Effective Teaching Of The Social Studies

In all three of these artifacts, I have developed relevant, integrative, challenging, and exploratory units of study. The “Preserving the Past” unit incorporates all four core subjects as well as a service learning opportunity. My interdisciplinary unit on geography connects Language Arts with Social Studies with visual art mixed in, and the Greek mythology ELA unit was taught in conjunction with a Social Studies class (1). The Civil War unit and NC geography unit I have created incorporate Common Core standards as well as NC Essential standards. Lesson plans and assessments in all of these units were created using backwards design in which I started by looking at the standards and objectives students would be expected to reach and based my assessment based on those objectives (2,10).

First, the elementary social studies standards goes from kindergarten to fifth grade. It is imperative to note that both the

Civics and citizenship education is a vital part of the Australian curriculum, as it prepares students to become active and informed citizens in the community (ACARA, 2012). The term “civics and citizenship” covers a range of topics that relate to both the geography and history syllabuses. This includes government and democracy, citizenship, diversity and identity and laws and citizens. For students to be able to develop the necessary skills, attitudes and values to become active and informed citizens, civics and citizenship must be incorporated throughout the curriculum (ACARA, 2012). To understand the importance of civics and citizenship in primary education, both terms need to be understood and comprehended

Also, throughout curriculum development the goals and aims of the curriculum need to be taken into account. Without specific goals and aims for the curriculum, the curriculum could be unfocused with no purpose identified. Within the social studies curriculum that I analyzed, I noticed societal goals for the curriculum (Posner, 2004). Societal goals are emphasized because the curriculum supports the development of knowledgeable and engaged citizens within our country. By understanding the goal of my curriculum I am better able to understand the purpose of what I am teaching, which in turn helps me to differentiate for my students while still keeping the ultimate goal in mind. I also was able to identify the further learning aims within the curriculum (Posner, 2004). By identifying this aim I was able to see how the curriculum I was teaching tied into the curriculum that the students would experience in subsequent grades. By reflecting on the further learning aims I was able to see how my teaching was a valuable piece of a bigger puzzle

There are a great number of things that can create problems for students in regards to their academics. One such issue is misunderstandings. There are some that are more common than others and will be identified in order to recognize potential problem areas and solutions. In addition, there are some misconceptions that are associated with particular content areas. One content area that will be under scrutiny will be the Social Studies classroom. These potentially problematic instances will be identified and methods will be devised using the “Backward Design” (Wiggins, & McTighe, 2005) approach in an attempt to reduce issues the teacher may face.

In conclusion, the instruction of social studies has continue to take a back burner role in classrooms,because it is not one of the subjects in the high stakes testing covered under the NCLB. However, this can change if teachers employ effective teaching strategies, that will help everyone to realize the importance of social studies content at every grade level. This will ultimately help our students to have the knowledge, and understanding to appreciate our diverse culture.

It is important to incorporate grade-level appropriate Social Studies books in a classroom library because it is essential for students in all grades to understand the history of our country and how it came to be. As Americans, it is important to know about critical moments in history that created this country. It is also important to include Social Studies books in your classroom library because it is being more common that Social Studies is not being taught enough or even at all in some schools. Often, teachers do not have a Social Studies block and it is important that the students still get a Social Studies education and one way to do that is to provide reading books for them to read as a way to learn this information. One argument against including this book in ones classroom library could be that since there is not enough time during the day when students read Social Studies books in the classroom library they will have questions because they are not familiar with the content. Sadly, because there is not enough time in the day teachers can not afford the time do devote to teaching Social Studies in fear that the students will fall behind in topics like Math or

Social studies ultimately about civic education, or civic competence. The idea being that all students need to have a certain amount of knowledge, skills, and democratic dispositions to be an active participant in their community (Chapin, 2013). The Arizona standards are quiet complex and thorough when it comes to social studies in the fourth grade, but only in some areas. Asking Mr. Aleman a few questions regarding his personal feelings on social studies as a content area, I was ill-prepared for the honesty of his responses. First, was the question of whether or not social studies was a subject that students needed. This teacher felt that social studies was extremely important because it was a way to connect students with their past and cultural identity. I think that this is reflective of the Arizona state standards, which emphasis learning about the history of civilizations in Arizona and the Southwest. While the focus is on Arizona, it stresses the

Students come to the classroom with their own ideas and pre-conceived notions. As a future educator it is important for me to understand what students know and where there are misunderstandings. These incorrect ideas about our world and history translate into misconceptions, gaps in knowledge, and stereotypes that will be taken as fact until otherwise taught. To better understand the missing pieces in social studies education and to find ways to address these gaps, I delved into the minds of two third-graders, one male, Sawyer, and one female, Brooke. After conducting my interview I have a better understanding of topics that students are not clear on and would benefit from more instruction. One topic students have missing information about is knowledge of famous women in history. A second topic students seem to be confusing is basic geography understanding.

As I read and thought about the Social Studies Standards, I considered looking into the standards for First grade. I think that children in this grade level are at a good age to better understand Social Studies. I do realize that teaching Social Studies starts from pre-school however it can be further be understood by older aged students. The topics that are covered according to the Standards first grade should introduce settlements and cultures, civilizations, and different places around the world. In the standards for first grade there are five strands.

In addition, Ms. Preston-Grimes, discusses how the integration of social studies should be “to create children who will be able to use the disciplines to advance democratic thought and life.” The author goes on to explain that is about creating different ways of thinking and not just focusing on bits of information. In addition, social studies should not simply be about learning small pieces during a reading lesson. Ms. Preston-Grimes stresses that true integration of social studies allows students develop thought process which are applicable outside the classroom. It allows students to develop inquiry skills which lend themselves to excelling in other areas and real-world experiences. The disciplines, the author writes about, help students understand their world and investigating ways of solving problems. The term stealthy integration is mentioned in the article and defined in a way that is remarkably similar to what is often happening in the classroom. This stealthy approach sends the message that social studies is secondary to reading or writing and carries less value. Additionally, this stealthy approach is not effective and not healthy. Healthy integration involves the students gaining greater insight and developing an understanding of the world around. This type of integration involves primary and secondary sources, connections, reading and writing as part of the inquiry. Finally, the article reiterates the point that all areas of study are important and teachers must find a way of teaching social studies without fracturing the subject

One of the main purposes of Social Studies is to learn knowledge needed to become an active citizen. In fact, according to Schug and Beery, many students that like Social Studies like it because of the emphasis that it puts on citizenship and how to be a citizen of the United States. They state, “You learn about the state and everything in general... for elections and stuff. Stuff you need to know when you grow up" (Schug & Beery 3). Students enjoy being taught citizenship and they believe that it is important to be taught. Therefore, they think Social Studies is important. However, there are many different types of citizenship.

According to the National Council for the Social Studies, “In a world that demands independent and cooperative problem solving to address complex social, economic, ethical, and personal concerns, the social studies are as basic for survival as reading, writing, and computing” (2013). The council argues that Social Studies must be an essential part of the curriculum in the early childhood/elementary years. However in schools across the country, an increased amount of instructional time is spent on English, Language Arts and Math while Social Studies, Science, Art, Music, Physical Education, and Recess is neglected. In a

The aim of Social Studies is the promotion of civic competence the knowledge, intellectual processes, and democratic dispositions required of students to be active and engaged participants in public life. Proverbs 19:2 (ESV) states," Desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way."For example it is essential for there to be commonalities across the grade levels so that there is a scaffolding of concepts to build from one grade level to the next.

To examine and explore what is global citizenship? This essay will look at the importance of becoming a global citizenship, the role we, as educators play in this development and how the curriculum frameworks and associated learning emphases for global education assist in the development of a global citizen.