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Constance Thomsen Illinois State University School of Teaching and Learning C&I 258.10 Social Studies Methods
Helen Keller: A voice against poverty and war Part I: Research Throughout the unit I learned so much about Helen Keller as a person and political advocate. She was more than just someone who helped the visually impaired, she was a woman with many ideals. These ideals stressed equality for all. She took a stand against poverty and was not afraid to speak her mind, even if what she had to say was not always the nicest. I learned the impact of using primary sources as well. These sources are more effective because the information is not interpreted already for you. Instead, by looking at these sources we are able to make our judgments. Of course, using only one source would not be effective because we would not have gained an overall understanding that encompasses as much information as we can. Collective Memory I remember Helen Keller as a historical figure that became blind and deaf after a childhood illness. With the help of her mentor Anne Sullivan she was able to overcome the loss of her sight and hearing. Her mentor helped her in the infamous well scene, in which Anne signed the word water into Helens hands. After this breakthrough, Helens sign language developed rapidly. Helen attended school, and even graduated from Ratcliff College. After graduating college Helen wrote her own book and became a political activist. She later wrote a poem to Alexander Graham Bell and was very important in the special education movement. Katie Obrien, a member of my generation, remembered some of the common known facts about Helen Keller. She recollected that Helen Keller was blind, deaf, and had a famous well scene where she learned the word water. Even though Katie remembered that Helens aid was female, she could not remember her name. Katie stated that most of what she knew was based off of the movie about Helen Keller that she saw when she was young, including the fact that she was from Alabama. (Katie OBrien, personal communication, Aug. 25, 2013)
Current history textbooks. In order to get an overall view of Helen Kellers representation in third grade textbooks, I used two different publishers. These publishers were Houghton Mifflin and Macmillan/ McGraw- Hill. These textbooks had very different accounts of Keller. The first text mentioned, Social Studies Communities by Houghton Mifflin, displayed only a surface understanding of Keller. The text talked about how Helen learned to read and write despite being blind and deaf with the help of her teacher Anne Sullivan. The only details that it included from her adult life were that she believed in education for the deaf and blind and spread this idea and her experiences in the places that she traveled to across the country (Viola, Jennings, Bednarz, Schug, Cortes, & White, 2005). The next textbook, also titled Social Studies Communities, by Mcmillian / McGraw- Hill gives students a better description of Keller. This textbook used multiple formats to describe Keller within a two page biography spread
Part II: Lesson Plan What Would You Change? Overview of the lesson This lesson talks about Helen Keller as more than just a person that is known for her role in overcoming the obstacles of being blind and deaf, but also her role as an advocate for change. In this lesson students will gain an overall understanding of Helen Keller and the role that she played in speaking out for change in society. Students will then be able to speak out for their own chance to make a change in their community, state, or country. They will address these ideas through independent, partner, and small group work, as well as, whole class discussions. The essential questions within this lesson will be Who was Helen Keller and what did she stand for?, What kind of social change can you do within your community?, What lasting impact will you make?. This topic is essential for students to learn, because they need to understand that they can make a difference in society. They also should learn that Helen Keller is known for more than just what she did to help those with disabilities. Students will also be covering many language arts skills in an inquiry based lesson. This lesson will challenge the students to think outside the box and then support their ideas with research. They will also use many visual aids and visual representations to help them organize and understand the material better. On the last day students will present the change they proposed to their fellow classmates and complete the learned column in their KWL chart. Grade Level: 3 Time - This lesson will take place over the span of a week. The attention getter and beginning part of the lesson should take roughly 20 minutes. The middle section will take at least 35 minutes. The research will take the bulk of the time for this unit. This will span over 3 days with a 45 minute time allotment at least on each day, in order to give groups time to gather quality information and find
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CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.1- Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.7- Conduct short research projects that build knowledge about a topic. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.3.4- Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, distinguishing literal from nonliteral language. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.3.1- Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 3 topics and texts, building on others ideas and expressing their own clearly
Lesson Objective(s) 1) At the end of the unit, students will be able to think critically on an important issue by providing at least two pieces of evidence from primary sources. 2)At the end of the unit, students will be able to communicate their viewpoint with evidence through at least three meaningful comments with a partner, group, or whole class discussion. 3) At the end of the unit, students will be able to interpret the literal and actual meaning of a critical text 80 percent of the time. Academic language -Poverty- according to Merriam Webster is the state of being poor.
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Assessment: During this lesson the teacher will use both formal and informal assessment. The informal assessment will occur during the duration of the lesson through inquiry style questions. The teacher will check for student understanding by reading their journal entries. The teacher will look at the anchor charts for their research, and their reading of the Helen Keller biography. She will asses their understanding by making sure they found the key points in the article. The teacher will use the KWL chart to check for the classes understanding as a whole. The teacher will have final assessment of their understanding with the letter they are writing for change. The teacher will give them the choice of creating their own organization or writing to one that already exists . If the students chose to create their own organization they will write a letter to a community leader or the teacher explaining who they are, what they stand for, and what kind of change they would like to see, and why. The teacher will assess the students based on the evidence that they use to support their findings. The teacher will be looking for students ability to provide credible sources and give two to
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Content 10-8 points- Students provide the following information in their letter: who they are, what they stand for, and what kind of change they would like to see, and why. The student gave 2- 3
arguments that they supported with evidence. 7- 5 points- Students are missing 1 of the components listed above. Students gave 1 argument that they supported with evidence. 4-0 points- Students are missing 2 or more components listed above. Students gave 1-0 arguments and they did not support them with evidence. Format3- Used the correct letter format, including a header, introduction, body paragraph, conclusion, and signature 2- Incomplete introduction or conclusion, forgot header or signature. 1- Did not include a introduction, conclusion, or body paragraph. Research 3- Used 3 primary sources, sources were credible.
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Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge all of the people who have stood up for change in society and believed that they could make a difference. Also I would like to acknowledge Helen Keller for her ability to stand fearless in her belief of a better society in which the poor are helped and peace reigns supreme.
References Adler, D. A. (1992). A Picture Book of Helen Keller. Holiday House. Banks, J. A., Boehm, R. G., Colleary, K. P., Contreras, G., Goodwin, A. L., & McFarland, M. A. (2005). Social Studies Our Communities. New York, NY: Macmillian / McGraw- Hill. Bell, A. G. (1908). Letter from Alexander Graham Bell to Helen Keller, November 20, 1908. Wrethem. Forner, P. S. (1967). Helen Keller : Her Socialist Years. New York, NY: Internations Publishers. Graff, S., & Graff, P. A. (1965). Heln Keller ( A Discovery Book). Garrard Publishing Company. Lawlor, L. (2001). Helen Keller Rebellious Spirit. New York, NY: Holiday House. Loewen, J. (2007). Lies my teacher told me: Everything your American history textbook got wrong. New York, NY: Touchstone. Owocki, G. (2013). The Common Core Writing Book. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Shagoury, R. (2009). The Truth About Helen Keller . Portland: Zinn Education Project.
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