ELE 3340
SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN
SYLLABUS
Dr. Veronica P. Stephen2176 Buzzard Hall
217-581-7896 or 217-662-8553 (home)
email: ffice hours posted on office door
UNIT THEME: Educator as Creator of Effective Educational Environments: Integrating diverse students, subjects, strategies, societies, and technologies.
Catalog Description: ELE 3340: Social Studies for the Elementary School Children (3-0-3). Planning and organizing for instruction, material selection, and evaluation in social studies. Field based activities will be provided in Elementary Education 4000. Prerequisites; Elementary Education 3000; and concurrent enrollment in Elementary Education 3290, Elementary Education 4000, and Elementary Education 4880, or permission of department chair.
Course Purpose: ELE 3340 is organized to prepare teacher education students to teach social studies in elementary and middle schools. Course goals include helping preservice students to develop: a) confidence in their teaching abilities; b) knowledge of social studies content and sequences; and c) the ability to select and utilize developmentally and age appropriate materials and techniques. ELE 3340 is essential in helping teacher education students acquire knowledge, interactive and informational processing skills, attitudes, and commitments necessary for effective teaching of the social studies in elementary and middle schools and attainment of the goal of effective citizenship in a diverse and interdependent world.
CEPS Outcomes for all EC/ELE/MLE classes:
1. Foster students’ desire for lifelong learning and model one’s desire for lifelong learning, including self-evaluation.
2. Demonstrate effective communication skills.
3. Strive for positive development of students’ intellectual, social, and moral skills and behaviors.
4. Design instruction that will develop and utilize the cognitive and affective processes by which students learn.
5. Demonstrate a knowledge of facts and an understanding of fundamental principles, ideas, and relationships among various knowledge domains.
6. Demonstrate knowledge of past and present developments, issues, research, and social influences in the field of education.
7. Demonstrate knowledge and utilization of technological tools.
Outcomes Specific to ELE 3340:
1. Enhance the concept and experience of thoughtful democratic citizenship.
2. Utilize vital social issues and current events in lesson planning.
3. Demonstrate a firm knowledge base in the social sciences, including history, anthropology, economics, geography, political science, psychology, and sociology, as well as the humanities.
4. Design integrated and themed curriculum for comprehensive social studies.
5. Create learning environments to invite development of healthy self concept and pro-social behaviors.
6. Foster appreciation of individual uniqueness, cultural pluralism, and citizenship in the global village.
7. Promote cooperation and conflict resolution so that the classroom, the school, and the community can be democratic microsocieties.
8. Identify criteria by which one decides what will be learned and what instructional strategies will be employed to deliver that learning.
9. Incorporate state, national, and National Council for the Social Studies standards in social studies lesson planning and instructional delivery.
10. Incorporate up-to-date technology and telecommunications in lesson planning and instructional delivery.
11. Promote higher-order thinking and decision making based upon involvement with critical social issues.
12. Design authentic, appropriate, and varied forms of evaluation for social studies.
13. Manage the social studies classroom to optimize academically engaged time.
14. Teach so that critical citizenship education can result in constructive social action.
Learning Model: Social Systems
This model is constructed to take advantage of the collective energy people generate when working together by building learning communities. Learning is viewed as an interaction between the student and critical aspects of the school and home environment and focuses on the whole ecosystem, not just the learner. The model is designed to lead students to define problems, explore various perspectives of the problems, and study together to master information, ideas, and skills. The teacher organizes the group process and disciplines it, helps students find and organize information, and ensures a vigorous level of activity and discourse. (Models of Teaching by B. Joyce, M. Weil, and B. Showers; 1992; Boston: Allyn and Bacon.)
Texts:
Welton, David. A. Children and Their World: Strategies for Teaching Social Studies. 8th Edition. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004.
National Council for the Social Studies. Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for the Social Studies. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1998.
Supplemental Materials: Provided by instructor.
Course Requirements and PointsGrading Scale
Final Exam= 100 pointsA = 92% or higher
B = 91% to 83%
Midterm Exam= 50 pointsC = 82% to 75%
D = 74% to 67%
F = 66% or below
Attendance= 5 points per session
Participation= 10 points
Performance includes discussion, volunteer input, engagement with others, cooperative learning situations.
Projects/Units/Guides= 100 points
Performance includes demonstration of proficiency in word processing; application of technology skills in researching topics; and development activities reflecting creativity, higher order thinking skills, different learning styles, and multiple assessment.
Group Presentations= 10 points
Performance includes demonstration of effective communication skills; application of technology tools; and utilization of productivity tools such as Power Point.
Journal/Internet Reviews= 10 points
Performance includes locating relevant social studies sources, topics, and/or issues and providing an evaluation by submitting a reaction paper utilizing word processing.
Note: The syllabus is tentative and subject to change. Specific assignments and due dates will be provided in class. Attendance and participation are essential. If you are absent, you obviously cannot participate. No late work will be accepted, unless special circumstances arise which will require documentation. NO assignments are accepted via email.
COURSE OUTLINE
WEEKSESSION CONTENTREADING ASSIGNMENTS
Building a Framework for Social Studies:
1Overview: Course/Requirements
2Social Studies DynamicsPrologue, Chapter 1
- Democratic Citizenship
3Social Studies Knowledge BaseChapter 2
- Diverse Perspectives
4Social Studies Programs OrganizationChapter 3
- Goals and Standards
- Curriculum Models
- Technology
Contexts for Teaching Social Studies:
5Dimensions of Cultural DiversityChapter 4
- Children’s Literature
6Dimensions of Instructional DiversityChapter 5
- Children’s Literature, The Arts
- Learning Styles/Multiple Intelligences
7Character and Values EducationChapter 6
- Moral Dilemmas
8Values EducationChapter 6
- Special Interest Groups
- Censorship
9LiteracyChapter 7
SOCIAL STUDIES INSTRUCTION:
10Planning/Orchestrating InstructionChapter 8
- Developing Units/Guides
- State/National Standards
11Assessing LearningChapter 9
- Evaluation/Grading
- Portfolios/Rubrics
12Effective TeachingChapter 10
- Lecture/Small Groups
13Strategies for Active LearningChapter 11
14Critical and Reflective ThinkingChapter 12
- Critical Thinking, Simulations
15Maps, Globes, and GraphicsChapter 13
- Resources, Technology
16Other Instructional ToolsChapter 14
- Resources, World Wide Web
16Course Review/Closing ThoughtsEpilogue
Suggested Journals for Article Reviews
Educational LeadershipSocial EducationAmerican Education
Elementary School JournalPhi Delta KappanSchools in the Middle
Journal of Staff DevelopmentChildhood EducationLearning
The Reading TeacherEducational ForumThe Clearing House
Journal of Teacher EducationThe Social StudiesTeacher
Social Studies & The Young Learner
Theory and Research in Social Education
Note: Various themed issues of Phi Delta Kappan, Educational Leadership, and Social Education are of exceptional value and relevance.
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Suggested Readings: (* Denotes CEPS Knowledge Base author.)
Avery, P. and Graves, M. 1997. “Scaffolding Young Learners’ Reading of Social Studies Text.” Social Studies and The Young Learner, 9, 10-14.
* Banks, J. 1992. “Multicultural Education: For Freedom’s Sake.” Educational Leadership, 49, 32-36.
Berman, S. 1990. “Educating for Social Responsibility.” Educational Leadership, 48, 75-83.
Boyer. E.L. 1990. “Civic Education for Responsible Citizens.” Educational Leadership, 48, 4-7.
Brett, M. 1996. “Teaching Extended Class Periods.” Social Education, 60, 77-79.
* Brophy, J. et al. 1992. “Fifth Graders’ Idea About History Expressed Before and After Their Introduction to the Subject.” Theory and Research in Social Education, 20, 440-489.
* Bruner, J. 1983. “Education as Social Intervention.” Journal of Social Issues, 39, 129-141.
______. 1961. The Process of Education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Connor, M. 1997. “Teaching United States History Thematically.” Social Education, 61, 203-205.
* Dewey, J. 1938. “What is Social Study?” Progressive Education, 15, 367-369.
Denton, K. and Muir, S. 1994. “Making Every Picture Count: Ethnicity in Primary Grade Textbook Photographs.” Social Education, 58, 156-158.
Enedy, J., Graham, P. T., and Cline, P. 1994. “An Interdisciplinary Approach to Teaching Christopher Columbus.” Social Education, 58, 149-151.
Fryemier, J. et al. 1996. “Values and the Schools: Sixty Years Ago and Now.” Phi Delta Kappa Research Bulletin, 17, 1-2.
Fulwiler, B. and McGuire, M. 1997. “Storypath: Powerful Social Studies Instruction in the Primary Grades.” Social Studies and The Young Learner, 9, 4-7.
Gartenhaus, A.R. 1993. Minds in Motion: Using Museums to Expand Creative Thinking. San Francisco: Caddo Gap Press.
Grelle, B. and Metzger, D. 1996. “Beyond Socialization and Multiculturalism: Rethinking the Task of Citizenship Education in a Pluralistic Society.” Social Education, 60, 147-151.
* Glasser, W. 1990. “The Quality School.” Phi Delta Kappan, 71, 424-435.
Hilliard, A.G. 1992. “Why We Must Pluralize the Curriculum.” Educational Leadership, 49, 12-15.
Hirsch, E.D., Jr. 1987. Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Hoffbauer, D. and Prenn, M. 1996. “A Place to Call One’s Own: Choosing Books about Homelessness.” Social Education, 60, 167-169.
Hollister, B. 1995. “Social Math in the History Classroom.” Social Education, 59, 14-16.
* Hunter, M. 1988. Mastery Teaching. El Segundo, CA: TIP Publications.
* Johnson, D.W. and Johnson, R.T. 1990. “Social Skills for Successful Groupwork.” Educational Leadership, 47, 29-33.
______. 1989. Cooperation and Competition: Theory and Research. Edma, MN: Interaction Book Co.
Kirkman, J. 1995. “Teaching about Local History Using Customized Photographs.” Social Education, 59, 11-13.
Koeller, S. 1996. “Multicultural Understanding Through Literature.” Social Education, 60, 99-103.
Kozol, J. 1991. Savage Inequalities. New York: Crown Publishers.
Lamme, L. 1994. “Stories from Our Past: Making History Come Alive for Children.” Social Education, 58, 159-164.
Lindquist, T. 1995. Seeing the Whole Through Social Studies. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
______. 1997. Ways That Work: Putting Social Studies Standards into Practice. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Miculka, L. 1997. “Photographs Slide into the Classroom.” Social Studies and The Young Learner, 9, 8-10.
National Council for the Social Studies. 1981. “Essentials of the Social Studies.” Social Education, 45, 162-164.
______.1994. Expectations of Excellence: Curriculum Standards for the Social Studies. Washington, DC: NCSS.
* Parker, W.C. 1990. “Assessing Citizenship.” Educational Leadership, 48, 17-22.
Ravitch, D. 1989. “The Revival of History: A Response.” The Social Studies, 80, 144-149.
Romanowski, M. 1996. “Problems of Bias in History Textbooks.” Social Education, 60, 170-173.
Rowe, J. 1990. “To Develop Thinking Citizens.” Educational Leadership, 48, 43-44.
Schur, J. B. 1995. “Students as Social Science Researchers: Gender Issues in the Classroom.” Social Education, 59, 144-147.
Scott, K. 1995. “Seventy-Five Years Later … Gender-Based Harassment in Schools.” Social Education, 59, 293-297.
Selwyn, D. 1995. “Arts and Humanities in the Social Studies.” Social Education, 59, 71-77.
Shotick, J. and Walsko, G. 1997. “Using Children’s Theater to Teach Economics.” Social Studies and The Young Learner, 9, 11-13.
Simmons, J. S. (ed.). 1994. Censorship: A Threat to Reading, Learning, Thinking. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
* Slavin, R. 1990. “Cooperative Learning Models for the 3 Rs.” Educational Leadership, 47, 31-33.
Yeager, E., Doppen, F., and Otani, E. 1997. “State History and African American History: An Interdisciplinary Civil Rights Approach.” Social Studies and The Young Learner, 9, 14-17.
Suggested WebsitesPlease double-check the address (things change!
National Council for the Social Studies
Illinois State Board of Education
The PBS Democracy Project
The White House
Library of Congress World Wide Web Home Page
Smithsonian Institution
Web Museum
US Holocaust Museum
Museum of Fine Arts
Discovery Channel Online
The History Channel
Arts & Entertainment Channel
PBS Online
Social Studies
History/Social Studies Site for K-12 Teachers
Internet Resources for Social Studies Education
GlobaLearn
Art & Art Education
Historic Documents
Gateway to World History
Economics Resources for K-12 Teachers
Children’s Literature
World Health Organization
Wall Street Journal
USA Today
Also check out websites that focus on “Essential Questions” with respect to social studies.