Discuss effective strategies for the integration of social studies that you have observed in your field placement classroom. How might you employ these curriculum strategies in your own classroom?
Up to this point, I have not really seen much social studies in my classroom. Since a basal reader is used for the curriculum, there is no separate instruction for science or social studies. Each week incorporates one or the other but I have yet to see a week with social studies. I have seen the curriculum and most of the social studies content involves the students recognizing there role in the community. Even though I have not seen it yet, based on the other lessons I could get a general idea of how it would be incorporated. The main stories that the students read would be social studies related as well as the focus words for that week. Other than the stories, students would have writing assignments that related to the social studies topic. Also a few of the centers would be based around the social studies topic. These activities could include vocabulary related worksheets, coloring/art projects and more books. As far as using these strategies in my own classroom, I feel most of them would be beneficial. There are plenty of quality books and stories out there that have social studies related themes. I also like the idea of having writing assignments that are social studies related. My only concern is that it needs to be interesting enough for students to enjoy writing about it. All the strategies I would see in my classroom now would work but I would really like let the kids become a little more active in their learning of the content.
I have not had the chance to observe social studies either. Now PSSA preparation is starting so social studies has been eliminated for the time being and they have a double math period. However, social studies is integrated into the classroom when reading and doing activities. For example, today we read a Weekly Reader about the earthquake in Haiti and people were discussed and how they helped donate and contribute to things in Haiti. We discussed what we could do to contribute to society and what we could do help Haiti which relates to citizenship. These stories usually have to with what is going on in the world which relates to the social studies aspect of instruction as well. Also, social studies is mentioned throughout different activities that we do as a class. Even though PSSA's are coming up, my co-op is willing to incorporate social studies and make time for me to teach lessons and give the students a better understanding of some things. I feel that there should always be some way that all subject areas could be incorporated and integrated at least twice a week.
I see social studies every Thursday, but as I said in my last blog, it is all listening to the chapter on tape or completing some type of project. I think the projects provide the students with great opportunities to work independently on research in a fun way. Last week we started working on a study guide and they took the test today. Because of the test, I did not see any social studies instruction today. Mrs Strout asked me to sit next to a student who has difficulty understanding some English. Overall, he does very well but it benefits him to have questions read aloud. I assisted him throughout the test. My coop really appreciates having an extra person in the classroom because it allows her to do things like that for assessments. Since she usually floats around the room to answer questions for all students, she is usually unable to do this. On a typical day, she engages the students in the lesson through discussion. Since we listen to the chapter on tape, the students would get bored without those discussions. This part of the lesson also helps the students that don't comprehend things just from text. It gives all learners the opportunity to understand the material they are supposed to be learning. Having class discussions is definitely something I will encourage in my classroom to check for understanding and to keep the students engaged.
Social Studies is integrated into the curriculum through reading. The students do social studies and science every other day, switching with the other 4th grade class. Sometimes the students read social studies stories during guided reading groups. My classroom has the same guided reading books as we do in our book resource room in Nicarry. The students also use the Foreman textbooks we looked at in class on Monday for social studies. They read social studies stories in the Foreman textbook and do worksheets on them. Occasionally, the students take tests on the social studies units. Today, the teacher began talking to the students about how they will be learning about people of the Midwest soon. I like how social studies is integrated into reading. However, if I were the students in my placement, I would not find social studies interesting or exciting by using the Foreman textbooks. I would use textbooks in my class, but vary activities and assessments on the concepts of social studies taught. I would attempt to make social studies more engaging for the students so they can learn and get excited about social studies! Also, I think that social studies should be integrated with other subjects than reading, so I would try that as well!
The only social studies instruction I have seen was the students' President and American Hero Projects. Like I've mentioned in the other blogs, the students researched, wrote a paper, drew a picture and presented their assigned person. Every student was actively involved with their projects and you could see the pride they took in their work. I feel this was a great use of intergration in the classroom because it encompassed more than just reading/writing. Other than this, there has been no social studies instruction. I would definitely do something along these lines in my own classroom. Like I said, the students really enjoyed it but I felt it was too much responsbility and time on the teachers; you could see how stressed the teachers were getting. In my classroom, despite the PSSA testing and everything else, I want to have engaging social studies instrction daily for my students to learn to appreciate and enjoy the stubject, something I feel is lacking at my school.
I do not see any effective integration of social studies in my field placement. Social studies and science are not dealt with on a regular basis. Often, social studies "instruction" takes place at the end of the school day before the buses arrive (if there is enough time). Today the students were given a booklet with activities in it that had to do with George Washington. They were asked to color in a picture of Washington after they had read three sentences that explained who Washington was and that he was a general in the army. There was no depth to this lesson, if you could call it a lesson, and consisted of everything that we are told NOT to do when teaching ans planning a social studies lesson.
I do not really see effective curriculum integration in my classroom. Often, the students read social studies articles constantly. They read the articles on their own and answer the questions. They usually do not go over it, or even elaborate on it. I really wish I saw more, but my teacher lives by these articles. She believes that this is true integration. I did my first real lesson today. I used leveled books during reading time that had social studies themes. I met all my students in three separate groups. It was great to have the students in a small setting. We had a really good discussion about social studies through these small groups. It was just something as simple as a leveled reader to have the students talk about the Mayflower rather than just answering multiple choice questions generated by a computer. In my future classroom, I want my students to debate, role play, and have a genuine opinion about something in social studies. I don't want it to be boring, or something they dread doing like I see now. I certainly hope for my students to do more with social studies in the coming weeks.
At my placement, I see social studies every Thursday. I have seen Mr. Keefer integrate social studies with reading and writing. When I first started going on Thursdays, the students were reading a book titled, Freedom's Fire. During Communication Arts (reading, writing, and spelling), the students interact with different genres, including fantasy, poetry, realistic fiction, historical fiction, etc. The students read Freedom's Fire, which is a historical fiction book. It is about two families (patriot and loyalist) during the Revolutionary War. While they read it, they had to answer comprehension questions, look up vocabulary words, and they engaged in class discussions. Mr. Keefer would ask them questions that move beyond the text. For example, "Sarah is being asked to go against her family's values in order to marry her loyalist boyfriend. What would you do if you were in her situation?" The student's really enjoyed reading this book. They also had to compose an alternate ending to the book. They are also starting biography projects. They each had to pick a person in the time frame of 1800-1960. They got a book from the library, which they will read and then complete a Biography report. Mr. Keefer is not exactly sure what type of writing project they will complete yet. The students also have to present their person to the class through a brief speech. I really like the idea of implementing Biography projects in my class. I think these are a great way to integrate social studies into reading and writing. The students are becoming an expert on a person of interest and then they use their reading and writing skills to report on this person. I really like the idea of having book discussions with the entire class. This is a great way to get students to think beyond the surface.
As I said before, history is often integrated into reading and writing- the students read stories in their anthology and then do different projects related to the social studies content to fulfill their reading contract. As I also have talked about, at Hempfield the 2nd grade teachers have been integrating social studies, reading and writing and technology. The students so far have done webcam sessions with a high school class in China as well as a 2nd grade class in Michigan. They have to research facts about Lancaster and PA as well as the place that they are connecting with. Yesterday, they compared and contrasted differences in Michigan and PA based on things like the state bird, state flower, flags, population and land area. I really do like the fact that the students had to use books and the internet to do their own research so I will definitely incorporate that into my classroom someday.
My co-op started to teach some geography this past Thursday. She explained to the students that where we live is connected to the rest of the world by showing the world map and then the United States map, and then a Pennslyvania map. This showed what states are near PA and then what continents are nearby as well. They are also learning about Pennslyvania history currently. She explained to me that this will lead into teaching about landforms which integrates science. I will be teaching the part about landforms. In order to integrate social studies into science, I will probably use the Foss books from science class. Also when students learn about social studies, they need to answer comprehension questions. This is usually done with the scholastic news pamphlets. In order to answer these questions they need to go back into the text and find the answers and sometimes have to make connections. This is a good way of integration. In my classroom, I will integrate litarcy into social studies because it is a simple way to use two subjects of reading and writing. Also I can try to integrate science, if the topic being taught allows for it.
I have not seen Social Studies incorporated into the curriculum at all. The schedule is a very strict reading and math regimen that all of the second grade classes must stick to. I can tell that my co-op becomes slightly frustrated by this regimen because the kids often become antsy and/or uninterested in doing the same thing day after day. Yesterday she had be do a read-aloud at the very beginning of the reading section. This was the first time that I saw any type of non-basal or leveled reader reading being done...and they loved it! Even though this story was not social studies related, I would like to try to do more read-alouds in the future and choose some stories that have social studies related themes. All these kids need are some opportunities to be introduced to interesting topics, and the wheels really start turning. Ultimately, for my own classroom, I hope that I will be able to find a way to incorporate social studies more, even if it is small things here and there; like something during the morning routine, or a transition story or exercise relating to geography, history, etc.
Teresa and I are in the same school and grade, so like she said, our schedule is really strict and I have not seen any Social Studies, even through integration. My teacher was saying this is first year she has not had time for Social Studies and she was really upset about it. The entire staff, from what I have heard, seems to be pretty upset with a new schedule and a lot of new tasks they have to complete each day. The closest thing we get to Social Studies is some read alouds about historical figures. We had a few for Black History Month, but I haven't seen many others and there's never any discussion following these read alouds. Even if there's no time for Social Studies in my future classroom I would definitely make it a point to include social studies related books for independent reading and read alouds and have some sort of discussion to at least get the kids connected to social studies in some way.
My teacher seems to have endless ideas for incorporating social studies in her first grade class. She and the students sings songs about “people in our neighborhood”, does coloring/art projects on cultures and customs, shows videos on different cultures, reads storied pertaining to famous people in history, and even had a celebration for Chinese New Year’s, complete with Chinese take-out, chopsticks and homemade spring rolls. It’s clear that she tries to make learning fun, and the students respond very well.
It seems that most first graders quickly lose focus in most activities. I have watched them go from super excited about a topic or activity (like using chopsticks) to bored, frustrated or inattentive in about 15 minutes. I suppose short social studies lessons would work best with very young children. When I have my own classroom, I intend to use as many different strategies as possible to teach the curriculum. I plan to sing, read, and do art projects, and whenever possible, include an introduction to ethnic foods. I feel that young children have to experience culture. They cannot just read about social studies and be expected to understand and know it. Fun activities make memories and help children learn and retain information across the curriculum.
I have not observed much social studies integration at all. The only things that I have seen being done were that which were included in the basal readers. The only time I saw this, the students had to read a story about Harry Houdini and his life and then they filled out a worksheet about it…not very exciting. My teacher did try to make it interesting by showing the students YouTube videos she found about Harry Houdini, which they enjoyed, but that was the extent of it. Other than that, I have not seen much social studies. She claims that she enjoys social studies a lot and loves to teach in daily in her classroom, but I have not seen much due to the fact that she is stressing about PSSA’s. She completely eliminated social studies from their daily curriculum until PSSA’s are over. At that time, I will be in charge of creating a week long social studies unit! Due to the fact that I haven’t seen much social studies integration, I haven’t really seen any good ways/ideas to incorporate it. The teachers are more focused on a double dose of math and PSSA testing subjects than social studies and science at this time. When I get to create my unit after PSSA’s I plan to use many of the ideas and strategies that I have been learning about in class to integrate other subjects, most likely reading and writing, into what we are doing.
I really don't see a lot of Social Studies in the 2nd grade curriculum. Mrs. Ober teaches from the Basels and doesn't really add anything to the lesson. Once in awhile the students will draw a picture relating to the topic they are discussing. That is usually as far as it goes though. Not seeing Social Studies in the curriculum is making me realize how much I want to incorporate it in the future. I think it is easy to incorporate it into other subjects and really beneficially. I hope that once I start teaching more in Mrs. Ober's class I will be able to bring in more Social studies.
I have not seen any social studies in my kindergarten classroom. As I have said before, the schedule blocks consist of reading, math, and specials (for 20 minutes). Much of the cirriculum comes from basel readers. I have looked through a few of the basels and some of the units are supposed to be about social studies and other units are supposed to be about science. However, I have not seen either of these subjects being taught. I feel that even if they want to keep the schedule dedicated to math and reading, there are so many ways that social studies could be integrated. The reading block is broken down into four centers, one of the centers involves writing in journals. I understand that it is necessary in kindergarten to get students to learn to write on their own and develop thoughts and sentences on their own. But I have seen the students struggle with coming up with ideas to write about, but once I or my co-op start to ask them questions and get them thinking, sentences just come to them. Why not provide the students with a small prompt about community or anything social studies related and encourage students to write a few sentences about it. I think it would be surprising to see what they come up with. As I continue to plan lessons, I will be talking with my co-op and trying to incorporate areas of social studies without having to stray too far from her schedule and what she likes to teach.
The only type of social studies I have witnessed in my classroom was done through reading a book on a historical figure, and writing a short summary on that person. In the start of my placement, my teacher told me she alternates between social studies and science, each for a few weeks at a time. I hope to witness social studies soon! I have barely seen any science though. In my own classroom, I plan to make it interesting! Observing my teacher has allowed me to start thinking of my own ideas of engaging students during social studies. Using art, music, and other areas can help to engage students in social studies. I like the ideas of using writing as well, whether it be through journal writing, speeches, etc. Activities in which students are "doing" will make them enjoy the subject so much more!
Thus far, it has seemed that art has been mostly integrated into the Social Studies lessons. Almost every placement I have been to, Mrs. Moritz had the class do some kind of craft. There have been crafts for Martin Luther King Day, Dr. Seuss, The Statue of Liberty, and several others. Every now and then, literacy will be integrated into the lesson, but very seldom on the days that I am actually in the classroom. I don't know how much social studies is led up to the students before they do the crafts, that is during the rest of the week, but that is something I will most likely find out when I am there everyday. If I were to make a change to the Social Studies lessons, I would do more shared reading and integrate more literacy. I would much more seldomly have the class do arts and crafts, because I want that stuff to be fun when they get to do it. When they do it every week, or maybe even everyday, I feel that art becomes stale; more of a chore than fun. Though there are some flaws in Mrs. Moritz's methods, I still feel that she is an excellent teacher and that her students are very bright. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are progressing in knowledge in every subject area, including Social Studies.
Write now my teacher has the students working on research projects in which they are to gather information on a famous explorer and put it into an online brochure that promotes traveling in time to visit that explorer. It's a good literacy lesson I suppose in researching and organizing information. I don't, honestly, think that was her intent. It seems more her last ditch effort to make learning about explorers interesting. It seems that social studies is one of the best opportunities to integrate information across the subjects and I don't see it here. Even when they are reading a story about the Mayan people, there doesn't seem to be an effort to connect that to historical content. I don't understand why she doesn't expand the children's knowledge base. She says that they learn that content in 6th grade so she doesn't need to spend time on it...I don't see why she doesn't jump start that knowledge when the opportunity is there. It's frustrating but at the same time i know she is a dedicated teacher that wants what's best for her students. She is just limited in time and resources.
Up to this point, I have not really seen much social studies in my classroom. Since a basal reader is used for the curriculum, there is no separate instruction for science or social studies. Each week incorporates one or the other but I have yet to see a week with social studies. I have seen the curriculum and most of the social studies content involves the students recognizing there role in the community. Even though I have not seen it yet, based on the other lessons I could get a general idea of how it would be incorporated. The main stories that the students read would be social studies related as well as the focus words for that week. Other than the stories, students would have writing assignments that related to the social studies topic. Also a few of the centers would be based around the social studies topic. These activities could include vocabulary related worksheets, coloring/art projects and more books.
ReplyDeleteAs far as using these strategies in my own classroom, I feel most of them would be beneficial. There are plenty of quality books and stories out there that have social studies related themes. I also like the idea of having writing assignments that are social studies related. My only concern is that it needs to be interesting enough for students to enjoy writing about it. All the strategies I would see in my classroom now would work but I would really like let the kids become a little more active in their learning of the content.
I have not had the chance to observe social studies either. Now PSSA preparation is starting so social studies has been eliminated for the time being and they have a double math period.
ReplyDeleteHowever, social studies is integrated into the classroom when reading and doing activities. For example, today we read a Weekly Reader about the earthquake in Haiti and people were discussed and how they helped donate and contribute to things in Haiti. We discussed what we could do to contribute to society and what we could do help Haiti which relates to citizenship. These stories usually have to with what is going on in the world which relates to the social studies aspect of instruction as well. Also, social studies is mentioned throughout different activities that we do as a class.
Even though PSSA's are coming up, my co-op is willing to incorporate social studies and make time for me to teach lessons and give the students a better understanding of some things. I feel that there should always be some way that all subject areas could be incorporated and integrated at least twice a week.
I see social studies every Thursday, but as I said in my last blog, it is all listening to the chapter on tape or completing some type of project. I think the projects provide the students with great opportunities to work independently on research in a fun way. Last week we started working on a study guide and they took the test today. Because of the test, I did not see any social studies instruction today. Mrs Strout asked me to sit next to a student who has difficulty understanding some English. Overall, he does very well but it benefits him to have questions read aloud. I assisted him throughout the test.
ReplyDeleteMy coop really appreciates having an extra person in the classroom because it allows her to do things like that for assessments. Since she usually floats around the room to answer questions for all students, she is usually unable to do this.
On a typical day, she engages the students in the lesson through discussion. Since we listen to the chapter on tape, the students would get bored without those discussions. This part of the lesson also helps the students that don't comprehend things just from text. It gives all learners the opportunity to understand the material they are supposed to be learning. Having class discussions is definitely something I will encourage in my classroom to check for understanding and to keep the students engaged.
Social Studies is integrated into the curriculum through reading. The students do social studies and science every other day, switching with the other 4th grade class. Sometimes the students read social studies stories during guided reading groups. My classroom has the same guided reading books as we do in our book resource room in Nicarry. The students also use the Foreman textbooks we looked at in class on Monday for social studies. They read social studies stories in the Foreman textbook and do worksheets on them. Occasionally, the students take tests on the social studies units. Today, the teacher began talking to the students about how they will be learning about people of the Midwest soon.
ReplyDeleteI like how social studies is integrated into reading. However, if I were the students in my placement, I would not find social studies interesting or exciting by using the Foreman textbooks. I would use textbooks in my class, but vary activities and assessments on the concepts of social studies taught. I would attempt to make social studies more engaging for the students so they can learn and get excited about social studies! Also, I think that social studies should be integrated with other subjects than reading, so I would try that as well!
The only social studies instruction I have seen was the students' President and American Hero Projects. Like I've mentioned in the other blogs, the students researched, wrote a paper, drew a picture and presented their assigned person. Every student was actively involved with their projects and you could see the pride they took in their work. I feel this was a great use of intergration in the classroom because it encompassed more than just reading/writing. Other than this, there has been no social studies instruction.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely do something along these lines in my own classroom. Like I said, the students really enjoyed it but I felt it was too much responsbility and time on the teachers; you could see how stressed the teachers were getting. In my classroom, despite the PSSA testing and everything else, I want to have engaging social studies instrction daily for my students to learn to appreciate and enjoy the stubject, something I feel is lacking at my school.
I do not see any effective integration of social studies in my field placement. Social studies and science are not dealt with on a regular basis. Often, social studies "instruction" takes place at the end of the school day before the buses arrive (if there is enough time).
ReplyDeleteToday the students were given a booklet with activities in it that had to do with George Washington. They were asked to color in a picture of Washington after they had read three sentences that explained who Washington was and that he was a general in the army. There was no depth to this lesson, if you could call it a lesson, and consisted of everything that we are told NOT to do when teaching ans planning a social studies lesson.
I do not really see effective curriculum integration in my classroom. Often, the students read social studies articles constantly. They read the articles on their own and answer the questions. They usually do not go over it, or even elaborate on it. I really wish I saw more, but my teacher lives by these articles. She believes that this is true integration.
ReplyDeleteI did my first real lesson today. I used leveled books during reading time that had social studies themes. I met all my students in three separate groups. It was great to have the students in a small setting. We had a really good discussion about social studies through these small groups. It was just something as simple as a leveled reader to have the students talk about the Mayflower rather than just answering multiple choice questions generated by a computer.
In my future classroom, I want my students to debate, role play, and have a genuine opinion about something in social studies. I don't want it to be boring, or something they dread doing like I see now.
I certainly hope for my students to do more with social studies in the coming weeks.
At my placement, I see social studies every Thursday. I have seen Mr. Keefer integrate social studies with reading and writing. When I first started going on Thursdays, the students were reading a book titled, Freedom's Fire. During Communication Arts (reading, writing, and spelling), the students interact with different genres, including fantasy, poetry, realistic fiction, historical fiction, etc. The students read Freedom's Fire, which is a historical fiction book. It is about two families (patriot and loyalist) during the Revolutionary War. While they read it, they had to answer comprehension questions, look up vocabulary words, and they engaged in class discussions. Mr. Keefer would ask them questions that move beyond the text. For example, "Sarah is being asked to go against her family's values in order to marry her loyalist boyfriend. What would you do if you were in her situation?" The student's really enjoyed reading this book. They also had to compose an alternate ending to the book.
ReplyDeleteThey are also starting biography projects. They each had to pick a person in the time frame of 1800-1960. They got a book from the library, which they will read and then complete a Biography report. Mr. Keefer is not exactly sure what type of writing project they will complete yet. The students also have to present their person to the class through a brief speech.
I really like the idea of implementing Biography projects in my class. I think these are a great way to integrate social studies into reading and writing. The students are becoming an expert on a person of interest and then they use their reading and writing skills to report on this person. I really like the idea of having book discussions with the entire class. This is a great way to get students to think beyond the surface.
As I said before, history is often integrated into reading and writing- the students read stories in their anthology and then do different projects related to the social studies content to fulfill their reading contract.
ReplyDeleteAs I also have talked about, at Hempfield the 2nd grade teachers have been integrating social studies, reading and writing and technology. The students so far have done webcam sessions with a high school class in China as well as a 2nd grade class in Michigan. They have to research facts about Lancaster and PA as well as the place that they are connecting with. Yesterday, they compared and contrasted differences in Michigan and PA based on things like the state bird, state flower, flags, population and land area. I really do like the fact that the students had to use books and the internet to do their own research so I will definitely incorporate that into my classroom someday.
My co-op started to teach some geography this past Thursday. She explained to the students that where we live is connected to the rest of the world by showing the world map and then the United States map, and then a Pennslyvania map. This showed what states are near PA and then what continents are nearby as well. They are also learning about Pennslyvania history currently. She explained to me that this will lead into teaching about landforms which integrates science. I will be teaching the part about landforms. In order to integrate social studies into science, I will probably use the Foss books from science class.
ReplyDeleteAlso when students learn about social studies, they need to answer comprehension questions. This is usually done with the scholastic news pamphlets. In order to answer these questions they need to go back into the text and find the answers and sometimes have to make connections. This is a good way of integration.
In my classroom, I will integrate litarcy into social studies because it is a simple way to use two subjects of reading and writing. Also I can try to integrate science, if the topic being taught allows for it.
I have not seen Social Studies incorporated into the curriculum at all. The schedule is a very strict reading and math regimen that all of the second grade classes must stick to. I can tell that my co-op becomes slightly frustrated by this regimen because the kids often become antsy and/or uninterested in doing the same thing day after day.
ReplyDeleteYesterday she had be do a read-aloud at the very beginning of the reading section. This was the first time that I saw any type of non-basal or leveled reader reading being done...and they loved it! Even though this story was not social studies related, I would like to try to do more read-alouds in the future and choose some stories that have social studies related themes. All these kids need are some opportunities to be introduced to interesting topics, and the wheels really start turning.
Ultimately, for my own classroom, I hope that I will be able to find a way to incorporate social studies more, even if it is small things here and there; like something during the morning routine, or a transition story or exercise relating to geography, history, etc.
Teresa and I are in the same school and grade, so like she said, our schedule is really strict and I have not seen any Social Studies, even through integration. My teacher was saying this is first year she has not had time for Social Studies and she was really upset about it. The entire staff, from what I have heard, seems to be pretty upset with a new schedule and a lot of new tasks they have to complete each day.
ReplyDeleteThe closest thing we get to Social Studies is some read alouds about historical figures. We had a few for Black History Month, but I haven't seen many others and there's never any discussion following these read alouds. Even if there's no time for Social Studies in my future classroom I would definitely make it a point to include social studies related books for independent reading and read alouds and have some sort of discussion to at least get the kids connected to social studies in some way.
My teacher seems to have endless ideas for incorporating social studies in her first grade class. She and the students sings songs about “people in our neighborhood”, does coloring/art projects on cultures and customs, shows videos on different cultures, reads storied pertaining to famous people in history, and even had a celebration for Chinese New Year’s, complete with Chinese take-out, chopsticks and homemade spring rolls. It’s clear that she tries to make learning fun, and the students respond very well.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that most first graders quickly lose focus in most activities. I have watched them go from super excited about a topic or activity (like using chopsticks) to bored, frustrated or inattentive in about 15 minutes. I suppose short social studies lessons would work best with very young children. When I have my own classroom, I intend to use as many different strategies as possible to teach the curriculum. I plan to sing, read, and do art projects, and whenever possible, include an introduction to ethnic foods. I feel that young children have to experience culture. They cannot just read about social studies and be expected to understand and know it. Fun activities make memories and help children learn and retain information across the curriculum.
I have not observed much social studies integration at all. The only things that I have seen being done were that which were included in the basal readers. The only time I saw this, the students had to read a story about Harry Houdini and his life and then they filled out a worksheet about it…not very exciting. My teacher did try to make it interesting by showing the students YouTube videos she found about Harry Houdini, which they enjoyed, but that was the extent of it. Other than that, I have not seen much social studies. She claims that she enjoys social studies a lot and loves to teach in daily in her classroom, but I have not seen much due to the fact that she is stressing about PSSA’s. She completely eliminated social studies from their daily curriculum until PSSA’s are over. At that time, I will be in charge of creating a week long social studies unit!
ReplyDeleteDue to the fact that I haven’t seen much social studies integration, I haven’t really seen any good ways/ideas to incorporate it. The teachers are more focused on a double dose of math and PSSA testing subjects than social studies and science at this time. When I get to create my unit after PSSA’s I plan to use many of the ideas and strategies that I have been learning about in class to integrate other subjects, most likely reading and writing, into what we are doing.
I really don't see a lot of Social Studies in the 2nd grade curriculum. Mrs. Ober teaches from the Basels and doesn't really add anything to the lesson. Once in awhile the students will draw a picture relating to the topic they are discussing. That is usually as far as it goes though. Not seeing Social Studies in the curriculum is making me realize how much I want to incorporate it in the future. I think it is easy to incorporate it into other subjects and really beneficially. I hope that once I start teaching more in Mrs. Ober's class I will be able to bring in more Social studies.
ReplyDeleteI have not seen any social studies in my kindergarten classroom. As I have said before, the schedule blocks consist of reading, math, and specials (for 20 minutes). Much of the cirriculum comes from basel readers. I have looked through a few of the basels and some of the units are supposed to be about social studies and other units are supposed to be about science. However, I have not seen either of these subjects being taught. I feel that even if they want to keep the schedule dedicated to math and reading, there are so many ways that social studies could be integrated. The reading block is broken down into four centers, one of the centers involves writing in journals. I understand that it is necessary in kindergarten to get students to learn to write on their own and develop thoughts and sentences on their own. But I have seen the students struggle with coming up with ideas to write about, but once I or my co-op start to ask them questions and get them thinking, sentences just come to them. Why not provide the students with a small prompt about community or anything social studies related and encourage students to write a few sentences about it. I think it would be surprising to see what they come up with.
ReplyDeleteAs I continue to plan lessons, I will be talking with my co-op and trying to incorporate areas of social studies without having to stray too far from her schedule and what she likes to teach.
The only type of social studies I have witnessed in my classroom was done through reading a book on a historical figure, and writing a short summary on that person. In the start of my placement, my teacher told me she alternates between social studies and science, each for a few weeks at a time. I hope to witness social studies soon! I have barely seen any science though.
ReplyDeleteIn my own classroom, I plan to make it interesting! Observing my teacher has allowed me to start thinking of my own ideas of engaging students during social studies. Using art, music, and other areas can help to engage students in social studies. I like the ideas of using writing as well, whether it be through journal writing, speeches, etc. Activities in which students are "doing" will make them enjoy the subject so much more!
Thus far, it has seemed that art has been mostly integrated into the Social Studies lessons. Almost every placement I have been to, Mrs. Moritz had the class do some kind of craft. There have been crafts for Martin Luther King Day, Dr. Seuss, The Statue of Liberty, and several others. Every now and then, literacy will be integrated into the lesson, but very seldom on the days that I am actually in the classroom. I don't know how much social studies is led up to the students before they do the crafts, that is during the rest of the week, but that is something I will most likely find out when I am there everyday. If I were to make a change to the Social Studies lessons, I would do more shared reading and integrate more literacy. I would much more seldomly have the class do arts and crafts, because I want that stuff to be fun when they get to do it. When they do it every week, or maybe even everyday, I feel that art becomes stale; more of a chore than fun.
ReplyDeleteThough there are some flaws in Mrs. Moritz's methods, I still feel that she is an excellent teacher and that her students are very bright. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that they are progressing in knowledge in every subject area, including Social Studies.
Write now my teacher has the students working on research projects in which they are to gather information on a famous explorer and put it into an online brochure that promotes traveling in time to visit that explorer. It's a good literacy lesson I suppose in researching and organizing information. I don't, honestly, think that was her intent. It seems more her last ditch effort to make learning about explorers interesting. It seems that social studies is one of the best opportunities to integrate information across the subjects and I don't see it here. Even when they are reading a story about the Mayan people, there doesn't seem to be an effort to connect that to historical content. I don't understand why she doesn't expand the children's knowledge base. She says that they learn that content in 6th grade so she doesn't need to spend time on it...I don't see why she doesn't jump start that knowledge when the opportunity is there. It's frustrating but at the same time i know she is a dedicated teacher that wants what's best for her students. She is just limited in time and resources.
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