Inside the Social Studies Classroom

<p>EDUCATION/ SOCIAL STUDIES </p><p>"… a much-needed addition to elementary social studies that will move the field ahead."</p><p>Keith C. Barton, University of Cincinnati</p><p>"This text fills a valuable niche and should quickly become a leading reference for teachers and teacher educators."</p><p>Linda S. Levstik, University of Kentucky</p><p>This book, resulting from a collaboration among an educational psychologist, a social studies educator, and a primary teacher, describes in rich detail and illustrates with excerpts from recorded lessons how primary teachers can engage their students in social studies lessons and activities that are structured around powerful ideas and have applications to their lives outside of school. The teaching portrayed connects concepts and skills emphasized in national and state standards, taught in ways that build on students’ prior experiences in their local communities and connect with their family backgrounds and home cultures.</p><p>The analyses include rich descriptions of the teacher-student interactions that occur during lessons, detailed information about how and why the teacher adapted lesson plans to meet her students’ background experiences and adjusted these plans to take advantage of teachable moments that emerged during lessons, and what all of this might imply concerning principles of practice. The principles are widely applicable in elementary schools across the country, as well as across the curriculum (not just in social studies) and across the elementary grades (not just the primary grades).</p> <p>CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION</p><p>Need for Improving Primary Social Studies</p><p>Our Partnership</p><p>Searching for a Feasible Method</p><p>Barbara Joins the Team</p><p>Negotiating Understandings and Inducing Principles</p><p>Focus of the Book</p><p>CHAPTER 2. PRIOR RESEARCH ON PRIMARY SOCIAL STUDIES</p><p>The Need for a Powerful Content Base In Early Social Studies</p><p>The Expanding Communities Sequence</p><p>Cultural Universals as Unit Topics</p><p>Teaching Cultural Universals for Understanding, Appreciation, and Life Application</p><p>Topical Organization of Curriculum</p><p>Teaching for Conceptual Change</p><p>Addressing Prior Knowledge and Misconceptions</p><p>NCSS Standards</p><p>Other Research</p><p>CHAPTER 3. GENERIC ASPECTS OF OUR INSTRUCTIONAL UNITS</p><p>Our Approach Compared to Alternatives</p><p>Developing the Unit Plans</p><p>Sequencing the Lessons</p><p>Pilot Testing and Revisions</p><p>Key Characteristics of the Units</p><p>Example Unit Outline: Shelter</p><p>Incorporating the Units Within the Larger Curriculum</p><p>CHAPTER 4 USING NARRATIVE TO BUILD A CONTENT BASE</p><p>The Special Challenges of Teaching Young Children</p><p>Narrative Structures as Teaching Tools</p><p>Barbara’s Use of Narrative</p><p>Clothing in the Past</p><p>The Story of Bananas</p><p>Concluding Observations</p><p>CHAPTER 5 STRUCTURING THE CURRICULUM AROUND BIG IDEAS</p><p>Focus on Powerful Ideas</p><p>Three Layers of Powerful Ideas for Teaching</p><p>Barbara’s Focus on Big Ideas</p><p>Maintaining Focus on Big Ideas without Getting Sidetracked</p><p>Techniques for Focusing Students’ Attention on Big Ideas</p><p>Cultural Universals</p><p>Food</p><p>Clothing</p><p>Transportation</p><p>Communication</p><p>CHAPTER 6 DEVELOPING BIG IDEAS ABOUT HISTORY</p><p>Teaching History for Understanding, Appreciation, and Life Application</p><p>Barbara’s History Teaching</p><p>Countering Presentism</p><p>Co-constructing Timelines</p><p>An Example</p><p>Adapting Timelines to the Content</p><p>CHAPTER 7 DEVELOPING BIG IDEAS: GEOGRAPHY</p><p>The Five Fundamental Themes of Geography</p><p>NCSS Standards Relating to Geography</p><p>Teaching Geography for Understanding, Appreciation, and Life Application</p><p>Barbara’s Geography Teaching</p><p>A Map Lesson</p><p>Incorporating Geographic Context Into Other Lessons</p><p>CHAPTER 8 DEVELOPING BIG IDEAS: THE SOCIAL SCIENCES</p><p>Anthropology (Cultural Studies)</p><p>Barbara’s Teaching About Culture</p><p>Economic Development</p><p>Cultural Differences</p><p>Economics</p><p>Barbara’s Teaching About Economics</p><p>Political Science (Civics and Government)</p><p>Barbara’s Teaching About Civics and Government</p><p>CHAPTER 9: USING INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES</p><p>Teaching with Visuals</p><p>Books</p><p>Photos and Illustrations</p><p>Video and Other Technology</p><p>Constructed Learning Resources</p><p>Charts</p><p>Lists</p><p>An Example</p><p>Word Webs</p><p>Graphs</p><p>Barbara’s Nine Principles</p><p>CHAPTER 10 MAKING CONNECTIONS AND AVOIDING UNDESIRED CONTENT</p><p>Making Connections</p><p>Foreshadowing</p><p>Tie-backs</p><p>Integrating Across Subjects</p><p>Controlling Students’ Exposure to Anomalies and Misconceptions</p><p>Anomalies</p><p>Misconceptions</p><p>Controlling Students’ Exposure to Undesired Content</p><p>Economic Disparities</p><p>Taboo Topics</p><p>Negative Emotions</p><p>Magic Words</p><p>Developing Big Ideas </p><p>CHAPTER 11 INTRODUCING NEW KNOWLEDGE BASES</p><p>Adapting and Elaborating Lesson Plans</p><p>Choosing Physical Settings</p><p>Choosing Instructional Resources</p><p>Developing Skills</p><p>Starting by Eliciting Wonders</p><p>Establishing the Initial Knowledge Base</p><p>Starting with the Prototypical</p><p>Building on Prior Knowledge</p><p>An Example</p><p>Alternative Topic Introductions</p><p>Building on Previous Lessons</p><p>Starting with a Question</p><p>Addressing Strong Interests First</p><p>Purposeful Sets of Examples</p><p>Introducing and Controlling Vocabulary</p><p>Deciding Which Terms and Distinctions to Teach</p><p>Tailoring Definitions to Instructional Goals</p><p>Enriching Understandings</p><p>Planned Redundancy</p><p>Other Vocabulary Teaching Techniques</p><p>Dropping in Definitions and Explanations on the Fly</p><p>CHAPTER 12 DEVELOPING KNOWLEDGE BASES THROUGH STRUCTURED DISCOURSE</p><p>Supporting Learning Through Focused Content and Planned Redundancy</p><p>Sustaining Lesson Flow via Elaborations</p><p>Graduated Questioning</p><p>Scaffolding Learning and Retention</p><p>Establishing Prototype Images to Anchor Networks of Content</p><p>Reviewing Earlier Lessons to Set Up Today’s Lesson</p><p>Reviewing to Consolidate Before Moving Forward</p><p>Modeling of Interior Dialogue</p><p>Scaffolding Students’ Thinking and Information Processing</p><p>From Transmission to Construction: A Gradual Shift</p><p>Shifting From Presenting to Eliciting Information</p><p>Reverting from Eliciting to Presenting</p><p>Opening to Student Questions and Comments</p><p>CHAPTER 13 USING QUESTIONS TO DEVELOP CONTENT WITH </p><p>THE WHOLE CLASS</p><p>Timing and Frequency of Questions</p><p>Types and Functions of Questions</p><p>Socializing Students’ Attention and Participation</p><p>Calling for Choral Responses</p><p>Protecting Individuals’ Response Opportunities</p><p>Juggling Whole-Class and Individual-Student Agendas</p><p>Maintaining the Flow During Questioning Segments</p><p>Increasing the Probability of Desired Responses</p><p>Embedding Scaffolding Within Questions</p><p>Maintaining the Flow When Questions Do Not Elicit Desired Responses</p><p>Undesired but Usable Responses</p><p>Inability to Respond Correctly</p><p>Responding to Answers that Are Correct But Undesired in the Context</p><p>Responding to Unexpected Problems During Questioning Sequences</p><p>Summary: Maintaining the Flow</p><p>Interruption and Shifts in Anticipated Lesson Flow</p><p>Adapting Scaffolding Routines to Students and Situations</p><p>CHAPTER 14 SCAFFOLDING FOR INDIVIDUAL STUDENTS WITHIN WHOLE-CLASS LESSONS</p><p>Scaffolding to Elicit Improved Responses</p><p>Students’ Questions and Comments</p><p>Teachable Moments</p><p>Responding to Unhelpful Student Questions and Comments</p><p>When Barbara Has to Stop and Regroup</p><p>CHAPTER 15 ACTIVITIES AND ASSESSMENTS</p><p>Barbara’s Use and Adaptation of Suggested Activities</p><p>Pair-Share Activities</p><p>Other Review Activities</p><p>Ticket-Out Activities</p><p>Writing Activities</p><p>Other Common Activities</p><p>Less Frequent Activities</p><p>Home Assignments</p><p>Assessment</p><p>Barbara’s Approach to Assessment</p><p>Formal and Informal Assessment</p><p>Conclusion</p>