Social Studies in the Elementary School

CI 3110

Social Studies in the Elementary School

Appalachian State University

Fall 2007

Tuesday, 8:00-9:50; Friday, 8:00-9:50

Dr. Allen Bryant

328-D Duncan Hall

Phone: 262-3152

Email:

Office Hours: Tuesday 10:00-2:00; Thursday 12:00-2:00; and by appointment

"History was a record of wickedness and violence, a continual succession of regicides and kings murdering their wives, brothers and nephews; geography merely maps…Education bewildered me with knowledge and facts in which I was only mildly interested.

If only someone had used salesmanship, had read a stimulating preface to each study that could have titillated my mind, infused me with fancy instead of facts, amused and intrigued me…romanticized maps, given me a point of view about history and taught me the music of poetry, I might have become a scholar."

--Charlie Chaplin

“If young people want to become teachers they should be encouraged and not intimidated.”

--Frank McCourt

Course Description:

National, state and program standards for the social studies, current research in social studies education, social studies content, and knowledge of the learner are used to build lessons and units in social studies. Constructing knowledge, understanding major social studies concepts, developing skills, and connecting social studies to the broader elementary curriculum is emphasized. Major topics include selecting materials and resources, instructional strategies, applying technology, integration with other subjects, and assessing learning. Coursework is integrated with the K-6 field internship and includes service-learning component.

Required Texts:

The following texts are required for this course:

·  The Children’s Story, James Clavell

·  Now More Than Ever: “Social Studies” in the 21st Century, James A. Bryant, Jr.

·  Curley, James A. Bryant, Jr.

Course Goals:

Students will:

·  Recognize and understand the tapestry of world cultures as well as local and national traditions

·  Analyze how children construct an understanding of time, distant places, and spatial relations

·  Identify the developmental progression from the individual to the nation and the rest of the world

·  Understand the relationship between people and their environment

·  Identify basic concepts from the disciplines of geography, economics, history and civics

·  Analyze historical events from multiple perspectives using primary sources

·  Use critical thinking to link current events to the past and future

·  Understand the nature of global interdependence

·  Explore ways to help children develop skills to “make a difference” through service

·  Improve writing, speaking, reading, technology and map reading skills

·  Identify themes and objectives from national and state social studies standards

·  Develop methods and assessment skills that focus on authentic learning

·  Integrate social studies with other subject areas when planning units of instruction

National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Standards:

I.  Culture

II.  Time, Continuity and Change

III.  People, Places and Environments

IV.  Individual Development and Identity

V.  Individuals, Groups, Institutions

VI.  Power, Authority and Governance

VII.  Production, Distribution and Consumption

VIII.  Science, Technology, and Society

IX.  Global Connections

X.  Civic Ideals and Practices

North Carolina Standard Course of Study Social Studies Themes K-6:

K: Self & Family/Families around the World

1: Neighborhoods and Communities around the World

2: Regional Studies: Local, state, United States and World

3: Citizenship: People Making a Difference

4: North Carolina: Geography and History

5: United States History, Canada, Mexico and Central America

6: Europe and South America

Requirements and Assignments:

1.  Class Participation/attendance: Class attendance and participation is required and is a key to your success in this course. Participation will be determined by attendance, in-class group activities and discussion. 10 pts.

2.  Internship Connections:

·  Service Learning activity: Design, implement and conduct a service learning activity with the children for one of the lessons in your integrated unit or as a separate activity. Provide the description of the activity and a reflection on what you learned. 10 pts.

3.  Content Based Assignments: The following assignments are based on using the NCSCOS and the NCSS standards.

·  History; Current Events: “Living Links” paper. You are to select someone you know—family member, friend, neighbor, etc.—and interview them regarding their experiences of some past event. It could be the Kennedy assassination, Vietnam, 9/11, the space shuttle Challenger, etc. Your final artifact will be the transcript from the interview and a 5-7 page narrative of the interview. 20 pts.

·  Geography and Culture; Families, Communities, Communication and Transportation; Social Justice: Read Curley. Write a 3-4 page response to the book, focusing on the role that culture played in the struggles and triumphs detailed in the book. 20 pts.

·  Government/Civics/Citizenship: Read Clavell’s The Children’s Story. Then research some elementary school social studies textbooks (these are available in the ASU library). Select a topic that you feel is “taught” in a misleading, incorrect, or incomplete way. Develop a lesson plan that will “fix” this. 10 pts.

·  Quizzes: Quizzes based on the readings. 20 pts.

·  Storytelling: Prepare a storytelling presentation to give to the class based on our discussion of “The Magic If” and have a lesson plan prepared to handout for your peers. 10 pts.

Assessment:

A “C” reflects work that is adequate. In most cases, this represents work that is complete, but not supported by links or connections to research, theory, critical thinking, or evidence of creativity and independent thought. A “B” reflects good, strong work. In most cases, this represents work that is complete and supported by one or two references and some attempt has been made to connect ideas to critical thinking, creativity and independent thought. An “A” will only be given for work that is excellent. This work is represented by appropriate references, evidence of a strong attempt at creativity, evidence of critical thinking and relevant links of independent thought and theory. This work is well synthesized and not a regurgitation of another’s findings or a repetition of the problem at hand. The numerical grading scale for this course is below. Please be aware that a grade of “C” must be earned in this course in order to advance to student teaching.

Grades for this course will be determined as follows:

95-100 A 77-80 C+

90-94 A- 74-76 C

87-89 B+ 70-73 C-

84-87 B below 70 F

81-83 B-

*C- or below=repeat CI 3110

Policies:

1.  Absences: Attendance is required for all classes and will be necessary to receive full points on participation. All students are required to attend all course methods classes and field experience days. Students are granted one absence for serious personal illness, funeral attendance, and other situations that require the student to be somewhere else during assigned course hours. Students who are absent from this course beyond this allotted time will lose three points from their course total for each unexcused absence. Any time missed during the field experience must be made up—if possible—at the discretion of the cooperating teacher. Any time missed from the field placement that is not made up will result in the loss of one letter grade for each absence.

2.  Late Work: Late work will not be accepted except in the case of an emergency. Please DO NOT email me your assignments. Hard-copies should be ready on the day the assignment is due.

3.  Academic Integrity: See www.judicialaffairs.appstate.edu. All work completed for this class must be original. Each individual is expected to think, write, reflect, and question concepts presented in class. Students who commit academic misconduct, including plagiarizing work (copying or borrowing heavily from published materials) or copying or borrowing heavily from another student’s work will fail this class. The university holds Academic Misconduct as a serious and punishable infraction. A complete list of academic integrity code violations and additional explanations are listed on the Appalachian State University website listed above.

4.  Schedule: Some dates/assignments are subject to change.

5.  Cell Phones, Pages, and other $^%&$ Distractions: Please turn off all cellular phones and pages prior to the beginning of class. If you have some dire circumstance in which you need your phone to remain on, please alert me ahead of time.

6.  Emails: I may not always check my email over the weekend or after 5:00 pm, so please allow 24 hours for me to respond to an email message.

7.  Professional Demeanor/Courtesy: It is expected that each person in this class will treat his or her peers with the utmost respect and courtesy. We will be dealing with ideas, ideals and issues that may be controversial and contentious, so please keep the dialogue open, honest and professional.

The Living Links Paper

Why is This Important?

As a social studies teacher, it is important that you understand and be comfortable with the different disciplines which make up this field. One of the primary disciplines involved is the study of history (NCSS Standard 2.0). You should be able to conduct historical research, place that research in a broader context, and analyze material for its legitimacy and place in historical scholarship.

With this in mind, this activity asks you to conduct an interview with someone who has a story to tell, someone whose experiences fit into a broader story or historical experience (NCSS Standard 2.1c, 2.1d 2.1f).

What Steps Should I Take?

Planning & Implementation:

1. Select a participant for the interview.

2. Obtain permission from the participant to interview him or her and set up a time for the interview.

3. Prepare a list of ten to twenty open ended questions for the interview.

4. Interview the participant, remembering to always be respectful of his or her time (be prompt to the session and end at the agreed-upon time) and feelings (do not probe if the participant seems unwilling or uncomfortable discussing certain aspects of the era or situation).

Evaluation/Outcome:

1. Using the transcript of the interview (your findings), write a 5-7 page narrative report of the interview.

What Artifacts Should I Have When I am Done?

v  Interview Questions & Transcript

v  Written report of the interview and additional research done (if any)

v  Bibliographic information on additional research (if any)

What Outcomes Do You Expect?

v  Teachers will gain practice in the skills of historical research and analysis (NCSS 2.1c)

v  Teachers will formulate historical questions, obtain primary historical data, question historical data, and place historical research in a broader context (NCSS 2.1d)

v  Teachers will acquire knowledge of historical content in US history and compare historical patterns (NCSS 2.1f)

v  Teachers will gain firsthand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities facing historians during the research process

What Timelines are Associated with Activity?

This activity will be due June 6 & 7, 2006.

Where Can I Go for More Information?

www.ncss.org

Gilderhus, Mark T. (2000). History and Historians: A Historiographical Introduction. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Requirements for Elementary Social Studies Lesson Plans

I.  Title/theme/grade level

II.  Context (setting, unit of study, chronology)

III.  Alignment (goals, objectives, standards)

·  NCSCOS goal(s) and objective(s)

·  National standard(s) (NCSS, NGS)

·  NC program standard and indicator(s)

·  Integration with other subjects

IV.  Materials and Preparation

V.  Focus/review/interest building (romance)

·  Engage students

·  Connect to prior knowledge and/or review

VI.  Lesson Development

·  Major concepts and vocabulary

·  Main ideas and content

·  Questions that encourage thinking

·  Skills

·  Strategies

·  Activities

·  Learner differences

VII.  Summary and Closure

VIII.  Assessment (Impact on student learning)

·  Formative and summative assessment

·  Authentic assessment

·  Documentation (evidence) of student learning

IX.  Follow-Up and Extension

X.  Reflection

·  What worked or did not work? Why?

·  Changes for future lessons?

The Storytelling Assignment

One of the keys to successfully teaching social studies at the elementary school level is utilizing the art of storytelling. There are more than enough great characters—inspiring, frightening, and everything in between—generously sprinkled throughout history to illuminate any of the standards or topics in the NCSCOS. But too often teachers don’t use this tool—possibly because they haven’t had the practice. This assignment is designed to fix that.

For this assignment you are asked to do the following:

·  Select a person or topic from history (from the list provided or on your own, but the topic must be okayed by me first) and prepare to present it/him/her in a story form

·  Prepare a hypothetical lesson plan based on your research and the outline of the story you are telling. This lesson plan should follow the format provided

·  Tell your story to the class on the assigned date

Please note that you will not necessarily teach your lesson plan per se, it is a resource for your fellow classmates to refer to should they have the chance to do a lesson on the person or topic you have selected. You should let your imagination run free, while also recalling that you are bound by the facts involved. Your presentation will be approximately 10 minutes.

Some people/topics to choose from:

Charles Eastman Robert F. Kennedy Fawn M. Brodie

USS Indianapolis Coretta Scott King Hilary Clinton

Abraham Lincoln Rosa Parks Billie Holiday

Harriet Tubman Hiroshima survivor Audie Murphey

Henry David Thoreau Alvin York Helen Keller

Sally Ride Eleanor Roosevelt Yoko Ono

Rigoberta Minchu Charles Chaplin Malcolm X

Bette Davis The Alamo Gettysburg

Janis Joplin Pocahontas Wilma Mankiller

Course Schedule:

Date / Topic / Assignment
August 21 / Course overview; go over syllabus, schedule, assignments, etc. / Purchase Books
24 / The Mystic Chords of Memory / Read NMTE Chapter 1
28 / The Three Questions / Read NMTE Chapter 2
31 / Constructivism / Read NMTE Chapter 3;
September 4 / The Rhythm of Education / Read Whitehead’s “The Rhythm of Education”
7 / No Class
11 / The Forbidden Four
14 / Lysandra Saves the Hindu / Read “Legacy Project” material;
Quiz 1
18 / We Was Framed!! / Read NMTE Chapter 4;
21 / The Pledge / Read Clavell’s The Children’s Story; bring in lesson plan
25 / The Active Learning Activity / Read “Group Work” material;