establish the meaning for students. Determine how the topic contributes to their personal development or the world around them. Create the Big Understanding that will determine what you want the students to grasp at the end of the unit. What is the main concept/goal of the unit? It should be vague enough that it incorporates all the outcomes of the curriculum but direct enough that if provides a focus to the unit. Keep it clear and to the point, age appropriate language, qualifying words (usually, often, almost), and leave out names. Conclude the unit with the form of assessment that is appropriate for the unit. Consider having students compile a continuous portfolio throughout the unit (and year) that will reflect the information they have covered during the year. Allowing students determine how they will be evaluated can give students a sense of control over their education and reduce anxiety that often come with test or exams. This also teaches responsibility and critical thinking skills. Introduce the unit may seem like it should come first but sometimes when planning for a lesson its better to doing the middle and last before you decide how you want to set up the beginning to introduce what is coming next. The introduction should ignite student interests and increase their desire to find out more while giving them some of the important facts about what is to come. Title pages can be a great way to separate units and give each unit its own descriptive identity.
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Build the Body of the Unit to focus on greater awareness, comprehension and appreciation of the Big Understanding. Creating lessons that are meaningful to your students are more likely to have a lasting impression over time. Students become well prepared to question, evaluate and debate in an effective manner. This will develop socially responsible citizens who will contribute to society. EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #10 October 10, 2013 Martin, Daisy & Wineburg, Sam & Rosenweig, Roy & Leon, Sharon. (2008). Historicalthinkingmatters.org: Using the web to teach historical thinking. Social Education, 72(3), pp 140-143, 158. The internet is a great resource for digital historical archives available to everyone in any place who has a desire to locate it. This availability of historical documents has come to the classroom with more computers in our classrooms making the possibilities in social studies education more broad. Creating this database takes a lot of reading and reading with skills of analyzing and comparing fragmented or contradictory sources. Students need to hone skills to decipher and understand what they are reading. Most students do not question authors and their purpose, audience, or circumstances so they dont develop the skills to do so effectively. The material presented in the article aims to teach students to read historical documents critically and produce bits of information/summaries they can understand easier. Sam Wineburgs model for analyzing historical information can be used to help students. Student Investigations Example Four Inquiries: Spanish-American War Scopes Trial and the 1920s Social Security Act and New Deal Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott Each poses a central question. Exploring the different sides of a subject gives students the beginnings of their essay. Interactive Notebook The notebook can be used to record their information and answer given questions about the primary sources they are reading. The notebook includes tabs that provide students with resources to help them understand their primary sources. Give me a hint button gives students a little help with questions they are struggling to answer.
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Supporting Readers Documents students are asked to read have been selected and prepared and the questions asked serve as tools to help students source, contextualize, corroborate, or close the section. Teacher Materials and Strategies There are resources included in the site to help teachers plan and teach document-based historical reasoning. The same materials can also be used offline in the classroom. There is also an introduction section for the teacher that specifies a way of thinking central to history addressed in the particular inquiry. Lesson and Worksheets In the materials section there is a lot of resources including one, two and five day lesson plans. It also contains the text book accounts of an event and requires students to compare accounts from other sources. It also includes graphic organizers and other worksheets that can be used in the lesson. Student Thinking The teacher part of the site also includes several examples of student work. These will help teachers know how to guide their students in the critical thinking and analyzing process and provide examples along the expert-novice continuum. EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #11 October 16, 2013 Hinde, Elizabeth. (2004). Bones of contention: Teaching controversial issues. Social Studies and the Young Learner 17(2), pp 31-32. Often times students will look to teachers to answer difficult questions that may be controversial or sensitive to answer. It is important that these questioned are answered, in an appropriate manner so that students dont get the impression that they are not important. A relatively recent example of this is the events of 9.11 in the United States and the war that followed; there are many different opinions on these topics and you have to be careful not to insert your personal opinions into a discussion and be sensitive to the personal involvement students might have with the events. Some controversies you might encounter in the classroom are topic such as religion, politics, civil rights, as well as the more local conflicts within your school such as school rules or within your community. In answering difficult questions in a diplomatic way, students are being taught how to deal with controversy and contributing to their ability to be participating citizen in their world, which is the main goal of social studies. Students need to understand that there are varying viewpoints and there are appropriate and effective ways to express and understand them.
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The definition of social studies might be the study of controversies, their causes, courses, and outcomes. Most of what is taught in social studies is centered on controversy in the past. While its important that students understand how to approach these kinds of topics it is also important for teachers to determine which topics are worth talking about. Many conversations that reach the headlines are not worth using class time to discuss and it may help to have an understanding of students lives outside of school to better guide you as a teacher in how/what to discuss. For example, if a student has a relative participating in the war, the death of a soldier in Iraq may be a conversation to close to home to participate in. Teachers are role models and are often looked to for conformation of facts or beliefs. It is important that teachers do not use their power to impose their beliefs on their students. They have to be careful to encourage discussions of ideas and not personal opinions or prejudices. Have students focus on the evidence instead of the opinion, listen carefully to opposing views and open reasoning. This can be a great critical thinking tool. EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #12 October 22, 2013 Hill, Margaret. (2002). Going places: Geography on the internet. Middle Level Learning, January/Febuary 2002. There are many useful website that students can use to learn geography online. They can download maps for every grade level. Maps that show the earth and zoom in to see a specific place are very good for teaching students about locations and where places are with respect to other places. Places to look: National Georgraphy nationalgeographic.com/mapmachine Xerox PARC Maps mapweb.parc.xerox.com/map You can choose the global projection Through online tools students can also map routes that are very familiar to them. For really old maps such as sixteenth and seventeenth century world maps go to the Hargrett Collection at University of Georgia www.;ibs.uga.edu/darchive/hargrett/maps/maps/html There is a lot to see here so you should explore ahead of time so students dont waste a lot of time viewing a lot of cool stuff. URLs can change often. Larger institutions, governments and universities are usually more reliable. If it doesnt work on the day you need it - Check that you have the right URL cut and copy if you can to avoid mistakes - Go to the home page of the website and find it again - Have a back-up plan and try the site again later
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #13 October 22, 2013 Servage, Laura & Richardson, George & Parsons, Jim. (2002). Classroom tips: Teach your students how to write a research report. Canadian Social Studies. 36(3) Students need to learn how to learn. It is extremely valuable to know how to successful selfeducate. This paper addresses how to teach student to sort through the overwhelming amount of information available and determine the questions and facts that matter. Research skills should be introduced in elementary years and build to a basic foundation by junior high. Manageable steps for student research: - Preliminary research - Gather & organize information
Write report Polish and present
How to begin: preliminary research 1. Find area of interest what do you want students to learn about 2. Brainstorm create a web, focus on the key points they want to learn about 3. Define questions that they want to answer 4. Look for resources and list references for the resources look for reliable & valid, current, and accurate information resources Research & Organization 1. Create an outline main ideas helping the student know what information to keep and what to ignore 2. Outline point form 3. Find several sources this ensure a variety or perspectives 4. Take notes from sources Writing the report 1. Organize the outline check student outline for a clear thesis statement, supporting arguments, maybe mark outlines before writing begins 2. Write introduction and conclusion intro is used to capture interest while the conclusion highlights the key topics of the paper. Workshop class can provide time for students to share and get peer feedback on their paragraphs Polishing and presenting 1. Find a peer reviewer that will critically and competently analyze your paper 2. Find a reviewer that will read for correctness fine grammar details 3. List resources list all the resources used to produce the paper Present research 1. Decide who you want to present to and how you want to present the findings. a. Poster, power point, essay, written report, debate, slide show, music, audio, oral presentation multi-media presentation.
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EDUC 5863- Methods in Middle/Secondary Social Studies Reading Report #14 October 22, 2013 Stephens, R.P. & Lehr, Jane L. & Thorp, Daniel B. & Ewing, Thomas & Hicks, David. (2005). Using Technology to Teach Historical Understanding. Social Education 69(4), pp.151-155 We need to find the ways by which teachers can teach best so students can best learn. Simply viewing time lines of events does not accurately describe to students the deeper meaning why something happened in history they just see it as fact. There are three models described for developing skills to see history as a process shaped by individuals and communities. The technology based research project is called The Digital History Reader (DHR); teaching European and United States history. Using an Online Calculator to Student he Decision to Enslave Africans. Allowing students to explore the events that took place before the enslavement of Africans can help them better understand why and better able to understand the process of change in our history. Labor costs were a vital component of social studies issue -centred analysis and decision-making activities. Students can use this information to see how economics shaped the decision to enslave Africans. Charting European Unemployment during the Great Depression Students need to be given more information to turn factual statements into deeper understanding. After showing the class the dramatic increase in unemployment in Germany and Britain and then the sudden decrease in unemployment in Germany while Britain remained much the same. As students explore how such wide unemployment would affect the people of the country then they have a better understanding of the desperation and a more two sided view on the protests that incurred and the dangers of such mass unemployment. Teaching Critical Analysis: Images of Political Action in 1968 How to read visual sources Although we know that images can be manipulated in todays age we still assume images to be fact when taken out of context images and be a misrepresentation. Context is as important for interpreting images as for interpreting texts. Evaluating the Effectiveness of Technology in History Teaching Technology has the ability to provide complex historical understanding without limiting the content and therefore is beneficial to student learning. Digital history allows teachers to more effectively teach their students a deeper understanding of historical issues and expose learners to both virtual and classroom learning styles.
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Appendix
Max Taylor Middle/Secondary Social Studies EDUC 5843 Michael Evans: Using Classroom Debates as a Learning Tool Reflective Journal/ Strategy: Debate th Entry 5: September 19 2013 Classroom debates are student led discussions that promote cooperation, critical thinking, and enthusiasm in a middle school or high school setting. Topics for debates can range from historical debates to more recent issues. These class activates should usually take place at the end of a unit so students can use already learned knowledge. This can also help you understand how well your students have learned the material, instead using a test or assignment. At the beginning of a debate it is best to divide the students into 3 groups. It is important to divide the students at random to encourage different students with diverse abilities to work together. After you have divided that class into 3 groups you will then divide each of the 3 groups into 2 teams. This allows both sides of each to work on the opposite sides of the debate. This also allows for students to work in smaller groups which can lead to more involvement of each student. At the end of the class each team will present their case for 5 minutes. This will equal to 6 groups presenting for 5 minutes each, which means it will take at minimum 30 minutes. You can decide the winner based on the teacher being the judge, or assigning a few students the task of being the jury. This can be used in social studies to help students better understand a historical moment. One example is the American civil War. You could ask why the North felt strongly against slavery and why the South felt strong to keep slavery. This is a way to allow students to understand all aspects of this time period with non bias opinions. It also encourages teamwork, understanding, research skills, speaking, listening and respect for alternative views. Max Taylor Middle/Secondary Social Studies EDUC 5843 Mary Haas and Margaret Laughlin: Making and Playing Small Group Games: Practicing Collaboration while Mastering Content Reflective Journal/ Strategy: Making and Playing Small Group Games th Entry 6: September 19 2013 Making and playing small group games with the class allows for students collaborate as a group, learn from others, and broaden knowledge on social studies content. The first thing you do is select a topic or display a visual item. You can ask the student to name what they see, define it, or connect it to something else. You will then make a game made for short periods of playing time. An example would be have the groups roll rice, draw cards, or use a spinner to decide which team has the first answer. The teams would get points for the most correct answers; another option is to have the game between each group. For this type of strategy it is good to keep a timing device so you know when it is over. If it is a class group activity the students will learn from each others answers. If the game is between each group they can share their answers with the class at the end of the time period. I would use this activity in social studies middle school class. You could put a famous painting of a historical moment and ask them to point out significant parts of it and what it could symbolize. Another option could be to point out different time periods and ask the students to tell me something about that time. This could also work for a map lesson and you could ask the students to name the capital city of each province. These are only meant for a quick and fun class activity.
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Cheryl Kennedy-Jamieson Human Timeline (Sept 19, 2013): Basic Function: A timeline is a graphic organizer strategy that is used to help students visualize a period of time. The use of timelines is invaluable as it appeals to students visual and kinesthetic learning styles. Steps: Select the content for your timeline and establish a chronology. Depending on what you are studying, pull out the key events and dates that you want students t o take note of. Choose enough events/dates that each student or a pair of students can be assigned an event to focus on. Example of in-class use: Create a timeline across the classroom using string or rope. Have students research/readup on their assigned event and write up a summary in their own words. Have students type their information on a cue card. Once everyone has completed their research, have them come back in the larger group to form a human timeline. Have students present their information in chronological order before pinning their event on the timeline. In order to make sure students have retained the information taught in the timeline, you can create a handout for them with blank sections. Have students fill in the blanks of what they remember from the presentation. This assignment can be done individually or in groups. Encourage students to include pictures to make the timeline visually appealing. Additional resources and references: 1. Education World Strategies that Work: Classroom Timelines http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/strategy/strategy033.shtml 1. Human Timeline: Facing History and Ourselves http://www.facinghistory.org/resources/strategies/human-timeline
Many Media Same Message (Sept 19, 2013): Basic Function: Demonstrate the many variations in communication and that depending on the task one method may be better than another. Steps: Provide students with a message or task and ask them to deliver the that message in five different forms of communication. Some examples of communication could include: written word, maps, pictures, puzzle or dance. Example of in-class use: Ask students to provide directions to the cafeteria from their class using five different forms of communication. Encourage students to be creative in delivering their message. Provide students with colorful markers, construction paper, maps and dictionaries etc. Additional resources and references: 1. Instructional Design: Media, Strategies and Methods http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/hrd/media.html 1. Student Learning Styles Adaptation Method Based on Teaching Strategies http://www-public.int-evry.fr/~assar/pdf/ETS_Franzoni-Assar.pdf
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Scott Hachey
The Mystery
Basic Function: Can be used as a source of evaluation or review for important or key items in a specific subject. Variations: This may be used for any subject, but I will give different variations that may be used in a history class. 1. Historical figure 2. Historical event 3. Important Historical Item Example of Class Activity: Step1: Create small groups of four or five people. Step 2: Once all the groups are settled, give each group an envelope. In that envelope are four clues that pertain to the event, figure or item that you have chosen. Example: Adolf Hitler Clues: 1. Political leader who came to power in 1933. 2. German 3. Had a memorable mustache. 4. Died at the end of World War Two Step 3: Give the students a few minutes to try and figure it out, if they cant, you may a llow them to go check their notes or handouts.
Additional References http://www.thebestclass.org/moon.html http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/teaching-guides/24295 Scott Hachey Conceptual Continuum
Basic Function: The Conceptual Continuum allows students to grasp a difficult topic with the aid of a graphic chart. This should only be used at the high school level as it is a complex. Variations: This may be used for any subject with a difficult unit or concept. You may use it for: 1. Difficult historical events 2. Complex biological developments 3. Complex Mathematical equations. Example of Class Activity: Step1: The teacher selects three different events that fall along the same continuum. ex (Degrees of international Cooperation During the Cold War) Step2: Divide the class into three different groups and give each group one of the events selected above. Come back as an entire class and have each group summarize their article. Have the class guess what the three events have in common. (The title of the continuum mentioned above) Step3: Have the groups place each of their events on time line based on the date of the event. The date goes on the X axis of the graph. Once this is done, assign another event to each of the groups. Step4: Once again, have each group summarize their new article, only this time get them to make connections between their new event and the three already on the continuum. Step5: Create a 1-10 scale on the Y axis of the continuum. If we use the example mentioned above (Degrees of international Cooperation), assign 1-2 to War, 3-4 to Cold War, 5-6 Peaceful Co-existence, 7-8 Dtente, 9-10 Alliance. Not only do the students have to place the events in order by date, they also have to place them on the continuum based on where they fit on the Y axis as well.
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Rene LeBlanc Middle/Secondary Social Studies EDUC 5843 Raymond C. Jones and Steven S. Lapham: Teaching Reading Skills in the Elementary Classroom Reflective Journal/ Strategy: History Frame (Sept. 19, 2013) Basic Function: Used to extract the key facts and concepts in a historical text and then organize that information. Students will need to apply the same type of reading and thinking skills as used in Language Arts classes when looking at stories or novels. Steps: Have students read a text on a specific event in history. Students will then be asked to identify the participants/key players, the setting/place, the problem/conflict/goal, the episodes, the resolution/consequences/outcome, and the themes/lessons/meaning. Students will organize this information into a chart. An example of what a history frame would look like:
Example of Class Activity: Have students read an article on the Northwest Rebellion. Based on what they read about the rebellion they will be able to fill in the information in its proper section on the history frame. Additional Resources and References: 1. Reading Quest http://www.readingquest.org/strat/storymaps.html 2. The Resource Room http://literacycounts.wordpress.com/tag/history-frame/ This strategy can be applied to teaching social studies in New Brunswick by giving students an article to read about a certain person or event in history. Using a history frame will help students break down specific events in history and better understand them. This way they are made aware of important historical figures, where significant events have taken place, why it occurred, how it was resolved and what people have since learned about the event. By breaking down a certain topic this way students will be able to retain the information and hopefully apply their knowledge to other topics discussed in class.
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Rene LeBlanc Middle/Secondary Social Studies EDUC 5843 Raymond C. Jones and Steven S. Lapham: Teaching Reading Skills in the Elementary Classroom Reflective Journal/ Strategy: Venn Diagrams (Sept. 19, 2013) Basic Function: Used to picture relationships between different groups of things. Steps: First you draw a rectangle which is referred to as the universe. In this case the universe means everything you are dealing with right now. In the rectangle, draw two circles that partially overlap. Each circle represents a group of things while the middle part or intersection represents the commonalities between the two groups. Information is then filled into the diagram based on what section it fits in best. Example of Class Activity: Students could be asked to compare the similarities and differences of two forms of government, such as a monarchy and a dictatorship. In one circle students would write things about a monarchy, while in the over circle it would be information about a dictatorship. In the middle, where the two circles intersect, students would write things both forms of government have in common.
An example of a Venn Diagram: Additional Resources and References: 1. Purple Math http://www.purplemath.com/modules/venndiag.htm 2. ABC Teach: The educators online resource http://www.abcteach.com/directory/subjects-social-studies-places-3731-2-1 This strategy can be applied to teaching social studies in New Brunswick as a way to compare and contrast two important history topics. Especially for visual learners, it is easier to understand two topics if you can compare them with each other on paper. This strategy will allow students to see the similarities and differences between historical events, people, places, etc. The teacher is able to leave the learning up to the students by allowing them to make their own diagrams and fill them in based on what they have know. It could also be used to compare and contrast events from the past to the present.
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Paul Montague EDUC 5843 - Middle/Secondary Social Studies Ron H. Pahl. Six-Hat Social Studies. Social Education 59(3), 1995, pp. 154-157. National Council for the Social Studies. Six Hats The Six Hats, or The Six Thinking Hats, strategy is an effective way for students to creatively think from multiple perspectives (wearing different hats, if you will) and debate. Each hat is a different color and has a different role. The activity is set up with a particular issue to discuss. The colors can be interchangeable for the sake of the activity and whatever color hats the teacher can manage to find, but it must be established that one hat deals with the factual evidence. One must deal with the raw emotions or feelings of the issue. One must call to analyze the issue weighing the negatives. One addresses the positives, and one hat will leave out the facts and emotions in order to come up with a more original interpretation. This type of discussion allows each student to focus on one area, eliminating confusion, while the rest of the issue is spread throughout the whole classroom. This allows for a clearer understanding of the more difficult concepts studied in classes. A way this could be used in a Social Studies class is to set the topic for the debate on views of World War II. Some students can approach the topic factually, others emotionally (this area in particular will not be hard to stir up some feelings), others can look at the outcomes of the war both good and bad while the last group can synthesize the information to develop a more enlightened historical approach to understanding the war. EDUC 5843 - Middle/Secondary Social Studies Stevens, Robert and Fogel, Jared. Using Music to Teach about the Great Depression. Social Education 71(1), pp. 1520 2007. National Council for the Social Studies. Teaching using Music Using music to teach content can be spread throughout virtually all disciplines; this strategy varies only with what is taught. For example, in Stevens and Fogels article, they employ music period to the time of the Great Depression. One song that is mentioned in the article perhaps sums up the Great Depression better than any book: Brother Can You Spare A Dime? Implementing music engages differentiated learning, and it also allows for interpretations on multiple perspectives (real perspectives from people of the time). Moving from traditional textbook learning to a more original way to facilitate learning allows the class lesson to be more effectively taught. This could be used in Social Studies when a new topic or country is introduced; the teacher could play, for example, a national anthem to allow the students to actually experience other cultures rather than simply reading about them. Jeremy Thibeau What do you see? Basic Function: Get students to interpret an image they have not seen before in order to introduce a new topic. Steps: Find an image related to a lesson coming up in the curriculum that introduces new content. Ask students to discuss the image. Themes, content, signs of the time the photo was created/ taken, and the people within it. Examples of classroom activity: Get students to review an image that was painted at some point in history to evaluate it for the era it was painted, the people in it, and the symbolism from the artist. Ways to use this in social studies: Examine satirical cartoons and how they relate to current events To see how art and symbolism has evolved in previous years
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Lennard van Oord Promoting Student Comprehension with Cooperative Learning. Linda A. Fernsten A.K.A Cooperative Jigsaw Basic Function -Splits class into different groups that uses different strategies to find information about a certain event. Once the groups have completed the tasks given to them, they share what they have learned. It allows students to learn and discover for themselves as individuals and also helps them learn communication skills as they present their material to the rest of the class. Steps/Variations -Have the class split into different groups and assign each group a table to work at. -At each table have instruction as to what they must do. Different variations Event or timeline-This group put the makes a timeline of the important event during a certain time period that goes with your specified event. Famous or infamous people from the period-Students make short biographies on certain people that the teacher has assigned them to. P (plus), M (minus), Q (question)-These students list all the things they already knew about this event (Plus). Then they write about all the ideas and concepts that were new to them (Minus). To finish, they write a list of questions they might have about the event. (Question) Vocabulary-This group is in charge of explaining the vocabulary that goes along with the certain event that is being studied. Webbing-The task given to this group is to present a visual aid to the group. Often times the easiest way to do this is for them to make a mind map. However, there are number of different ways they can demonstrate a visual aid. Outline and Summary-These students are in charge of presenting what the key points are of the specified event. Sharing-Once the groups have researched and have their material ready to be presented, have them either share their ideas with the whole class or set up a 1 stay, X stray format for them to share the information they have learned. How to use in social studies: -Best used to get an overall perspective on major historical events. The civil rights movement in the United States is a good example of a historical event that can be used in an exercise such as the cooperative jig saw.
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A Picture is Worth 20 Questions. William B. Russell III Basic Function -Teaches students to formulate good questions, and deductive questioning that will help them find answers. Helps teachers find out what more they need to research about a certain topic. Steps -Do a lot of background research about the image you will show the class. Know small details such as who the people in the picture are or who they represent. -Show the picture to the class. Make sure they are familiar with it, but dont know everything about it. -Give them opportunities to ask you 20 different yes or no questions. -Allow a few seconds between each question for the students to process what new knowledge they have learned and what would be another beneficial question to ask. How to use in social studies -Best used with famous historical events such as the painting of the National Assembly during the French Revolution. Olivia Jennings Article: Engaging Students in World History with a Bog Body Mystery Author: Michael M. Yell Strategy: Discrepant Event Inquiry Basic Function: An inquiry-based teaching strategy that encourages students to interpret a puzzle, discrepant event or paradoxical statement. Steps: 1. The teacher prepares a puzzling story or statement based on a particular unit of study 2. Have students analyze the puzzle or statement by asking a series of close-ended questions 3. To enrich their thinking, pause during the inquiry to allow for small group discussion 4. Follow the inquiry with a class discussion whereby students are asked to develop questions they wish to have answered during the unit or lesson Timing: Allow students 5 minutes to pose questions Example of Class Activity: Discrepant Event Inquiry is a motivating and engaging activity for students in grades 7 to 12. Select a picture or a short clip from an appropriate DVD or video based on a new unit. Respond to only yes or no questions posed by the students. When a student believes to know the answer to the puzzle, have them explain their answer to the class. If students are unable to solve the puzzle, follow the inquiry with a guided discussion. Additional Resources and References: http://historytech.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/tip-of-the-week-visual-discrepant-event-inquiry/ Photographs http://images.google.com/hosted/life http://digital.nypl.org/mmpco/ http://www.pics4learning.com/
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Olivia Jennings Article: Let Freedom Ring: Using the Circle of Knowledge Strategy to Examine American Symbols Author: Scott L. Roberts Strategy: Circle of Knowledge Basic Function: To encourage discussion that develops conflict resolution skills and strengthens comprehension of content. During this activity, students are encouraged to base their opinions on facts and evidence. Steps: 1. Establish a topic of discussion 2. Divide students into small groups 3. Develop a sparking question that is designed to help students connect prior knowledge with current subject matter 4. Develop a focus question that is open-ended, mildly controversial and having no right or wrong answer 5. Pre-select credible websites and articles for students to use to find information about the topic 6. Develop a 5 part kindling activity to encourage small group discussion. Each student will be a member of two discussion groups. 7. Similar to the jigsaw strategy, students will first discuss their topic and determine the main points to share with the class. Provide students with a graphic organizer to help them organize their points. 9. Move students into new groups. Have students discuss their main points from their previous group. Provide students with a graphic organizer to help organize the information. Example of Class Activity: Although originally used to discuss American symbols, the circle of knowledge strategy could be used to discuss provincial/territorial and national symbols of Canada and other countries. Additional Resources and References: Instructions http://www.clayton.k12.ga.us/departments/instruction/toolsandstrategies.pdf Provincial/Territorial Symbols http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1266350021122 National Symbols http://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1363193195814/1363193294910 Katie DeMerchant Potter, L. (2013). Piquing Student Curiosity from title pages from works by Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau. Social Education 77(4), pp. 168-73. Stratedgy -What do you see? What do you see? is very similar concept to a KWL. Essentially students are judging a book by the cover. Students are encouraged to study the title page, the illustrations, and the font and write down their observations and any questions that they might have. They are to take note of the full title, when and where it was published and how the title and the name of the author are presented. Then from what the students see in the pages, images and information, they have to research and find the answers to their questions by using safe scholarly online search engines or from preselected print sources. What do you see? can be used in social studies because it allows a student practise making intelligent observations, making connections and collecting information apart from reading the text. It allows students to use their visual skills and interpret the information without extensive reading. This strategy could be used with historical documents, maps, literary works, and works of art, photographs, comics and many more. Students make their observations from the image or object and come up with questions that they must research to find answers to. The teacher must provide, appropriate search engines, websites or print resources where students can find the information. Then students share as a class what they discovered from their own research that was inspired what they saw in the chosen image or document.
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Fernsten, L.(2012). Promoting Student Comprehension with Co-operative Learning. Social Education 76(3), pp. 147150. Strategy- Webbing Webbing is a collaborative activity where students create visual maps that link together important information from the readings in a text and prior classes. Students have to visually connect things (events, people, places) to the big ideas that are being addressed. The big idea that is used as an example in this article is civil rights. The smaller things that could be connected to it would Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and Segregation etc. It allows for students to be able to start making those connections and see how those separate things can be connected by a larger idea. Each group could be given a different larger idea and have to consult the text and the previous days notes. Webbing is a graphic organizer that can be used in social studies to visually show connections between ideas and things. By having students work as a group and visually establish how thing may or may not be connected. It forces them to make critical decisions and evaluate what is important from the text and their notes and what is not. Social studies teaches many broad and expansive ideas, human rights, government, community, political science etc. by using webbing and visual maps it allows students to see and understand connections of small events to larger ideas. Jeremy Thibeau Cooperative Learning Basic Function: Students will work together to learn, understand, and teach each other content. Steps: Group students together in a balanced way so that the weaker and stronger students in this course are together. It is also important to try and group together students of varying learning styles. Give students group tasks where they explore content for themselves and try to develop and answer questions on their own. Examples of classroom activity: Get students into groups to look up a chapter in the textbook, and construct a lesson so they are able to teach it to the rest of the class. To do this, each group member would have to become familiar with that specific chapter.
Ways to use this in social studies: Get students to compare and contrast different types of government. Get students to teach each other about the different of aspects of culture in one country.
Josh Forward Strategies in Teaching Social Studies: "Take a Stand". Ayo Magwood and Krista Fantin Ferraro Take a Stand is a teaching strategy which can be used to teach social studies in a physical way because it shows each student where they stand on specific societal issues and topics. It would be beneficial to place desks or tables against the walls of the classroom and have the activity in the middle of the classroom so there is lots of room for students to move around while participating in the activity. The technique is affective as it allows students the opportunity to express their attitudes, preferences, values, and feelings on issues of importance. The activity allows students to: clearly state to the class their own positions; challenge issues rather than persons; be willing to take a controversial stand if they genuinely believe it; not be unduly influenced by the positions/opinions of others; be open to growth and change regarding their own positions; be motivated to seek out factual data and research to become more fully aware of the issue; and to actively participate in a demonstration forum.
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Students "take a stand" along a taped line on the classroom floor between two extremes. An example could be individual rights and the common good. The procedure is as follows: the teacher will introduce a topic that is either controversial or debatable. The teacher does not take a position but briefly states the opposing positions in an equally appealing manner so they do not influence the stand taken by students. After a statement or idea is communicated to the class, the students may position themselves along the line where one end is labelled "agree" and the other "disagree" or "pro" and "con", depending on how they feel about the statement that is made. Students may be asked to briefly state their position and reason for the stand they have taken. Take a stand can be used in Social Studies to help students associate where they stand on a political left-right spectrum or it may help them to achieve party identity. In a more general sense, the strategy can be used to help students identify where they stand on a wide array of issues or topics discussed in Social Studies. Strategies in Teaching Social Studies: "Analyzing Political Cartoons". Grant R. Miller Some of the best and most memorable activities in Social Studies challenge students to go beyond the memorization of names and dates. They challenge students to think critically and develop their own logical reasoning skills. The decisions students make about social and political issues come from a wide array of influences; students see, hear, read, and are subjected to many political influences whether they like it or not. For this reason, it is important for students to develop the skills necessary to depict politically natured messages for what they really are. Specifically, in these lessons or warm ups, students learn to evaluate political cartoons for their meaning, message, and persuasiveness by examining the author's use of symbolism, exaggeration, labeling, analogy, and irony to identify the way cartoonists use humor to address serious issues. When beginning a lesson, a teacher may review the content of the previous lesson and refresh what the students already know about said subject. If the subject is contemporary or even if there are political cartoons that depict the lesson that was taught, students are shown a political cartoon and asked to describe what message the author is trying to communicate, and what political issue is being portrayed. Students develop critical questions about the political cartoons and brainstorm with the class on what they could mean. The author also provides several websites which help students analyze, corroborate, and synthesize primary sources from the Gilded Age. One activity called "Image Detective" guides the students' analysis of images such as a propaganda poster that opposes women's suffrage. A variation of this activity would be to provide each student with a ballot that says: "I am fairly confident that:"; "My best reasons for thinking this are:"; and "A question this raised for me is:". After the political cartoon is shown, each student is given time to fill out the ballot and the teacher may anonymously read the responses on the ballots. As a group the class can figure out the true meaning of the cartoonists' messages. As the warm up is practiced, students find it easier to indentify and decode political messages. Louis King Jeff L.Whittingham: Economics is for everyone: a fetching graphic organizer Reflective Journal/ Strategy: Graphic Organizer http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/yl/2102/Pullout.pdf Graphic organizers are a great way to give a visual representation for students to relate their existing knowledge to new information. Using the FETCH organizer (Finding Economic Topics and Concepts in History) students can easily separate key figures in historic events from specific causes, to what subtle factors played a role in history. The key concepts to this graphic organizer are: Who was involved? What want or need did they have? What resources were available? What good or service was provided? This particular set up is great for a history class room, but it can easily be extended to science classrooms. Graphic Organizers are great because they give students a nice organized reference sheet in which they can refer to in order to get their facts. At the start of your unit hand out a premade organizer or get students to make their own. As important issues come up have students make note of where they should fit in the organizer and how they apply to other concepts. By reviewing their organizer each time a concept appears you begin to enforce learning through repetition and application. This is not a strategy best used for one lesson (although it can be modified to do so) but one that links general larger ideas throughout and entire unit.
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I would use something like this (and have in the past) to enforce the ideas of electric fields and electric potentials. Students can separate fields into vector quantities and potentials into scalar quantities. Afterwards student can then determine what they can calculate using the field and potentials. For example for can be calculated from the field, and work can be calculated from the potential. Then taking it one step further students can calculate work from the force and field from the potential bring everything full swing around. Of course this would take the entire unit to cover but students would get valuable practice at each step along the way. Gianetto, J.L, and Rule, A.C: Using object boxes to tech about Middle Eastern antiquity Reflective Journal/ Strategy: Object Boxes http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/yl/1704/170404.pdf An object box is exactly what it sounds like. It is a box with various objects in it which all have a common theme. Breaking students into groups give each group a piece of paper with a list of items on it (all of which are contained in the box). This list should include enough space for students to write a brief description about the object as well as an explanation about what THEY THINK it represents. Have students go around the table writing and discussing their input on the idea. Another method of application could be to have a different object at each table. And have the group explain each object with their undivided attention at each table. After 5 minutes have them rotate. I actually would really enjoy having a social studies class now, just for the purpose of employing this strategy. I would use various items which natives used but may be a little more obscure. I would of course use traditional items like birch baskets, and arrow heads, however I would also like to use items like porcupine quills or smoking pipes. I would of course have to do more research on topics and find some really exotic items but I would like to facilitate speculation among the student as to how the items might have been used. This sort of lesson best shows students creative thinking abilities. Raymond Roy Roberts, Scott L. Using the Circle of Knowledge Strategy to Examine American Symbols. (2013) Social Studies and the Young Learner 25 (4), pp. 23-26. Sept. 24, 2013 The circle of knowledge strategy is a strategy used to facilitate discussion within the classroom. While general discussion can be an effective teaching tool, it is also one that can be affected most when students do not want to participate. The circle of knowledge strategy is a means by which teachers can get greater student participation and more productive discussion. There are six steps involved in implementing this teaching strategy: 1. Establish the topic and purpose within the curriculum, choose topics that are controversial or will generate a high degree of student interest. 2. Develop a sparking question effective sparking questions will connect the chosen topic to prior student knowledge. 3. Develop a focus question the focus question should be open-ended and controversial. Students should be told that there is no right or wrong answer to this question; however, they should also be encouraged to support opinions with evidence. 4. Decide how students will acquire the information they need to participate in the discussion pre-select credible sources that students will study to develop answers in groups. Each group will become experts on their specific topic. Within each expert group, you can give students different sources to show the benefits of using multiple sources, and as a means to differentiate. 5. Develop a kindling activity Create an activity by which students can share their information with one another. For example, you can reorganize students into groups containing a member from each of the expert groups and have students teach one another about each topic. Be sure to include a graphic organizer to help students take notes. 6. Creating a synthesis activity for discussion Create an activity where students can put together all of the information theyve learned.
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Raymond Roy Bornstein-Grove, Matthew, and Hamel, Fred L. A. The Makah Whale Hunt: A Social Studies Symposium in the Classroom. (2013). Social Education 77(4), pp.201-205. Sept. 24, 2013 A symposium is a relatively simple activity that requires students to represent various figures (historical or contemporary) and interact with one another at particular meeting. The figures are chosen by the teacher who develops role cards to give to students outlining who they will be at the symposium, what their views and believes are related to a particular topic and any other pertinent information that might help students fit their role. Many of the figures will be actual historical figures, but some may be fabricated by the teacher to represent a perspective that is not easily found through a historical individual. Each character or perspective is related to other characters through a common connection to a historical event, series of events or conflict. A potential sequence of lessons featuring a symposium might include 1-3 lessons of preparation, during which students examine relevant information (e.g. analyse a photo, create a timeline, choose relevant information from a selection of texts, etc.) and learn about their character. Depending on class length, 1-2 lessons can be spent on the actual symposium. This may involve students preparing roles, symposium dialogue, writing time and debriefing. The 2-4 lessons after the symposium may then involve small in class discussions in character and out of character, sorting/categorizing character perspectives, connecting personal opinions to characters or developing persuasive writing pieces. It may help to use a graphic organizer to help students keep track of the characters they meet, what their opinions are, and why they think they feel that way. Jonathan Campbell Teaching Social Studies Through Motion Pictures Russell, William Benedict III. (2012). The Reel History of the World: Teaching World History with Major Motion Pictures. Social Education 76(1). 22-28. National Council for the Social Studies. Watching a movie in class does not necessarily have to be a time-filler. Multimedia and Movies capture students attention all the time, using a film for a reference point can help a student establish a basis around the subject. Rather than simply putting a film on to watch within a class there are certain steps a teacher can take to ensure the film is learning experience. First of all when getting ready to watch a movie a teacher should prepare the class for the film they are about to watch. This involves creating a backdrop within your unit plan that the film would fit. It is also important that the teacher obtain the permission of the students parents before showing a film. The teacher should give the class an introduction to the film placing it within the context of the unit. During the viewing it is important that the teacher point out important ideas perhaps even pausing the film to explain a specific fact. By pausing the movie the teacher reminds the students that the movie is supposed to be a learning experience. It is important after the film to reaffirm the idea that this was a learning experience; whether the teacher does this through discussion, or evaluating the students learning by having them write a review. Watching a movie can be used in social studies to give students a background for a specific event, historical time, or moment. Having the students review or discuss a set of questions after the viewing helps them to enhance the learning of the film. Through the review of a film a class can pick out the important aspects of a film and bring them to the forefront. This allows students to draw connections between the reference material and the original context. Teaching Social Studies Through a Mock Trial Peterson, Nancy. (2009). Increasing the Relevance: A Who Done It Mystery. Social Education 73(4). 184-186. National Council for the Social Studies. A mock trial is a group led discussion in which members of the class have small roles which apply to an overarching subject. Each group is given a particular role to play; within each group the students in that group point out the aspects of the lesson which would appeal to their role. Each student must read, review, and prepare the group role so that they can participate in the discussion. If a student does not have a solid understanding of the given role they can fall back on others within the class who have the same role for support. Each group may further break down the role between the students to specific aspects of the lesson. The teacher will monitor the groups throughout their planning and help students who get stuck or miss important information.
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The following class day the groups reconvene for a teacher led discussion in which each role has their say on the given topic. Students will be given the chance to voice the things the role they were given would have found interesting. The teacher will then give the class the opportunity to refute that point or question it, before moving on to the other groups fact. The teacher will encourage each student to participate in the discussion and urge group members to help those in their group who cannot remember the information. This format of sharing information will help the class draw a conclusion about the discussion in question that can then be discussed with the teacher as the sole speaker. This can be used in Social Studies by giving the students an article , section of the text, or a moment in history and giving the students roles based on the information. As groups the students will draw specific facts from the information given and then exchange the information in a back and forth fact stating trial. The students are able to both voice their opinion in their small group but also hold the floor in a larger group developing their views on the information. This would allow students to move beyond the basis of fact and explore the information from a specific standpoint. Tori Roberts Article: Engaging Students in World History with a Bog Body Mystery Author: Michael M. Yell Strategy: Discrepant Event Inquiry Basic Function: An inquiry-based teaching strategy that encourages students to interpret a puzzle, discrepant event, or paradoxical statement. Steps: 1. Students are told a puzzling story or statement and what they must figure out in order to solve it (the more puzzling the better). 2. Students analyze the puzzle and form ideas by asking the teaching questions that can be answered with a yes or a no. If a question cannot be answered with a simple yes or no the student must rephrase it. In this way, the teacher does not provide explanations for the students and the students learn how to focus and structure their questions as well as build on previous questions. 3. The teacher pauses during the inquiry to give students the opportunity to engage in small group discussions to enrich their thinking. 4. The inquiry is followed with the development of questions that students wish to answer during the unit/lesson. Note: Students are given a time frame of 5 minutes- use an online stop watch for effect. Also, if at any time a student believes they have the answer, they can raise their hand and must explain their reasoning. Example of Class Activity: Relay the story of the Bog Body, or show video clip of The Perfect Corpse. Put up a time bomb and allow student to begin to ask yes/no questions. Was the victim a real person? Yes. Were they from another country? No. After a few questions, split the class into groups of 4 and get them to think about what they have been told, what they have learned and what possibilities have been eliminated. Come up with more questions and keep guessing until the timer runs out. Following the inquiry, the teacher guides the students in developing the questions they would like to explore about the topic. Whether or not the class has answered the inquiry does not really matter; what matters is that the discrepant event inquiry is a motivational tool for developing questions students will use as they inquire further into the subject. Additional Resources: 1. 2. History Tech- http://historytech.wordpress.com/2009/02/27/tip-of-the-week-visual-discrepant-eventinquiry/ http://cenphilsoc.brinkster.net/Discrepant%20Event%20Inquiry.htm
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Article: I Didnt Raise My Boy to Be a Soldier: Ideas and Strategies for Using Music from the National Jukebox to Teach Difficult Topics in History Authors: Stacie Moats and Stephanie Poxon Strategy: Teaching Topics with Music Basic Function: To allow students to consider different perspectives of topics in History by using both sheet music and sound clips. Steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Begin the class by modeling analysis of sound recordings and sheet music. Invite students to listen to a sound recording at least once. Select questions from the Teachers Guide to Analyzing Sound Recordings and record the students responses. Repeat steps while analyzing the songs sheet music, except this time ask questions from the Teachers Guide to analyzing Sheet Music and Song Sheets. Now organize students into pairs and have them analyze a new song Invite the class to compare notes, discuss What can we l earn about different perspectives by analyzing songs from the period?
Example of Class Activity: Have students analyze songs from the First World War Era. Such as, I Didnt Raise My Boy to be a Soldier. Ask questions like: What was the purpose of this r ecording? Who do you think recorded it? Who would be interested in hearing this? What was happening at the time it was recorded? Compare with other songs, like Over There and Mammys Chocolate Soldier to see how different people viewed the war at different times. Consider analyzing the sheet music before listening to the sound clip. Did it sound like you thought it would based on the lyrics? Additional Resources: 1) Library of Congress- http://www.loc.gov/teachers/usingprimarysources/guides.html 2) Songs for Teaching- http://www.songsforteaching.com/socialstudiessongs.htm Circle of Knowledge Basic function: This is a way to spark a discussion within the classroom. It is guided by the teacher who has thought through the steps below to get to a desired point in the topic. Steps: 1) Establish the Topic and Purpose 2) Develop a Sparking Question 3) Develop a Focus Question 4) Decide How Students will Acquire Information 5) Develop a Kindling Activity 6) Create a Synthesis Activity *** Note: Be Flexible*** Variation: The example in the article shows how this strategy could be used to examine American symbols. Ways to use in social studies: Similar to the article we could implement this to help students learn the key concepts when a new topic is introduced. Resources: http://www.socialstudies.org/system/files/publications/yl/2504/25041323.pdf (Final page has many resources on it)
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Nathalie Cormier Strategy: Jigsaw Source: Platte, Stephen. (1991). Co-opearative learning: A practical application strategy. Social Education, 55 (5), pp.326-328. HOW TO: Students will be grouped heterogeneously. The groups are assigned a topic, concept, or event. All of the groups will be assigned the samethis is what differentiates jigsaw with other cooperative learning strategies like cybernetics and group investigation, for examples. Each group will divide the topic into different sections or aspects for each group member. The students will then complete the part of the puzzle relevant to their section of the topic, and will share with the rest of their group the information they learned. Their group members can ask them for clarification if need be, and any clarification that cannot be answered can then be discussed as a class. The puzzle can look very different, depending on the topic, concept, or event chosen, as well as on the methods and strategies chosen for the lesson. The teacher can provide the students with information to read (or direct them to the proper chapter in their textbook for example) and with questions to answer. The teacher could also ask the students to make a newsletter about knowledge they already learned in previous classes, and each group member would have a different task (editor, artist, writer, etc.) or every member would write an article on a different aspect learned. The possibilities are endless. The article suggests allotting class time for this strategy rather than using it with homework, to make sure each student participates. Peer evaluations can apply to this strategy, or the teacher can give the students a quiz, etc. as long as it involves each students accountability. (p.327) CONNECTION TO SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING IN NB: This strategy could be very useful to teach a concept interactively rather than through a lecture. Each student has less to read, and it can therefore take less time than if every student was assigned a chapter to read with a list of questions to answer individually. Group members will teach one another about the sections they read, so every student will learn every aspect. The teacher can then make sure every student absorbed the knowledge by reviewing it as a class, and then evaluating them. Strategy: Discrepant Event Inquiry Source: Yell, Michael. (2012). Engaging students in world history with a bog body mystery. Social Education, 76(1), pp.17-21. HOW TO: This is used as a warm up. The teacher tells his/her students a short story, or gives them a few clues. The students then have 5 minutes, from the time the first question is asked, to ask the teacher yes or no questions. Yes or no questions force the students to connect previous questions with their own suspicions and to phrase their questions appropriately, which doesnt require explanations from the teacher. Using an online timer is essential, to enhance the sense of immediacy and excitement. The teacher can pause halfway to give the students a few minutes to discuss in small groups. This can be beneficial to stop the same students from always asking the questions. If a student feels like they know t he answer, they dont have to phrase it as a yes or no question, but they must explain their reasoning, or how it could possibly solve the mystery. If they are correct, the timer is paused, and can be recorded to add an element of competition (either among different classes if the teacher teaches multiple classes, or as a class competition to beat their record if the teacher uses this strategy often).
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Once the 5 minutes are over, students can brainstorm questions they wish to have answered during the lesson. This strategy works well regardless if the mystery was solved or not. The author recommends using the mystery strategy after the Discrepant Event Inquiry to continue the sense of mystery the remainder of the lesson. CONNECTION TO SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHING IN NB: This strategy seems like it would be a very useful warm up. First, it doesnt require a lot of time, but it succeeds in getting students interested. The teacher will know what the students find interesting about the topic from the brainstorm at the end of the warm up. The author recommends the book Mindtronics, by William C. and Jean K. Bruce, which provides over 70 stories for use in social studies inquiries. (p.20) This book might contain useful suggestions that would fit with the NB curriculum. Teaching Social Studies through Cybernetics Evan Schriver Platte, Stephen A. (1991). Cooperative learning: A practical application strategy. Social Education, 55(5), pp. 326-8. Cybernetics is system of group work best suited to problem solving activities. To begin, the teacher forms four to five groups at five stations, each of which has a recorder elected by the group. They then work on the problem presented at their station. The problem can be an implicit or explicit issue which they must consider independently, discuss with their team, and then record their answer based on the teams opinion. After that, groups, rotate so they are at a new table and repeat the process until they return to their original table. Once finished, students will discuss their answers to each question. Then, the teacher leads a class discussion of each question, with each group giving their answers and discussing the responses of other teams. This would be a useful strategy in Social Studies because it allows the students the opportunity to discuss contentious issues without the teacher being directly involved. Furthermore, it gives students a chance to look at global issues which are often side-stepped in the classroom because they would require too much time to explain. As an example from the journal, the author uses the discussion of food distribution from one country to another during times of drought as a topic for the cybernetics activity. Is it ok to withhold aid to keep prices reasonable for your own people? This topic may never get discussed in a class lecture because the teacher would not want to influence student opinion, but it is easily discussed in the Cybernetics model. Teaching Social Studies through Discrepant Event Inquiry Evan Schriver Yell, Michael M. (2012). Engaging students in world history with a bog body mystery. Social Education, 76 (1), pp. 17-21. The discrepant event inquiry is an excellent strategy for warming up a social studies class. Not only does it get students thinking about social studies by examining a specific event, it facilitates student questioning and gets them used to asking lots of questions in and out of class, improving their critical thinking skills. The discrepant event inquiry goes like this: Students are placed into small groups, and then read a story or description of an event. The teacher then gives students two minutes to come up with yes or no questions to ask about the event. After three or four minutes of asking questions, the teacher gives the students two more minutes to form a hypothesis for their group as to what is happening. Then, the class can ask questions for three or four more minutes to try and prove or disprove their hypothesis. Following that, the teacher will ask the groups to have one person tell the class their hypothesis. It is important to note that it is not of the utmost importance to get the answer correct; the actual thinking and asking questions is of the most importance.
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Social Studies Personal Reflective Journal

ix. x. xi. xii. xiii. xiv.

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

AtoZ Teacher Stuff http://tips.atozteacher stuff.com/220/icebreakeractivities-getting-acquainted/

Education World http://www.education world.com/a_lesson/lesson /lesson242.shtml

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Educational Sponge Activities http://tepserver.ucsd.edu /courses/tep129/Educational Sponges.pdf

Teachers http://www.scholastic. com/teachers/article/top-5mini-quotspongequotactivities

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

http://www.brighthub education.com/middleschool-english-lessons /18821-coming-up-withwriting-topics-brainstormingideas/

Motivating Middle School Students http://motivatingmiddle schoolstudents.blogspot.ca /2012/05/brainstormingbliss.html

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Team Building Basic Function: To create a team.

eHow http://www.ehow.com /info_7927293_classroomactivities-team-building.html

Classroom Teacher Recourses http://www.classroomteacher-resources.com /classroom-team-buildingt2.html#axzz2f6QOd8BA

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Classroom Management Success http://www.classroommanagement-success.org /effective-teachingstrategies.html

1st Semester Warm-ups https://cmslbanos. wikispaces.com/1st+ semester+Warm+Ups

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

readwritethink http://www.readwrite think.org/classroomresources/printouts/chart -a-30226.html

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Teaching Strategies http://teaching-trategies .wikispaces.com/Round +Robin

ESOL Online http://esolonline.tki.org. nz/ESOL-Online/Teacherneeds/Pedagogy/ESOLteaching-strategies/Orallanguage/Listening-roundRound-robin

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Strategies/Techniques Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

METHODS/STRUCTURES Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

The Teacher`s Corner http://www.theteachers corner.net/classroommanagement/lineup.php

METHODS/STRUCTURES Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

METHODS/STRUCTURES Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

readingRockets http://www.readingrockets .org/strategies/think-pairshare/

METHODS/STRUCTURES Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

YouTube http://www.youtube.com /watch?v=TBHu1RdsXik

WikiHow http://www.wikihow .com/Make-a-PowerpointTemplate

METHODS/STRUCTURES Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

Pick a Popsicle Stick Basic Function: A method to randomize group selection.

The Teacher toolkit http://www.theteacher toolkit.com/index.php/ tool/popsicle

blogspot http://stickpickapp.blog spot.ca/p/how-to-use.html

METHODS/STRUCTURES Ways for the educator to organize or facilitate learning

http://www.theteachertoolkit .com/index.php/tool/twostray-one-stay Blog Spot http://historyofindonesi. blogspot.ca/2013/07/theuse-of-two-stay-two-strayto.html

This is a great reference for future use: http://www.medialit.org/media-values

o Letters o Diaries o Report cards

Write report Polish and present

Additional References http://www.thebestclass.org/moon.html http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/teaching-guides/24295 Scott Hachey Conceptual Continuum

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