Social Studies is Interactive!

Social studies is a body of integrated knowledge, concepts, skills, generalizations, and theories in the SS fields(history, geography, citizenship, anthropology, archaeology.

Origins of social studies

*history has dominated the discipline

*lectures & discussions are primary teaching devices

*Occasional audio visual aids and field trips

Elementary

*small group & independent work

*manipulatives, films, tv, computers

*integrated approaches

5 Powerful Teaching Elements of Social Studies!

Social Studies should not be just memorizing the facts

1. Engagement- From teacher with the class, connect with real- world situations
2. Integrative- Students are able to write, created pictures, combine with social studies
3. Value- based- Democracy, we as Americans have rights. We have to strengthen the sense of students' democratic values and social responsibility.
4. Challenging- Give students' creative tasks. Incorporate different perspectives & draws on student's critical thinking skills.
5. Active- Have students participate! Use the physical environment to help them understand Social Studies.

How do students learn?

When we read? 10%

When we hear? 20%

When we see/ hear? 30%

When we discuss? 50%

When do things? 75%

When we teach others? 95%

Jerome Bruner's take on knowledge

1. Metacognition

2. Generalization

3. Concepts

4.Facts

I like this take on the structure of knowledge. It is important to understand this for my future as a teacher. It is all about making the classroom a wonderful environment. Having students just memorizing facts doesn't explain "what they know". Facts are just facts.

Educational philosophies

• Re- constructionism-theory that allows understanding about the world today.
• Existentialism- the focus is on the student themselves.
• Progressivism
• Perennialism & Essentialism 

Students learn best when they are creating something and actually doing something.

Models of instruction

Personal model- giving students individual projects to help with self- esteem.

Social interactive model- organizing the classroom this way students are able to interact with the content & each other.

Information processing model- equip students with skills to find information, process, organize, reflect, explain.  Short term memory, long term memory, processing.

The behavioral model is on the bottom because it's teaching the understanding.

Strategies

Direct individual- student does the work & shares

• projects

Indirect interactive- student becomes center of the classroom

•  jigsaw map, role play, simulation, 

Indirect cognitive- problem - solving 

• graphic organizers, inquiry problem

Direct- I do, we do, you do!  

• convergent questions (yes or no answers)- what, who, when, how? 
• repetition & memorization.
• lecture
• home assignments/ readings from the text.

Methods- way of specific ways of reaching the goal

NO WORKSHEETS!!

Goals are what you want students to achieve in the end by generalizing. 

understand, grasp, comprehend. 

Objectives are more specific (belong in the independent practice)

"Given a graphic organizer on explorers, students will insert 8 out of 8".