| Instructor: | Russell Yates |
| Phone: | (360) 385-4649 (home) |
| Email: | graywolf@olympus.net russell_yates@csd49.org |
Course Description and Overview
This course is designed to prepare educators to thoughtfully and effectively teach social studies in K-8 classrooms. It includes a focus on both content and on teaching methods and structures uniquely suited to this subject area.
Students should gain a broad understanding of the components that make up the social studies and be able to confidently plan for and implement an effective and engaging curriculum appropriate to their students' interests and needs.
By the end of this course students will be able to:
Texts and Recommended Resources
It is expected that all students will attend each class meeting on time and participate in class activities. It is also expected that all of the assigned readings will be completed prior to the dates they are scheduled to be discussed in class. Assignments should be completed showing understanding, with all components addressed, and appropriate EALRs cited. All assignments must be unique, have a written version to be turned in to the instructor, and show citations for all references used. Use of a word processor/typewriter is expected and skill in the six traits of writing should be evident (a 6-Trait rubric for writing can be found online at http://www.nwrel.org/assessment/toolkit98/traits/index.html ). Assignments are to be turned into the instructor and presented to the class on time.
1. Social Studies EALRs - Together with approximately 3-4 of your classmates, you will research one of the five EALR categories as listed on the state website (http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/SocStudies/), the category will be assigned to your group during class. Your group will then create a presentation for the rest of the class that teaches "everything" a Washington state elementary teacher should know about that particular EALR category. Your group's presentation should show equal participation by all group members, help your students/audience learn the essential components of your EALR category, give a number of suggestions as to how the category of EALRs can be taught through the elementary grade levels, and entertain your classmates in some unique way.
2. Copyright - Reading to learn from nonfiction material is often a mainstay in elementary classrooms. Some sort of response is usually required so that students consolidate their thinking, show what they have learned, and to help them practice their writing skills. Children who are developing their individual reading and writing vocabularies, frequently have a difficult time answering questions or writing essays or reports using their own words. When students are reluctant to "put it in their own words" it is often because they don't understand why that extra effort is so important. For this assignment you are to create a lesson plan that teaches students about copyright law, especially how it applies to education. Follow the lesson plan structure as modeled in our text. You will find the Internet to be an especially helpful tool to do the initial research for this assignment.
3. Children's Literature - Elementary aged children become happily engaged when a good piece of appropriate literature is read to them. One of the most important skills and elementary teacher can have, and one of the most pleasant to hone, is that of reading aloud to children. Luckily for the teacher, there are many books available dealing with social studies topics. For this assignment you are to choose one book for three of the four major social studies content categories (history, geography, civics, and economics) and create a 30-60 minute lesson for which reading the book, or a portion of it, aloud forms the springboard for subsequent learning. The lesson may be as simple as a class discussion or as complex as one that is cooperatively structured. You should follow the lesson planning structure modeled throughout our text and include a comprehensive citation of the piece of children's literature used. Make enough copies of your lesson plan to share with each member of our class (including the instructor) and be prepared to read the piece of children's literature or portion of the book to the class (plan to read aloud for approximately 10 minutes and discuss your lesson plan for a few minutes more).
4. Virtual Field Trip - develop a "virtual field trip" on the social studies topic of your choice. Your task will be to gather appropriate resources and weave them into a sequential paragraph that will be the basis of the tour. Use your word processor's tools to create active links at appropriate points (be sure to use "copy/paste" commands to place the correct URLs in the links). Save your finished "VFT" as a "Rich Text Format" or RTF document and then email it to me or provide a copy of it on a disk. I will try to post all of the VFTs we create online and link them to our class website so we can all enjoy them :-) This assignment will be evaluated in terms of the extent that you demonstrate your understanding of this concept and the topic you have selected, the degree to which you weave together meaningful websites/webpages related to your topic, your demonstration of correct writing conventions, and that you provide an adequate number of correct URLs for your readers to appropriately cover your chosen topic.
An online example titled We're Headin' West - A Virtual Field Trip Along the Oregon Trail, can be found at: http://www.multiage-education.com/eled425/vft.html
Go to http://www.multiage-education.com/eled425/classvft.html to view the VFTs created by our class.
5. Integrated Unit - As schools feel increased pressure from government accountability schemes based on standardized test results, less and less time is available for non-tested or lightly-tested areas of study. One way time can be made for social studies is to integrate it with other subject areas. For this assignment you will create a 3-4 week unit of study for a grade band that you hope to teach. This unit should also be one that you will be able to use in your own classroom setting. Your tasks include: 1) select the title/topic of your unit, 2) specify the unit's duration, 3) identify the included disciplines, 4) state the student learning outcomes and specific EALRs addressed, 5) define the scope and sequence for the unit, 6) list descriptions of the activities that can be incorporated into the plan, 7) create one complete sample lesson for the unit, 8) design an assessment plan, 9) identify the required resources, and 10) include a bibliography of student and teacher resources. You may include the virtual field trip and the children's literature lessons in your unit, but your sample lesson should be unique to this assignment. Choose unique features of your unit to share with your classmates. Then create a presentation of those features to be shared with them as if they were the parents of your future students attending a curriculum night. Your presentation should be approximately 15-20 minutes in length. The written version of your unit, with all of the tasks addressed, will be due to the instructor when you make your presentation. This assignment will be evaluated in terms of the extent to which you appropriately weave several subject areas together, the completeness of the unit, the extent to which you show a logical organization or progression of lessons, and the appropriateness of your presentation to the intended audience.
The instructor and students will discuss, participate in, and model the following instructional methods:
This course schedule is flexible in that as a class we may decide to modify it somewhat. The class will also decide on assignment due dates during the first class session on January 6.
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(prior to class) |
(due date) |
| 1/6 | Introductions, Course Overview, Assignment Due Dates, Grouping Strategies, Social Studies EALRs | ||
| 1/13 | Students We Teach, Children's Literature | Parker, ch. 1-2 | 2-Copyright |
| 1/20 | No class meeting | ||
| 1/27 | Geography, Direct Instruction, Projects | Parker, ch. 3-6 | 3-Children's Literature |
| 2/3 | Technology in Social Studies | Parker, ch. 7-9 | |
| 2/10 | Cooperative Learning | Parker, ch. 11-12 | 4-Virtual Field Trip |
| 2/17 | No class meeting | ||
| 2/24 | Simulations | Parker, ch. 10 & 13 | 1-EALRs |
| 3/3 | Classroom Management | Kohn fwd, intro,, & ch. 1-5 | |
| 3/10 | Classroom Management | Kohn ch. 6-8, & appx. 1 | 5-Integrated Unit |
| 3/17 | Endings & Beginnings Course Evaluation |
5-Integrated Unit |
Course Evaluation - Assessment
Assessments will be in accord with appropriate sections in the Student Handbook (Understanding Grades). Assessment for specific assignments may have additional criteria as discussed in the assignment section (above).
Student evaluation of the instructor will be completed as per university guidelines.
K-12 Essential Academic Learning
Requirements for Social Studies
http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/SocStudies/
The EALRs for social studies are placed into 4 categories: History,
Geography, Civics, and Economics.
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History http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/SocStudies/EALRs/History.asp 1. The student examines and understands major ideas, eras, themes, developments, turning points, chronology, and cause-effect relationships in United States, world, and Washington State history. 2. The student understands the origin and impact of ideas and technological developments on history. |
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Geography http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/SocStudies/EALRs/Geography.asp 1. The student uses maps, charts, and other geographic tools to understand the spatial arrangement of people, places, resources, and environments on Earth's surface. 2. The student understands the complex physical and human characteristics of places and regions. 3. The student observes and analyzes the interaction between people, the environment, and culture. |
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Civics http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/SocStudies/EALRs/Civics.asp 1. The student understands and can explain the core values and democratic principles of the United States as set forth in foundational documents, including the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. 2. The student analyzes the purposes and organization of government and laws. 3. The student understands the purposes and organization of international relationships and how United States foreign policy is made. 4. The student understands the rights and responsibilities of citizenship and the principles of democratic civic involvement. |
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Economics http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/SocStudies/EALRs/Econ.asp 1. Students understand the impact of scarcity on their personal lives and on the households, businesses, governments, and societies in which they are participants. 2. Students understand the essential characteristics of past and present economic systems. 3. Students understand the role of government and institutions in past and present economic systems. |
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Social Studies Skills http://www.k12.wa.us/curriculuminstruct/SocStudies/EALRs/SocStudiesSkills.asp 1. Inquiry and Information Skills 2. Interpersonal and Group Process Skills 3. Critical Thinking Skills |
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Social Studies Frameworks |