TBTE 412 - Elementary Social Studies Methods - Summer 2007 - Tom Hammond
Session #
Date
Topics
Activities
Assignments to complete in preparation for next class (or to start after class and complete at a later date). Reminder: please consult the rubrics as you work on the assignments
1
Thu, 5 July Syllabus

Intro to elem SS, curriculum, TBTE
Opening survey

Who, what, when, where, how, and why

Overall theme: Know your curriculum (and hence content), know yourself, know your context, know your options

- What is social studies?
- Where does it fit within the context of elementary ed?
- What is the elementary social studies content? (Curriculum scavenger hunt)
- What are elementary social studies methods?
- How does technology fit into all of this?
- (T(P(CK)))
- Professional associations: NCSS, Tapped In

Demo: Weaving the Globe

Q&A

Tech & Teaching support time

Finish curriculum scavenger hunt

Start content journal. Suggested, but not required: Keep this on a blog or a wiki.

Read Parker, Ch. 1-2, take some notes

Join NCSS, or at least subscribe to its listserve

Join Tapped In

Start thinking of a favorite text (fiction or non-fiction) from your elementary days. If you can, bring it in to class for Thursday, 12 July.

If you''re interested: Download and experiment with Google Earth.

If you're interested: Read Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Education Review, 57(1), 1-22. --TPCK builds on this, obviously.

2 Tue, 10 July Pico-quiz on Parker, Ch. 1-2

Elementary students: ages, stages, curricula



Turn in curricular scavenger hunt

Take pico-quiz on Parker, Ch. 1-2

Theory on young learners and social studies: Piaget, Skinner, Bruner, Bransford

Politics of young learners and social studies: History vs. Social Studies; Heritage vs. Inquiry; CORE (or other assertions of "the canon") vs. expanding environments vs. Alleman & Brophy

Education research on young learners and social studies: Bransford, Barton & Levstik

End results: Purposes of identification, moral response, analysis, exhibition. (Adapted from a history ed text--Barton & Levstik, 2004--but applicable to the entire field.) Education for miniature disciplinarians vs. preparation for participatory democracy.

Demo activity (Parker 116-117)

Unpacking the activity

Q&A

Explaining curriculum characterization assignment

Tech & Teaching support time

Read Parker, Ch. 3 & 4 (just skim 4 if you're pressed for time); take notes

Select a favorite text (fiction or non-fiction) from your elementary days. If you can, bring it in to class on Thursday, 12 July. Otherwise, bookmark it on Amazon or somewhere else on the web.

Look over your assigned section of the curriculum and prepare < 5 powerpoint slides describing/characterizing that section. (These will be posted to Tapped In and made available to classmates.)

Begin elementary social studies manifesto assignment.

If you're interested: Read Barton, K. (1997). "Bossed around by the queen": Elementary students' understanding of individuals and institutions in history. Journal of Curriculum and Supervision, 12(4), 290-314.

If you're interested: Read Barton, K., & Levstik, L. (1996). "Back when God was around and everything": The development of elementary children's understanding of historical time. American Educational Research Journal, 33, 419-454.

If you're interested: Brophy & Alleman did a fantastic series of studies with elementary students, all published in Theory and Research in Social Education.
3 Thu, 12 July Content journal check-back

Curriculum by age level

Planning
Feedback on content journals

Curriculum reports

Planning: From curriculum to instruction, and more specifically, from the curriculum to the lesson plan
- chunking
- curriculum map
- unit plan
- lesson plan
- - importance of variety in activities: rote, construction, transfer
- - know your tasks: reproduction learning, mastery learning, experiential learning
- - tool-task fit

Backwards Design & social studies

Integration: social studies & language arts? math? science?

Demo: Literary place-markers

Explanation of lesson plan assignment

Explanation of resource list assignment

Nifty tech tool for tracking web resources: del.icio.us

Q&A

Tech & Teaching support time
Finish reading Parker, Ch. 4. Take notes.

Read Parker, Ch. 12. Take notes.

Start work on lesson plan

Start work on resource list
4 Fri, 13 July A potpourri of instructional  methods

History & Geography
Visual discovery

Demo: Poster activity

Demo: World religions via Flickr maps

Q&A

Tech & Teaching support time

If you haven't already: Generate content journal entry for the week.

Read Parker, Ch. 5. Take notes.
5 Tue, 17 July Integrating content, method, and technology  Take a pico-quiz on Parker. (Emph = methods)

Introduction to the matrix

Demo: Five-picture charades and digital movie-making

Q&A

Explanation of digital video assignment. (Demo: Off-the-shelf vs. teacher-created geography instruction videos)

Tech & Teaching support time
Compose rough cut of your digital video assignment

Write the x-axis for your midterm
6 Thu, 19 July Assessment Assessment discussion
- grading vs. evaluation vs. assessment vs. feedback
- formative vs. summative
- instruments: authentic vs. "inauthentic" (rubrics, portfolios, demonstration tasks, multiple choice, constructed response, etc.)
- large-scale testing (state-level tests, NAEP)
- teacher vs. peer vs. self assessment

Pair-and-share on x-axis of midterm

Feedback on rough cut of digital video assignment

Q&A

Tech & Teaching support time
Write one square of your midterm

Finish up a rough draft of lesson plan

Read Parker, Ch. 7. Take notes.

If you haven't already: Generate content journal entry for the week.

7 Tue, 24 July   Turn in first square of midterm

Pair-and-share feedback exercise on lesson plan rough drafts via Tapped In
Work on digital video assignment. (Help will be available via Tapped In.)
8 Thu, 26 July   Receive feedback on first square of midterm

If you haven't already: complete pair-and-share feedback process on lesson plans in Tapped In

Post revised cut of digital video assignment

Finish midterm

If you haven't already: Generate content journal entry for the week.
9 Tue, 31 July Citizenship, government & current events Turn in midterm

Citizenship education
- What is citizenship?
- Can citizenship be taught?
- Frameworks for citizenship ed

Citizenship vs. government

Finish lesson plan

Read Parker, Ch. 6; take notes.
10 Thu, 2 Aug Economics Turn in unit plan lesson plan

Demo: Wise Pockets
Finish resource list assignment

If you haven't already: Generate content journal entry for the week.
11 Tue, 7 Aug Cleaning up our content, methods, and/or technology
Unit plans returned

Show resource lists

Explanation of final portfolio

Q&A

Tech & Teaching support time


Finish elementary social studies manifesto

Finish final portfolio
12 Thu, 9 Aug Conclusion and continuation Turn in final portfolio

Beginnings of conversations that you will carry on forever:
- classroom management
- parent management
- administrator management
- teaching controversial topics
- life-long learning and technology, social studies, and elementary education

Graduation ceremony


Celebrate!

Just for the heck of it: Why not post another content journal entry? You'll be taking that first step beyond the class-driven activities and into your own, personal learning cycle.
Final work due
       
 

safe mode