UPDATE IN SOCIAL STUDIES

Information to help drive your curriculum and instruction.

What is Social Studies?

Social studies is the integrated study of the social sciences to prepare young people to become responsible citizens.

Primary Goal of Social Studies:

To promote responsible

citizenship for all students.

A Responsible Citizen….

Uses knowledge of the past to construct meaning Uses knowledge of spatial patterns on earth to understand

processes that shape our human environment Uses knowledge of American government and politics to

make decisions Uses knowledge of economic principles to make personal,

career and societal decisions about resources Uses methods of social science to investigate Constructs and expresses thoughtful positions on public

issues Acts constructively to further the public good

A POWERFUL QUOTE

“The greatest title any one of us can ever hold

is CITIZEN.”-President Clinton

During the presentation of the Presidential Medal of

Freedom

January 2001

We are all teachers of Social Studies!!!

If we want our students to understand the primary goal of Social Studies….

We must begin to take Core Democratic Values and the vocabulary of the standards and benchmarks into all of our classrooms----K-12

Social Studies Curriculums need to build:

Disciplinary knowledge

Thinking skills

Commitment to democratic values

Citizen participation

Disciplinary Knowledge is…(the big picture)

Students construct meaning through understanding of powerful ideas drawn from geography, history and American government, and economics.

Constructed meaning shapes students perspective for understanding society.

A Look at the Standards

•National Council of Social Studies (NCSS)

•Alignment is critical

•Pay attention to MI Standards

Opportunity Cost

When you make a decision, the alternative you don’t choose is the opportunity cost.

When a classroom teacher chooses to teach dinosaurs over economics, he/she is making an opportunity cost decision for the students!

Thinking Skills...

Necessary for involvement in public lifeStudents use methods of social scienceLearn to gather, interpret and analyze

informationEngage in civic discourseBe able to take a stand!

Democratic Values

Core Democratic Values are underlying values from our constitution and other important documents.

Teaching Core Democratic Values

CDV are ideas in which Americans believe.

We do not look the same.

We like different things.

There are some ways that we are the same.

WE BELIEVE IN TELLING THE TRUTH AND TREATING PEOPLE FAIRLY.

To be good citizens we must practice these values each day at home and at school.

Thinking Out of the Box

If Core Democratic Values are only taught during Social Studies class…students will not begin to make the connection that these values are a part of our heritage and what our country is all about.

Citizen Participation

Involve public affairsStrengthen competencies for self-

governmentRule of LawEncourages students to improve

theirCommunities

25 Standards/Indicators of Responsible Citizenship

Students make continuous progress toward meeting the standards at each level.

Historical Perspective

Use knowledge of past to construct meaning

Knowledge of events, ideas and people Includes time and chronology,

comprehending the past, analyzing the past, and judging decisions from the past

Geographic Perspective

Diversity of people, places and cultures

Human/Environment InteractionLocation, Movement, ConnectionsRegions, Patterns, and ProcessesGlobal Issues and Events

5 Themes of Geography

Designed to provide a basic framework of Geography for all teachers.

The expectation is that by teaching geography across the curriculum, we will be more successful in developing geographic literacy among our students.

MR. HELP

M= MOVEMENTR=REGIONSH=HUMANE= ENVIRONMENTL= LOCATIONP= PLACE

Civic Perspective

Using knowledge of our government to make informed decisions.

Economic Perspective

Use knowledge of the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services to make informed decisions about resources

Inquiry

Using Social Science methods to answer questions about society.

Public Discourse and Decision Making

Identifying and analyzing issues

Group Discussion

Persuasive Writing

Citizen Involvement

Students will act constructively to further the public good.

Students becoming actively involved in public affairs

Preparing students to participate in political activities in order to serve their communities

Developing Social Studies Sequence

Early Elementary Sequence…. Children begin by studying themselves….then progress to their families, schools and communities…all 7 strands must be included

Later Elementary Sequence…include broader communities (urban, suburban and rural), the state of MI and other regions of the U.S….to 1763, rights and responsibilities of citizens and basic economic concepts…interpreting specific rights of Constitution…economic, civic and geographic content needs to be covered

Middle School Sequence

Students study global regions and the world….include study of major geographic regions and cultures…constitutional foundation of our government…history and economy of U.S…cover to at least 1815.

High School Sequence

Eras of U.S. history….local, state and national government in the U.S…world affairs…American economy and international economic systems…geographic and environmental implications…all four disciplines- history, geography, civics and economics should be integrated within all high school courses.

A little about the S.S. MEAP Test

Test given in 5th, 8th and HS3 types of questions (selected

response, constructed response and extended response)

Four levels of performanceNo other MEAP Test is more aligned

than the Social Studies Test

Are we asking too much of these kids? Is this material grade

appropriate?

All of this material comes from the standards and benchmarksAre we teaching the content standards or something else?Some states do a similar test in 3rd or 4th gradeReadability is based on sentence lengthAll items reviewed three times by Advisory Committee

Information from the students...

Teach content standards in manner like it is being tested

For 5th graders civics is most challenging

Students can create bar and line graphs but have difficulty on interpretation

More Information from Students...

Knowledge of history, geography, economics and government was more evenly distributed by grade 8

Some students are showing success

It is easier for students to identify than to explain

Things You Can Do to Teach Social Studies Throughout the Curriculum

Learn and use the vocabulary of the content standards in every thing you do and print….

INTEGRATE…INTEGRATE…

INTEGRATE…INTEGRATE…

INTEGRATE!!!INTEGRATE!!!

CONNECT CONTENT TO THE REAL WORLD

Focus on Current Events in Your Classroom

Must help students make connections to current events

Connect this information to CDV

USA Today

We know from the MEAP Test...

•When schools instruct through the recall method, students will have difficulty mastering the benchmarks!

•When schools instruct using the 4 Teaching and Learning Standards, students find mastering the benchmarks easier and are more successful!

Making the Connections

Look at: What you are teaching?

The benchmarks you will cover

“Big Ideas”

Connect to today/Real World

Ideas to Incorporate CDV’s Across the Curriculum...

Use CDV charts throughout all classrooms, in the hallway and in the office

Share CDV handouts and posters with parents at Open Houses

Make classroom books on CDV ‘s for every class and place in the library

Use “people” shapes and have young children begin talking about CDV’s

Use children’s literature to demonstrate and discuss CDV’s

Use Children’s Literature

Several organizations have developed lesson plans to help teachers teach Social Studies concepts and vocabulary using children’s literature.

See attached list for addresses/websites

an example

Arthur’s Birthday (Marc Brown, 1989)Vocabulary: decision making,

scarcity, problem resolutionArthur and Muffy are having birthday

parties on the same day forcing their friends to choose one friend over the other. Arthur and Francine come up with a solution and put their plan into action.

Teaching Economics

Other Literature Sources

Notable Social Studies Trade Books- list published by NCSS each year.

Core Democratic Bibliography- arranged by CDV.

Terrific Websites

http://www.ncss.org

http://www.themint.org

http://www.economicsamerica.org/vv.index/html

Epic Website http://michiganepic.org

Michigan EPIC is an educational technology project focused on the Social Sciences.

Aligned lessons to MCFAssessments aligned to the MEAPPrimary resourcesTeaching aids and much, much more

Linking and LearningLinking and Learningfrom A to Zfrom A to Z

Best Practices of Technology Integration II from Michigan teachers

All districts have several copies

In lesson plan folder---many Social Studies resources like the Constitution and the Oath of Office

Ideas to Incorporate CDV’s Across the Curriculum...

Use CDV charts throughout all classrooms, in the hallway and in the office

Share CDV handouts and posters with parents at Open Houses

Make classroom books on CDV ‘s for every class and place in the library

Use “people” shapes and have young children begin talking about CDV’s

Use children’s literature to demonstrate and discuss CDV’s

Putting The Pieces Together

Understand the standards and benchmarks.

All teachers are responsible for helping to teach the Social Studies.

Incorporate CDV’s. Incorporate

children’s literature and use the vocabulary of the standards and benchmarks.

Use technology resources.

We don’t all need to teach Social Studies because of a test...

We need to teach and integrate the concepts and vocabulary into much of what we do…so it makes sense for kids…so they become the responsible citizens we know they can be!