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Introduction - My Definition of Social Studies Teacher Part 1
My definition of a Social Studies teacher. I wrote some good qualities that I still agree with today. I feel that a Social Studies teacher should have a welcoming and comfortable environment, so students can have open and thoughtful discussions where every student feels comfortable to share ideas and thoughts. I believe this is important within a Social Studies class since some topics can be sensitive. want to engage students through videos and primary sources, connecting it to their own lives. -
My Definition Part 2
Reflecting on this, I realize a social studies teacher should also guide students towards inquiry based questions so they can have deep realizations. Technology links are helpful to provide support for this! I realize my view as a Social Studies teacher is not much different than the type of teacher I want to be throughout all other core subjects. History is a long story that historians in our past have acted out. I want my students to have fun with this subject! -
Kindergarten Lesson
Including a lot of connections to themselves is important! I would make this lesson more concise so that students are not constructing the roads, and presenting to the class. I believe that this lesson could include students creating and labeling their maps, but they will be hung around the room for students to view instead of presenting. I will use the maps themselves to assess their understanding since I will know if they were able to identify important places through their labeling. -
First Grade Lesson
A lot of exciting resources to include in our teachings! Some great links like BrainPop, SchoolTube, and the Time Lapse video - kids can really put things into perspective this way! For the lesson, specifying what question students will present will help them not feel overwhelmed. They will feel more prepared, and I am confident they will still be engaged and excited throughout other presentations. Also, I would want to find a great initiation video on colonial times and include lots of visuals! -
Second Grade Lesson
Loved the idea of this lesson, one of my favorites! A fun idea to extend this lesson could be for kids create an election video, with the use of VideoScribe with teacher guidance. Including a primary source of an election speech and pictures of the White House could be exciting and more inquiry based, posing questions. This can help inform about the election process, and what it takes to become elected president. This could be a different way they could present their speech to the class. -
Third Grade Lesson
All participants came to this lesson with a lot of great ideas, it was hard to decide on one! I think this lesson is important for students to know the difference between goods and services, but I think it could be more inquiry based. Posing questions to have them think about why we need goods and services can help deepen their thinking process. Having them create brochures to persuade people to come and use their own good or service can also be engaging and inquiry based! -
Fourth Grade Lesson
The Gold Rush and '49ers! So interesting to learn about and so many activities you could include with these lessons! I am so proud of this lesson because we all worked together to find a way to shorten our ideas and make a cohesive lesson that is engaging and inquiry based. I think this is a great initiation lesson to engage students about the gold rush. I would not change anything to it! Other activities can come next, like planning your own trip to CA like a '49er! -
Fifth grade lesson
A great inquiry based lesson. The Boston Massacre was a topic at first we were not sure how to handle since some pictures might be viewed as violent to students. Treating this material sensitively is important. I love this lesson, and wouldn't change much, all activities are inquiry based. Using TeacherTube video could be helpful for background knowledge of the event - even though it's silly. http://www.teachertube.com/video/boston-massacre-163496, or creating a VideoScribe could be helpful! -
Sixth Grade Lesson
It was awesome to think of a thematic project for students to participate in for Ancient Chinese culture. Since this area is so broad it might feel overwhelming at first. It was helpful to assign groups specific topics so they know what they are investigating and presenting. I loved the initiation activity with the fireworks! Finding a way so that everyone can see and not crowd around the table will be helpful - such as calling them up in groups to try it while others are researching. -
Reflection on the Course
As the class began, I did not think I would get comfortable with the idea of writing a lesson plan in an hour successfully. I realized that working together to write these lessons were fun, and listening to other people explain ideas in different ways that I didn't think of was useful and creative. I am so excited to teach social studies! I will be able to use so many tools to help teach lessons in a fun, engaging, and thoughtful way to my students. I am proud of the work we accomplished!
