1: Teaching Social Studies
Why do we teach social studies? This session focuses on the relevance of teaching social studies and discusses strategies for helping students gain a deeper understanding of social studies content. Along with the onscreen teachers, you will review standards and themes developed by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and view video clips from the Social Studies in Action video library to identify examples of powerful teaching and learning.
2: Teaching for Understanding
How do we plan for learning? In this session, you will examine the Teaching for Understanding model, a framework for unit planning developed at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. You will use the framework to analyze unit planning in classroom videos, plan for social studies units, and see how a pictorial timeline of U.S. history can shape an entire year of learning.
3: Exploring Unity and Diversity
Who do we teach? Because themes of unity and diversity surface within both academic content and classroom climate, this session focuses on strategies for teaching provocative issues in social studies as well as methods of addressing a diversity of learners. You will examine national documents for themes of unity and diversity, and explore Howard Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences. Finally, you will develop a lesson, using a mini-lesson on immigration and citizenship as a model.
4: Applying Themes and Disciplines
What do we teach? Working from the NCSS themes and standards, and related disciplines, you will identify building blocks for teaching social studies, and approaches to integrating disciplines while teaching social studies content. Classroom video segments illustrate effective strategies for developing a comprehensive curriculum and provide an opportunity for you to reflect on teaching practices. Finally, you will develop a lesson plan that incorporates a variety of themes and disciplines.
5: Using Resources
How can students use a variety of resources well? In this session, you will focus on how to make the most of the resources that can be used in teaching social studies, from artifacts and primary sources to children's literature and the Internet. You'll see how children's literature can be used to examine what constitutes a good citizen, analyze artifacts, and develop a lesson of your own.
6: Engaging Students in Active Learning
How do we engage students in active learning? In this session, you will examine the elements of authentic instruction and cooperative learning to identify ways of engaging students in social studies content. You will review the importance of questioning in relationship to higher-order thinking, and explore classroom strategies to stimulate thinking and bring social studies concepts to life for your students.
7: Assessing Students' Learning
How do we know students are learning? Because assessment often provides only small snapshots of learning, this session provides you with a variety of tools and strategies to assess students' learning in formal, informal, ongoing, and culminating ways. You will analyze classroom video segments, develop criteria for assessment, and learn how to incorporate assessment strategies in your practice.
8: Making Connections
How do we connect social studies to life beyond the classroom? In this culminating session, you will explore the connections between social studies content and real-world applications. You will see classroom video examples that illustrate effective ways of bridging social studies concepts and the world beyond the classroom, match teaching goals with strategies for making connections, and develop a lesson of your own.