Until the early part of the 20th century, requirements for teaching were quite limited.

Average teachers had little travel experience to draw upon, news sources were scarce and therefore text material was often the sole source of classroom information.

Teachers taught almost exclusively from the textbook.

Unfortunately, in many cases, this still hold true today.

"Come in, sit down, be quiet, read the chapter, and answer the study questions," is a statement commonly heard in today's SS classrooms.

Social Studies instruction that is limited to what is found in textbooks is often outdated, uninspiring, and boorrrrriiiiinggggg!
 

SCOPE AND SEQUENCE: WHAT AND WHEN TO PRESENT SOCIAL STUDIES MATERIAL.

The most common means of presenting SS material is through a process known as:  Widening Horizons and/or Expanding Environments.

This is done by presenting material familiar to the student and gradually moving into areas less well known.

Teaching is a process of taking the learner from the known to the unknown.

ADVANTAGE: By beginning in areas of familiarity, the learner is given confidence and security.

DISADVANTAGE: Adhering strictly to this format can be "restrictive" in only allowing certain materials to be covered or discussed.

All Major Textbook Publishers Support Expanding Environments/ Widening Horizons.

Without exception, major U.S. publishers present K-8 textbooks series in SS based on the concept of Expanding Environments/Widening Horizons.

(See examples that follow)

Silver Burdett
K      My World and Me
1st     Families and Neighbors
2nd    Neighborhoods and Communities
3rd    Communities and Resources
4th    States and Regions
5th    U.S. and Its Neighbors
6th    Europe, Africa, and Asia
7th    A World View

Laidlaw
1st       Understanding Families
2nd      Understanding People
3rd      Understanding Communities
4th      Understanding Regions of the Earth
5th      Understanding Our Country
6th      Understanding Our World

Houghton-Mifflin
1st      ME
2nd    At Home, At School
3rd    Ourselves and Others
4th    Our Home: The Earth
5th    America; Past and Present
6th    Around the World
 

Touching, Living, and Growing: Resource Guide by the Okla. State Dept. Of Educ.
K       Myself
1st     My Groups (family, friends)
2nd    My Neighborhood
3rd    My City
4th    My State
5th    My Nation
6th    My World
 

Social Studies: What it is...The Sub Disciplines of Social Studies

Definition:  Social Studies is the study of people and the way they interact among themselves and within their environment.

Social Studies is a broad area of study encompassing a number of sub-disciplines. These include:

Geography: Geography is the study of place. Map and globe skills, longitude, latitude, time zones, vegetation and climate zones fall within this sub-discipline.

History: History is the study of events as they happen over time. This includes the who, what, when, where, and why of historical events.

Political Science (Civics or Govt.): Political Science involves the study of how people govern themselves. This involves the study of law, elections, forms of government, the Constitution, Magna Charta, and other historical documents.

Sociology: Sociology is they study of groups of people. Families, cultures, tribes, etc... and the various traditions, religions, norms of behavior are all within this area of study.

Economics: Economics involves the ways in which people trade and earn a living. Imports, exports, tariffs, embargos, taxes, inflation, buying, selling, etc... all fall within this sub-discipline.

Anthropology/Archeology: The study of ancient civilizations. Specialists in this field use bones, pottery, tools, weapons, art, and other artifacts to piece together prehistoric civilizations.

*Social Studies looks at all aspects of human endeavor.

*It is the ONLY area of the elementary curriculum that focuses exclusively on PEOPLE.
 

National Council of Social Studies: 10 themes that guide instruction in the Social Studies

1. Culture: The study of culture prepares students to answer questions such as: What characteristics are common among cultures? How do belief systems such as religion or political ideals influence culture? How have cultures changed to accommodate different ideas and beliefs? What does language tell us about the culture? (Geography, History, Sociology, Anthropology)

2. Time, Continuity, and Change: Human beings seek to understand their historical roots and understand themselves in time. Who am I? What happened in the past? How am I connected to those in the past? How has the world changed and how might it change in the future? (History)

3. People, Places and Environments: This involves assisting students as they create their spatial views and geographic perspectives of the world beyond their personal locations. Where are things located, why are they located there, what is meant by "region," how do landforms change, how do these changes impact the people that live there? (Geography)

4. Individual Development and Identity: Personal identity is shaped by one's culture, by groups, and by institutional influences. How do people learn, why do people behave as they do, what influences how they learn, perceive, and grow, how do people meet their basic needs, how do individuals develop from youth to adulthood? (Sociology/psychology, Anthropology)

5. Individuals, Groups and Institutions: Institutions such as schools, churches, families, government agencies, and the courts play an integral role in people's lives. It is important that students learn how institutions are formed, what controls and influences them, how they influence individuals and culture, and how they are maintained and changed. (Sociology, Anthropology, Civics, History)

6. Power, Authority, and Governance: Understanding the historical development of structures of power, authority, and governance and their evolving functions in contemporary U.S. society and other parts of the world is essential for developing civic competence. What is power, what forms does it take, who holds it, how is it gained, used, and justified? How do we balance individual rights within majority rule? (Civics, History)

7. Production, Distribution, and Consumption: Because people have wants that often exceed their resources, a variety of ways have evolved to answer such questions as: What is to be produced, how is production organized, how are goods and services to be distributed, what is the most effective allocation of the factors of production such as labor, land, capital, and management? (Economics)

8. Science, Technology, and Society: Science and technology make possible much of what we have today but bring numerous questions such as: Are new ways better than the old, how have new technologies affected past civilizations, how do people cope with change, how can we manage technology so the greatest number of people benefit? (History, Geography, Economics, Civics)

9. Global Connections: The realities of global interdependence require understanding the increasingly important and diverse global connections among world societies and the frequent tension between national interests and global priorities. Students need an awareness of issues such as: health care, the environment, human rights, economic development and competition, interdependence, ethnic, political, and military alliances. (History, Geography, Economics)

10. Civic Ideals and Practices: An understanding of civic ideals and citizenship is critical to full participation in society and is central to the purpose of social studies. Students confront questions such as: What is civic participation, how can I be involved, what is the balance between rights and responsibilities, how can I make a difference. (Civics, History)
 

Effective SS instruction involves much more than merely requiring students to read and memorize historical names, dates, facts, and places.

Effective teachers combine CONTENT, CONCEPTS, PROCESS SKILLS, AND VALUE ORIENTATION.

Content: IMPORTANT STUFF; BUT NOT THE WHOLE ENCHILADA

Content is basic, factual, low level knowledge. This includes knowledge of names, dates, facts, places, etc... Example......

Who was the first president of the U.S.A.? Or...

What is the capital of New Hampshire?
 

Concepts: Concepts are broad ideas that transcend time and space. Such ideas are as important today as there were 1, 10, or 100 years ago. Example.......

What are the duties of the President of the U.S.A.? Or......

What is the function of city designated as a state capitol?
 

Process Skills: Process Skills involve the ways in which we learn. These involve the how not the what of learning.

Process skill involve how we put new information into the "hardrive" of the mind.

How is that done?
 

PROCESS SKILLS INCLUDE:

OBSERVING
MEASURING
PREDICTING
INFERRING
CLASSIFYING
GATHERING DATA
ANALYZING DATA
GRAPHING
TESTING/EXPERIMENTING
MODELING
COMMUNICATING
 

VALUES

Values are firmly held beliefs or opinions.

Values worthy of our consideration include:

Honesty, teamwork, generosity, courage,

Hard work, dedication, fairness, freedom.

Respect, service, and humility.
 

Effective teachers create situations in their classrooms where students are given opportunities to form their own set of values.
 

Effective instruction in any subject involves ACTIVITY.

Activity on the part of both teachers AND their students.
 

WHITE'S PREMISE:

If students are to become interested in the subjects of Math, Science, and Social Science, etc..., then they must be given ample opportunities, in the classroom, to DO the kinds of things that mathematicians, scientists, and social scientistsDO.

What do these people do? 

They experiment, they gather data, analyze results, communicate, graph their findings, test new hypotheses, etc....

THEY DON'T JUST READ THEIR TEXTBOOKS AND ANSWER STUDY QUESTIONS!!!

REAL PEOPLE ARE ACTIVE: WHAT ABOUT OUR STUDENTS?

Children, by nature, are active.

They learn best through activity and play.

Effective teachers take advantage of this by allowing generous amounts of active learning in their classrooms.

Using "Inquiry" is an effective means of getting students actively involved in the learning process.

The five steps of Inquiry include:

1. Begin with a question or problem to solve.

2. Determine your source of data or information.

3. Collect and record the data.

4. Analyze the data.

5. Answer the question/solve the problem.
 

Advantages of Inquiry Learning:

1. Increased student motivation.

2. Students easily see the "transfer value" of what they are learning.

3. Increased learner independence.

4. Increased use of higher-level thinking skills.
 

Remember: Knowledge that we cannot connect to our world is quickly forgotten.

"Teaching for transfer" is critical if students are to retain knowledge.

Make every effort to show your students how what they are learning in the classroom applies to the "real world" and how this impacts their lives.

Teaching for transfer is one of several criteria found in the Oklahoma Minimum Criteria for Effective Teaching.

This document will be used to assess your performance both during your teaching internship and your first year in the public schools.

The end (for now).