Bleicher and Kirkwood-Tucker (2004), teacher education methods professors, conducted research with their preservice elementary teachers to see what changes in pedagogy the student teachers had developed after being co taught by the professors. The study consisted of nineteen science and twelve social studies student teachers enrolled in methods courses at a university in Florida. The two method courses were combined for the purpose of the study and meet for three hours a week for five weeks. The students were divided into seven groups and given randomly assigned global perspective topics. The authors determined that three groups developed units that were effective in incorporating science and social studies material during all parts of the lesson. Bleicher and Kirkwood-Tucker concluded that student teachers need more courses that allow the students to practice their integration techniques while they are building content lessons. They suggest this could be achieved by having more classes that are co taught by methods professors. Kysilka (1998) sees the importance of co teaching at other grade levels also. He feels that if teachers can make time to share connected periods of teaching, students will see teachers modeling the importance of both content areas. Belicher and Kirkwood (2004) also state “teacher education programs need to be encouraged to develop innovative subject content methods courses that combine traditional subjects into integrated approaches to teaching especially at the elementary and middle school levels” (p. 123).
In my opinion, integration of social studies can be accomplished easier where students learn their entire curriculum from one teacher, which usually occurs a...
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... teach about cultural diversity and social justice. The Social Studies, 95(4), 172-176.
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The following is a curriculum audit of six grade social studies at Rockmart Middle School. Also, to recommend changes to the six grade social studies curriculum with a textbook program, this will ensure that Polk School District has a differentiated rigorous curriculum which challenges all students to reach their full potential while in the six grade. Rockmart Social Studies students at the middle school level develop an increased depth of understanding of global society by expanding their learning networks through collaboration with experts and other students from our local and worldwide communities. At the same time, their understanding of the fundamental principles and values of American democracy
Sheftel, B. (2002). Music Education Curriculum in Public Schools. PageWise, Inc, Retrieved August 6, 2003
The concept of best practices in teaching is not a new one, and the discussion of how to implement the most effective strategies in social studies education is ongoing. By definition, social studies is a curriculum design focused on the relationships among multiple disciplines such as history, geography, philosophy, and the humanities, and its purpose is to help students develop the ability to make informed decisions with a world perspective. However, due to the ever increasing pressure from high-stakes testing, teachers feel the need to focus instead on memorization of names, dates, and other facts as the primary method for teaching social studies concepts (Au, 2011). For social studies instruction to be powerful, it must be meaningful, integrative, challenging, and active (NCSS, 1993), and as teachers begin to implement the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) into their classroom instruction, they will need to weave in strategies that promote critical thinking, a skill that is inherently challenging for many adolescents.
Knowing that the above definition of social studies actually looks at politics, economics, cultures, and the environment of societies, the next step is to see if the textbook follows. Georgia’s state standard SS2CG1 through SS2CG4 covers the politics; SS2E1 through SS2E4 covers economics; and SS2G2 covers the culture. The state standards do not cover the environment side of society. This second...
Therefore, teachers teach the whole child since they maintain cultural identity of a student not only do they emphasize on the importance of academic achievement. Consequently, when promoting academic community for students, teachers play a role in responding effectively to the learners needs (Gay, 2000).
Thornton, Stephen J.. Teaching Social Studies that Matters: Curriculum for Active Learning. New York: Teachers College Press, 2005. Print.
Over the course of the semester I have had my eyes opened to the world of social studies education. I have had the idea of being a teacher since I was in high school myself. In this paper I will assess the questions of what social studies is, how it is taught, and how I will use all of these things in my classroom.
Lemlech, Johanna K. Curriculum and Instructional Methods for the Elementary and Middle School. Ed. Debra A. Stollenwerk. 4th ed. 1994. Upper Saddle, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc, 1998. Print.
The education world is constantly evolving with the introduction of new strategies and content. With the constant changes, some things that are introduced enhance students learning, while some may not. One of the newer strategies that has begun to be used by many professionals in the education field is curriculum integration. Shoemaker defined integrated curriculum as, “….. education that is organized in such a way that it cuts across subject-matter lines, bringing together various aspects of the curriculum into meaningful association to focus upon broad area of study. It views learning and teaching in a holistic way and reflects the real world, which is interactive” (1989, p.5). By integrating various subjects into one lesson students are able to learn content in a meaningful way. Students begin to understand that many subjects relate to one another, each subject matter is not one single learning experience, they are connected, just like life. When curriculum is integrated students are able to explore one topic with varied content that stretches across several standard-based academic disciplines that reinforces learning while bringing the curriculum to life in a meaningful way. Researchers have found that
Every child deserves a positive, safe, nurturing, and stimulating learning environment where they will grow academically, socially, emotionally, and physically. My role as an educator is to provide my students with this type of environment as well as an education that will help them succeed academically and become life long learners. It is the responsibility of a literacy educator to provide students with this type of environment, but also to provide instruction that will help students become successful readers and writers. There are numerous programs and philosophies about literacy and reading. Through years of experience and research, one begins to develop their own creative approach on teaching these skills. After looking at different programs and seeing the positive and negatives of each, an integrated and balanced approach of literacy seems to be the best way to teach the differing needs of each student.
This report goes into detail about the reasons social studies is a core subject in the New Zealand curriculum, how social studies has a unique role in preparing children to be active and critical participants in a changing society, defines and explains what ‘powerful social studies’ is and lastly it will explain what qualities are required of a successful Social Studies teacher. For the purpose of this report “social studies is the systematic study of an integrated body of content from the social sciences and humanities to develop socially informed and effective citizens who are empowered with knowledge and skills in a changing society” (Barr, H., Graham, J., Hunter, P., Keown, P., & McGee, J. 1997, p. 5).
Mr. Columbie usually integrates reading and social studies together. He does this by incorporating reading books or passages in his lesson. For example, he might start a lesson by reading students a book that relates to the topic of the lesson he is going to teach. This also helps get the students engaged and excited for the lesson. Mr. Columbie believes that social studies is his
Social Studies education is a subject in today’s schools that is undervalued. The study of social studies in schools help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (Seefeldt, Castle, & Falconer, 2010). When participating in social studies class children are learning so much about who they are, where they came from, how to succeed in the world, and more. Most of what we teach daily includes an aspect of social studies. But, since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 de-emphasis or nonexistence of elementary social studies is the national focus because of high stakes testing (Sunal, & Sunal, 2008). Social studies
Evidence from both educational journals and personal interviews suggest several different possible approaches to successful science integration. Many of the lesson plans dealt with integrating science with technology or with mathematics. For example, a fifth-grade teacher had his class record weather observations for an entire year and then used their data to teach graphing concepts including bar graphs, line graphs, pie charts, as well as concepts such as mean and mode (Chia, 1998).