Teaching Integrated Elementary Science and Social Studies

 

National Standards for Teachers of Social Studies (including subject matter standards): http://www.socialstudies.org/standards/teachers/vol1/home.shtml

 

Expanded environments Curriculum-

Expanded environments places the child at the center of the universe. Study of the world begins in Kindergarten with "me." In the first grade it expands to the study of the child's own family; in the second grade to the child's neighborhood; and in the third grade to the local community; in the fourth grade to the earth's regions; in the fifth grade the United States and in the sixth grade, the World.

 

1. The expanded environments scope and sequence has dominated elementary social studies. In the space below, present an argument supporting it or propose an alternative and provide a rationale for that alternative.

 

 

 

 

 

2. Stephen Krashen's maxim that teachers need to provide "comprehensible input" in a "low anxiety environment" seems to be true for most teaching situations. In the space below list and describe some of the things that teachers can do to lower the "affective filter" when they teach social studies. 

 

 

 

 

 

There are four approaches to the integration of ethnic and multicultural content into the curriculum

1. The Contributions Approach-•It is used when a school or a district first attempts to integrate ethnic and multicultural content into main stream curriculum

•The contribution approach is characterized by the insertion of ethnic heroes/heroines and discrete cultural artifacts into the curriculum,

 

 

2. The Additive Approach-•This is another important approach to the integration of ethnic content to the curriculum.

•Basically it is the addition of content, themes, and persecutions to the the contributions without changing the its basic structure , purpose and characteristics

 

 

3. The Transformation Approach-•The transformation approach changes the the basic assumptions of the curriculum and enables students to view concepts, issues, themes, and problems from several ethnic perspectives and points of view

 

 

4. The Social Action Approach-•The social action approach includes all the elements of the transformation approach but adds components the require students to make decisions and take actions related to the concepts, issue, or problem studied in the unit.

• Major goals of interactions in this approach are to educate students for social criticism and social change and to teach them decision-making skills.

• To help students acquire political efficacy and become reflective social critics

 

 

 

3. The social studies curriculum for fourth graders in the Sevier County School District is the history of their state. Ms. Rodriguez is chair of a district committee of teachers looking at how to transform the curriculum. She has made a list of possible options which include: (1) changing the scope of the curriculum, (2) expanding the geographic boundaries of the units of study, (3) introducing students to a rich mosaic of people, and (4) incorporating the personal experiences of students.

Help Ms. Rodriguez out! Select any two of these options. In the space below, explain how the implementation of each option will transform the curriculum.

 

 

 

 

·  Lesson plans are of two general types. Comprehensive lesson plans are detailed and lengthy. Abbreviated plans are written in outline form.

·  All planning comes down to two things: First, we must decide precisely what we expect our students to do; second, we must decide what we, the teachers, must do for our students to achieve what we expect of them.

·  Instructional objectives focus the direction and expectations of teachers and students. When they are well written, these objectives provide specific and observable expectations of student performance.

·  Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive objectives describes levels of thinking processes. Instructional objectives can be written to require students to use higher-level mental activities. The affective taxonomy can be used in writing values objectives, helping students be more responsive to cultural diversity.

THE TAXONOMY OF EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES

This is a revised version of Benjamin Bloom's work with the addition of the Psychomotor Domain as developed by Anita Harrow [1972]. Dr. Bloom's intent was to develop a classification framework for writing educational objectives. The questions and examples were added by Tom Allen to make the Taxonomy more useful for beginning teachers as a tool to facilitate appropriate questioning.

COGNITIVE DOMAIN:

  1. Knowledge: recognize or recall information.

Q: What is the capital of Maine? Who wrote "Hamlet?"

Words typically used: define, recall, recognize, remember, who, what, where, when.

  1. Comprehension: demonstrate that the student has sufficient understanding to organize and arrange material mentally.

Q: What do you think Hamlet meant when he said, "to be or not to be, that is the question?" (Rosenshine, among others, would argue that one of the best ways to teach is to teach pupils how to ask their own questions about the topic under consideration.)

Words typically used: describe, compare, contrast, rephrase, put in your own words, and explain the main idea.

  1. Application: a question that asks a student to apply previously learned information to reach an answer. Solving math word problems is an example.

Q: According to our definition of socialism, which of the following nations would be considered to be socialist?

Words typically used: apply, classify, use, choose, employ, write an example, solve, how many, which, what is.

  1. Analysis: higher order questions that require students to think critically and in depth. [Unless students can be brought to the higher levels of analysis, synthesis, and evaluation, it is unlikely that transfer will take place, i.e., this is stuff I can use rather than this is just more dumb school stuff that I can forget after I take the test. If teachers don't ask higher-level questions, it is unlikely that most students will transfer schoolwork to real life. They may not even be able to apply it to school situations other than the one in which it was "learned." E.g., we "know" that students know more than scores on the CAP Test or SAT would suggest.] In analysis questions, students are asked to engage in three kinds of cognitive processes:
    1. identify the motives, reasons, and/or causes for specific occurrence (Q: Why was Israel selected as the site for the Jewish nation?),
    2. consider and analyze available information to reach a conclusion, inference, or generalization based on this information (Q: After studying the French, American, and Russian revolutions, what can you conclude about the causes of a revolution?), or
    3. Words typically used: identify motives/causes, draw conclusions, determine evidence, support, analyze, why.
  2. Synthesis: higher order question that asks the student to perform original and creative thinking. Synthesis questions ask students to:
    1. produce original communications. (Q: What's a good name for this invention? Write a letter to the editor on a social issue of concern to you. Make a collage of pictures and words that represents your beliefs and feelings about the issue.)
    2. make predictions. (Q: How would the U.S.A. be different if the South had won the Civil War? What would happen if school attendance was made optional? What is the next likely development in popular music?)
    3. solve problems--although analysis questions may also ask students to solve problems, synthesis questions differ because they don't require a single correct answer but, instead allow a variety of creative answers. (How could we determine the number of pennies in a jar without counting them? How can we raise money for our ecology project?

Words typically used in synthesis questions: predict, produce, write, design, develop, synthesize, construct, how can we improve, what would happen if, can you devise, how can we solve.

  1. Evaluation: a higher level question that does not have a single correct answer. It requires the student to judge the merit of an idea, a solution to a problem, or an aesthetic work. The student may also be asked to offer an opinion on an issue. (Q: Do you think schools are too easy? Is busing an appropriate remedy for desegregating schools? Do you think it is true that "Americans never had it so good?" Which U.S. senator is the most effective? To answer evaluation questions objective criteria or personal values must be applied. Some standard must be used. differing standards are quite acceptable and they naturally result in different answers. This type of question frequently is used to surface values or to cause students to realize that not everyone sees things the same way. It can be used to start a class discussion. It can also precede a follow-up analysis or synthesis question like, "Why?"

Affective Domain of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives.

The Affective Domain addresses interests, attitudes, opinions, appreciations, values, and emotional sets.
The original purpose of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives was to provide a tool for classifying instructional objectives. The Taxonomy is hierarchical (levels increase in difficulty/sophistication) and cumulative (each level builds on and subsumes the ones below). The levels, in addition to clarifying instructional objectives, may be used to provide a basis for questioning that ensures that students progress to the highest level of understanding. If the teaching purpose is to change attitudes/behavior rather than to transmit/process information, then the instruction should be structured to progress through the levels of the Affective Domain:

  1. Receiving. The student passively attends to particular phenomena or stimuli [classroom activities, textbook, music, etc. The teacher's concern is that the student's attention is focused. Intended outcomes include the pupil's awareness that a thing exists. Sample objectives: listens attentively, shows sensitivity to social problems. Behavioral terms: asks, chooses, identifies, locates, points to, sits erect, etc.
  2. Responding. The student actively participates. The pupil not only attends to the stimulus but reacts in some way. Objectives: completes homework, obeys rules, participates in class discussion, shows interest in subject, enjoys helping others, etc. Terms: answers, assists, complies, discusses, helps, performs, practices, presents, reads, reports, writes,etc.
  3. Valuing. The worth a student attaches to a particular object, phenomenon, or behavior. Ranges from acceptance to commitment (e.g., assumes responsibility for the functioning of a group). Attitudes and appreciation. Objectives: demonstrates belief in democratic processes, appreciates the role of science in daily life, shows concern for others' welfare, demonstrates a problem-solving approach, etc. Terms: differentiates, explains, initiates, justifies, proposes, shares, etc.
  4. Organization. Bringing together different values, resolving conflicts among them, and starting to build an internally consistent value system--comparing, relating and synthesizing values and developing a philosophy of life. Objectives: recognizes the need for balance between freedom and responsibility in a democracy, understands the role of systematic planning in solving problems, accepts responsibility for own behavior, etc. Terms: Arranges, combines, compares, generalizes, integrates, modifies, organizes, synthesizes, etc.
  5. Characterization by a Value or Value Complex. At this level, the person has held a value system that has controlled his behavior for a sufficiently long time that a characteristic "life style" has been developed. Behavior is pervasive, consistent and predictable. Objectives are concerned with personal, social, and emotional adjustment: displays self-reliance in working independently, cooperates in group activities, maintains good health habits, etc. Terms:

PSYCHOMOTOR DOMAIN of Educational Objectives.

Instructional objectives and derived questions/tasks typically have cognitive/affective elements, but the focus is on motor skill development. The suggested areas for use are speech development, reading readiness, handwriting, and physical education. Other areas include manipulative skills required in business training [e.g., keyboarding], industrial technology, and performance areas in science, art and music. American education has tended to emphasize cognitive development at the expense of affective and psychomotor development. The well-rounded and fully functioning person needs development in all three domains. In the psychomotor domain, performance may take the place of questioning strategies in many cases.

  1. Reflex movements. Segmental, intersegmental, and suprasegmental reflexes.
  2. Basic-fundamental movements. Locomotor movements, nonlocomotor movements, manipulative movements.
  3. Perceptual abilities. Kinesthetic, visual, auditory and tactile discrimination and coordinated abilities.
  4. Physical abilities. Endurance, strength, flexibility, and agility.
  5. Skilled movements. Simple, compound, and complex adaptive skills.
  6. Nondiscursive communication. Expressive and interpretive movement.

Sample general objectives: writes smoothly and legibly; accurately reproduces a picture, map, etc.; operates a [machine] skillfully; plays the piano skillfully; demonstrates correct swimming form; drives an automobile skillfully; creates a new way of performing [creative dance]; etc.

Behavioral terms: assembles, builds, composes, fastens, grips, hammers, makes, manipulates, paints, sharpens, sketches, uses, etc.

 

·  Madeline Hunter's generic, seven-step lesson plan model has gained considerable popularity. The concept attainment model is less well known.

Madeline Hunter's (Seven Steps)

Teaching to an objective
[lesson objective--not a "step." See below for how to write a behavioral objective]

  1. Objectives
  2. Set [hook]
  3. Standards/expectations
  4. Teaching
  5. Guided Practice
  6. Closure
  7. Independent Practice

Behavioral Objective format:
Students will demonstrate their [knowledge, understanding, skill, etc.] of/to [concept, skill, etc.] by [activity performed to meet the lesson objective] according to [standard].
Example: Each student will demonstrate achievement of the skill of addition of whole numbers by adding columns of figures with paper and pencil accurately nine out of ten times individually in class.

Four step instructional process

  1. Watch how I do it [modeling]
  2. You help me do it (or we do it together) [together]
  3. I'll watch you do it or praise, prompt and leave [guided practice]
  4. You do it alone [independent practice].

Motivation "TRICKS"

  1. Feeling Tone
  2. Reward [extrinsic/intrinsic]
  3. Interest
  4. Level of Concern
  5. Knowledge of results
  6. Success

Ways of monitoring

  1. Oral individual
  2. Oral together
  3. Visual answers, e.g., "thumbs"
  4. Written
  5. Task Performance
  6. Group sampling

Questioning Guidelines

  1. Place signal [get their attention], then ask question
  2. Ask question before designating the person to answer
  3. Do not repeat nor rephrase the student's response. May ask for agreement by class or for others to respond. [You should explain why the answer is good, however. ]
  4. Ask question then wait for 50% of hands [or "bright eyes," knowing looks]
  5. Never ask a question of a student who you know cannot answer.
  6. If the student is confused or can't answer, calmly repeat the same question or give a direct clue.

Retention, Reinforcement

  1. Meaning/understanding (the most effective way to learn)
  2. Degree of original learning. Learn it well the first time. [And don't practice it wrong!]
  3. Feeling tone. [positive or negative will work but negative has some undesirable side effects.]
  4. Transfer [emphasize similarities for positive transfer and differences where there might be an incorrect transfer.] Transfer implies all of the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. Schedule of Practice. [Mass the practice at first, then create a regular follow-up schedule.

Creating Directions

  1. break down into parts/steps.
  2. Give only three at a time, one if the behavior is new.
  3. Delay giving instructions until just before the activity.
  4. Give directions in the correct sequence.
  5. Plan dignified help for those who don't tune in. [no put-downs]
  6. Give directions visually as well as orally (Visual representation of the task) [cf. Fred Jones' VIP]

Giving Directions

·  Give the planned directions [creation above].

·  Check the students' understanding ["Any questions?" does not check understanding.

·  Have a student model the behavior. [I.e, on the board or orally.]

·  If needed, remediate and recheck. [It is essential that students do not practice error.]

The Madeline Hunter "Seven Step" lesson design may be used for more than just direct instruction in the behavioral mode. It can be used as a shell for any instructional lesson or unit.

One use in an inquiry mode suggested by Dr. Hunter appeared in Educational Leadership, December-January 1990-91, pp. 79-80: "Anticipatory set and objective: Let's review the procedure in making slides because today you'll be making your own slides to be used in developing a hypothesis to explain_________ and support your conclusions....Objective: Today your group will work with magnets to see how many generalizations you can develop and support...Input: Remember what you've learned about modifying only one variable at a time, observing results carefully and checking whether or not the data support your hypothesis. Your information today will be derived from your own observations while you experiment with these materials.... (Input can come from observation, experimentation, computers, films, videos, books, etc., not just from teachers.) Modeling : Observe what I do, and be ready to state whether my conclusions are valid or invalid, and why.... Checking for understanding: Look at your data to determine and be ready to state which could be used either to support or refute your hypothesis.... Guided or monitored practice: I'll be circulating among your lab groups. Signal me if you have questions or need assistance.... Independent practice: Identify a question that you have about___________. Then design and conduct an experiment (alone/ group) that would answer your question...."

Not each of the "seven steps" need be in every lesson nor should every lesson be based on the seven steps; however, the seven steps make a good checklist of elements in planning a lesson. The instructional purpose and the best way to involve the learner are the guides for what to choose in planning a lesson.

Bloom's Taxonomy and Critical Thinking

Multiple Intelligences (Howard Gardner's 8 Ways of Knowing)

For thumbnail sketches of each: http://www.lesley.edu/faculty/kholmes/presentations/bodily.html

Instructional Scaffolding (Jerome Bruner; Langer & Applebee)

Decontextualization for transfer and general application

Barak Rosenshine, in a presentation to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, Spring 1990, reported on recent research on direct instruction. Direct instruction (as addressed by Rosenshine) applies to skills, not to the teaching of content.
Most of the research on teaching effectiveness has been on the teaching of well-structured skills: how to add, how to focus a microscope. His new work addresses research on how effective teachers teach less-structured skills: how to summarize, how to take notes, how to ask appropriate questions, etc. Other continua that are similar/parallel to well structured-less structured are: explicit-implicit, algorithm-heuristic, and concrete-abstract.

The strategies he has recently reported provide scaffolds for learning the less-structured skills. They:

All of these apply to the teaching of well-structured skills as well but they are specifically indicated for the teaching of less structured skills: things for which discrete procedural steps are hard to identify. They are less relevant to the teaching of content because prior/background knowledge is key to the teaching of content.

Learning takes place in the zone of proximal development [ZPD] where the student's development is advanced enough for the pupil to learn but will need help to get there.

A scaffold[outline, model, visual instruction plan (VIP), diagram, or figure that provides an image to hang ideas on] makes it easier for the learner to "get it" in developmental skills subjects where background knowledge is not key and so is not applicable for non-progressive content like social studies or literature. ZPD is not critical for most content in English or social studies but is more so in science or math. [Note: writing an essay, at least in the initial learning stages, is a less-structured skill that has steps that can be taught, e.g., start with an attention-grabber, then a topic sentence, then a statement followed by supporting information, then another statement with support, then a third statement with support, then a summary statement tying the three statements to the topic.]

Most things in math and science, especially skills, are taught in a context. For transfer to broader applicability it is necessary to decontextualize the learning. One way to do this is in guided practice by giving attention to decontextualizing the skill by providing lots of varied practice and spaced practice. [Ed.note: And to have students manipulate the ideas/skills, e.g., "Have you ever seen something like this down town?" or "How many ways can you think of to use this concept/skill?" or "Can you explain how you arrived at that answer" (metacognition).]

 

 

Other Formats

- Instruction

- Check for understanding

- Guided practice

- Instruction

- Check for understanding

- Guided practice , etc.

KEY TO SELECTION OF INSTRUCTIONAL MODELS

This key provides a simple way to select a lesson plan model that is appropriate for a particular instructional purpose. All instructional plans have been divided into four families. The main goal of each family describes the purpose of the group of lesson plan strategies/models.

This key is intended for use by student teachers who would like to select the most appropriate instructional strategy to carry out their teaching objective. It is intended for use by master teachers and university supervisors in helping student teachers to evaluate the appropriateness of instructional strategies employed to accomplish teaching objectives. 

LESSON PLAN FAMILY|           GOAL           |MODELS/STRATEGIES  
__________________|__________________________|__________________
Behavioral Systems|To change the behavior of |Direct Instruction
                  |the learner/transmit the  |Mastery Learning  
                  |culture by teaching skills|Simulations      
                  |and knowledge.            |Written Language 
LEARNER STYLE/GOAL|                          |Programmed texts/
ST: MASTERY       |         see note 1       |computer drill  
__________________|__________________________|__________________
Social Interaction|To teach social skills and|Cooperative Learn-
                  |communication.            |ing, Group Discus-
                  |                          |sion, Total Physi-
                  |                          |cal Response, Role
LEARNER STYLE/GOAL|                          |Playing, Jurispru-
NF: SYNTHESIS     |         see note 2       |dential Inquiry, 
                  |                          |Social Sci.Inquiry
__________________|__________________________|__________________
Personal/Generative To develop internal re-  |Brainstorming    
                  |sources to see things in  |Synectics        
                  |new/different ways.       |Classroom Meeting
LEARNER STYLE/GOAL|                          |Mind Mapping     
SF: INVOLVEMENT   |         see note 3       |Nondirective     
                  |                          |  teaching       
__________________|__________________________|__________________
Information Pro-  |To improve logical think- |Concept Attainment
cessing/Cognitive |ing processes.  To develop|Inquiry, Math    
                  |thoughtful citizens and   |Problem Solving  
LEARNER STYLE/GOAL|critical thinking.        |Memory Model     
NT: UNDERSTANDING |         see note 4       |Biological Science
                  |                          |  Inquiry Model
__________________|__________________________|__________________
This list should not be used to limit the selection of strategies
and several strategies might be combined in a single lesson.

 

Notes: The following are teaching models that fit in the above schema but are not
featured in Joyce and Weil, Models of Teaching.

1. Social Learning--Albert Bandura, Wesley Becker

2. Partners in learning/Positive interdependence--David & Roger Johnson and others.
Structured inquiry--Robert Slavin.

3. Any model dealing with enhancement of self-esteem.

4. Mnemonics--Michael Presley, Joel Levin, and Richard Anderson.
[Synectics is sometimes classified as an Information Processing model.

 

4. All lesson plans should have learning objectives. I prefer process objectives, which list what we expect our students to do; and content objectives, which list what we expect our students to know. I also prefer another format for writing objectives, performance objectives. Your student teacher supervisor and your principal may require you to write objectives in some other format. Regardless of how they are phrased, why is it important to for teachers to state their objectives before they teach a lesson? Write your answer in the space below.