ocial tudies Course Design
Title of Lesson: Creation Myths From Around the World

Core ubjects: ocial tudies

econdary ubjects: Language Arts, Geography

Grade Levels: 5,6,7,8 (Varied by content depth and assessment)

Course Justification/Theory: One very interesting aspect of the human experience is the manner in which certain themes appear again and again over time, in literature, religion, mythology, and culture -- regardless of the geographic location, the economic status, and the time period. Perhaps it is the innate human need to explain and explore the known and unknown, but to have disparate cultures in time and location find ways of explaining certain principles in such similar manner leads one to believe that there is perhaps more to myth and ritual than simple repetition of archetypal themes. In a sense, then, to acculturate the future, we must re-craft the past, and the way that seems to happen is in the synergism of myth and ritual as…...

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Sources

YouTube.com. 2009. North American Creation Myths. [ONLINE] Available at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3XoYZgvEH8 

YouTube.com. (2006). The Bering Migration, The First People. [ONLINE]

Available at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLpAMTZROFY&feature=related 

YouTube.com. (2006). Videos on Myth. [ONLINE]

Social Studies
A person's background is largely determined by the respective individual's interactions and heritage, taking into account that he or she is practically shaped by the way that a series of ideas come together in a life-like form. When considering events that shaped who I am today and my background, I believe that concepts like race and ethnicity have had a strong influence. I've experienced change and development in accordance with the environments that I've interacted with, as they practically made me who I am today. Even with the fact that nature played an important role in shaping my personality, nurture was essential in making it possible for me to develop particular attitudes.

When considering the modernization theory, it appears that one can find a series of ideas making it possible for the respective person to gain a more complex understanding of his or her background and of his or her…...

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Bibliography:

Jones, P. (2011). "Introducing Social Theory." Polity.

O'Donoghue, K. (2005). "Social Work Theories in Action." Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Stinchcomb, A.L. (1987). "Constructing Social Theories." University of Chicago Press.

Social Studies Lesson Planner
Course Code:

Grade Level/Student Pop: 7-12

New York State

Common Core

Standard 1: History of the U.S. & New York

Reading Strand

Writing Strand

RH. 9-10.1

RH. 11-12.1

WHST. 9-10.1

WHST. 11-12.1

RH. 9-10.2

RH. 11-12.2

WHST. 9-10.2

WHST. 11-12.2

Standard 2: World History

RH. 9-10.3

RH. 11-12.3

WHST. 9-10.3

WHST. 11-12.3

RH. 9-10.4

RH. 11-12.4

WHST. 9-10.4

WHST. 11-12.4

Standard 3: Geography

RH. 9-10.5

RH. 11-12.5

WHST. 9-10.5

WHST. 11-12.5

RH. 9-10.6

RH. 11-12.6

WHST. 9-10.6

WHST. 11-12.6

Standard 4: Economics

RH. 9-10.7

RH. 11-12.7

WHST. 9-10.7

WHST. 11-12.7

RH. 9-10.8

RH. 11-12.8

WHST. 9-10.8

WHST. 11-12.8

Standard 5: Civics, Citizenship, and Gov't

RH. 9-10.9

RH. 11-12.9

WHST. 9-10.9

WHST. 11-12.9

RH. 9-10.10

RH. 11-12.10

WHST.9-10.10

WHST.11-12.10

Mastery Objectives:

Demonstrate the appropriate classroom public speaking and listening skills (e.g., body language, articulation, listening to be able to identify specific examples of the speaker's coordination of talking and action) that would be necessary to influence or change someone's mind or way of thinking about a topic.

2) Define the elements of persuasion.

3) Recognize the elements of personal credibility.

4) Develop methods to analyze other students' speeches.

5) Understand outlining main ideas.

6) Create a persuasive speech.

7)

Standards:

NCSS Standards

1. Culture

6. Power, Authority, and Governance

2. Time,…...

For Movement, using a field trip to a manufacturing company to see how goods are made from parts and then moved to other locations for sale.
The book also approaches learning from a multitude of learning styles, from class discussions to small groups and independent learning. For example, when reading an article or story and an issue comes up, the class can be divided into two groups with each portraying the view point of one side. The two groups can debate their points-of-view with each other. or, when teaching weather, the book suggests using small group learning stations where different groups would rotate to various weather related activities. This method works well with first graders in that it gets them actively participating yet also caters to their short attention spans.

The book does an excellent job at emphasizing the importance of incorporating various teaching strategies in order to meet every student's…...

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Bibliography

Chapin, June R. (2005): Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Guide. New York: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.

Ellis, Arthur. (2006): Teaching and Learning Elementary Social Studies. New York: Allyn & Bacon, Inc.

Maxim, George W. (2005): Dynamic Social Studies for Constructivist Classrooms: Inspiring Children to Be Social Scientists. New York: Prentice Hall.

Obenchain, Kathryn M. And Ronald V. Morris. (2006): 50 Social Studies Strategies for K-8 Classrooms. New York: Prentice Hall.

Writing in the social studies also encourages students to appreciate different kinds of writing. Writing to persuade is different than merely writing to inform. Students learn to identify biases in sources, and to understand that not everything that they read is true. They can also engage in persuasive exercises where they try to change the minds of other people. This forces them to see that there are two sides to every issue. Being able to express controversial points-of-view in a way that is respectful of others fosters a sense of maturity within the students that will help them in later life.

Debating historical issues and understanding how people lived differently a long time ago will also help students comprehend that their way of life is not the only way people have lived, in ages past. Students learn to read primary source documents to understand how people of the past thought about…...

Social studies provides an understanding of the social network, which no other subject adequately covers.
B. Lack of social studies could mean a lack of understanding how to work in a large group over extended periods of time to accomplish things

VI. Less Social Studies puts students at risk of general academic failure

A. No understanding of vocabulary needed for history and other courses taken later in the course of education.

B. General reading ability and comprehension also suffers, especially on standardized tests that assume general knowledge about certain subjects

VII. "Learning in a vacuum" reduces intellectual ability

A. Learning about interconnected disciplines in isolation from each other leads to lower abilities and test scores.

B. Debate and thorough explanations are losing ground to the faster method of memorization, which involves no critical thinking

VIII. Conclusion

A. Social studies is a necessary subject that creates a sense of civic duty and furthers education overall, and needs to be…...

World
esearch shows that American students need greater geographic awareness. The lack of concern for, or appreciation of, other cultures is also deplorably low among American students. As oach (2006) points out, "Fewer than three in ten think it's absolutely necessary to know where countries in the news are located. Only 14% believe speaking another language fluently is a necessary skill," (p. 2). Not caring about geography shows that there are fundamental problems with American social values and norms. Xenophobia and insularity should not be concurrent with the American ideal. Low geographic awareness is debilitating for American students, many of whom will want to seek jobs in the global marketplace.

The goal of the proposed academic program Where in the World? is to improve map reading and basic geography skills, but to do so within an appropriate framework of cultural awareness. It is our mission to not just teach children how…...

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References

Roach, J. (2006). Young Americans geographically illiterate, survey suggests. National Geographic . May 2, 2006. Retrieved online:  http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/0502_060502_geography.html 

Rosenberg, M. (2007). One in five Americans can't find U.S. About.com. Retrieved online:  http://geography.about.com/b/2007/08/30/one-in-five-americans-cant-find-us.htm 

Shehori, S. (2008). Poll: 37% of Americans unable to locate America on map of America. Huffington Post. Dec 15, 2008. Retrieved online:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steven-shehori/poll-37-of-americans-unab_b_150933.html 

Sykes, C.J. (1996). Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why American Children Feel Good About Themselves But Can't Read, Write, Or Add. Macmillan.

Tracking Progress
As a social studies teacher, one of my proudest accomplishments is when students take a real and meaningful interest in history. I love hearing students talk about how they enjoyed a historical movie or television series with their family and can identify things we studied in class on the 'silver screen.' I also delight when we have discussions about current events and students can make comparisons between 'then' and 'now.' I was very proud when the class had a group discussion to 'debrief' us all regarding the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The students were able to discuss the situation so compassionately and with such insight. They were able to use the critical thinking tools I have tried to give them as a teacher very well.

Because I have to meet state standards as part of my requirements as a teacher, I try to strike a balance between…...

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Question 4: Objective of my lesson plan

The objective of my lesson plan on "The Progressives" was for students to specifically be able to understand the reasons behind President Roosevelt's plan to end the coal miners' strike of 1901 and to more generally understand the Progressive Movement in the United States. The Progressive Movement is an extremely important part of American history because many of the reforms we take for granted in terms of how workers are treated began as the result of Progressive concerns. Also, the issues important to the Progressives, including women's rights; labor rights; food safety; and the problems that are inherent to industrialization in America, are concerns of many reformers in America today. The problems the Progressives wished to address have not vanished, even though they accomplished many meaningful, concrete objectives.

However, I did not want to simply discuss the Progressives in the abstract, and give the students a list of terms associated with Progressivism to memorize. That is why I specifically focused upon a 'case study' involving President Roosevelt's treatment of the striking miners. This concrete focus also enabled me to deploy more differential instructional formats for students who learn in a more hands-on fashion. To accommodate visual and kinesthetic learners, I had my students research photographs, primary sources, and videos about the strike through the use of the Internet and other forms of technology. Because political cartoons were such an important component of raising awareness about serious issues during the Progressive Era, I assigned students cartoons and photographs to analyze in a critical fashion, to stimulate creative and independent thought. As well as this alternative assessment activity, I assigned more conventional tests and quizzes and used both methods of assessment to determine that the state standards for the lesson plan and the original objectives had been satisfied.

S. What would have occurred if the West had become a nation for the Native Americans and the East for the settlers?
Mexican-American War. Have students develop a timeline of Mexico from pre-Spanish explorations to present time.

Civil War: Students read a story from the website http://www.civilwarliterature.com/#Primary%20Emphasisand do a book report.

Industrial Revolution: Each student researches something that was invented during this time. How did this invention change the general population? What if had not been invented?

Immigration: Students should research their earlier generations and when they came over the U.S. They can put together a journal or family tree.

Women's Movement: Debate whether women should have been free through Constitution or waited until 19th Amendment.

WWI: Read poems about WWI and then write a short poem of one's own.

Roaring Twenties: Discuss the music, fashions, dance, etc. Of this time period.

How was it different than from before the war during Victorian Times?

Depression: Look at the photographs…...

11)
Smart Board technology is still relatively new and not enough time has elapsed to examine the results of any longitudinal studies (if any are being conducted) regarding its effectiveness in the relationship between its use and improved achievement by elementary and middle school social studies students. However, some success has already been reported anecdotally.

Byrd (2005) stated "this new wave of teaching is so much more hands-on, integrated and thematic instead of worksheet and drill-oriented." (p. 12) in teaching social studies content at Byrd's school, Liberty Drive Elementary in Thomasville, North Carolina, teachers retrieve maps and images from a database; teachers and students alike can use Smart Board highlighters to note geographic features.

Similarly, in a study sponsored by the University of Michigan-Dearborn, social studies teachers reported that students were more engaged in lessons delivered with the use of technology and the level of student achievement increased. Taylor and Duran (2006) were…...

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References

Byrd, D. (January-February, 2005). Sixteen whiteboards capture students' attention. Media & Methods, 41(4), 11-12.

Chapman, E. (2003). Practical assessment, research and evaluation. Retrieved from http://pareonline.net/getvn.asp?v=8&n=13

Olson, C.A. (February, 2010). Making the tech connection. Teaching Music. 17(5), 30-35.

Smart Exchange. Retrieved from  http://exchange.smarttech.com/search.html

The Social Studies instruction that I observed was in a high school setting with students of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds. The demographic of the class consisted of 12 students, 5 female, 7 male; 3 African-American, 1 Asian-American, 1 Hispanic-American, and 1 foreign exchange student from Germany, as well as 6 Caucasian Americans. The overall demographic of the school is about 75% Caucasian American, 15% African-American, 5% Hispanic-American, and 5% other. There is about a 50-50 mix of males and females in the student body. The teachers are mostly female, with only about 30% of the faculty being male. Less than 5% of the faculty is African-American. There is 1 Hispanic teacher. The school’s faculty is thus not very reflective of the study body in terms of ethnic background.
The Social Studies instruction I observed helped to prepare students for participation in a democratic society by focusing on the recent Occupy Wall…...

Virtual History Museum and Special Needs Learners
eb-based tools like the Virtual History Museum (VHM) are great ways for students with special needs to develop an appreciation for and understanding of the social studies field. Because students with learning disabilities often benefit from visual mediums and methods of instruction that incorporate visual cues, the VHM is a perfect tool to facilitate these students' process of comprehension.

The primary reason that VHM is so effective is that it "encourages multiple means of engagement for students" via its variety of features -- from its "built-in historian's notebook," which allows users/students to take notes digitally as they move through a visual learning exhibit, to the "text-to-speech function" that allows students to not only have access to the text copy but also to be able to hear the words spoken to them, which does in turn help the information…...

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Works Cited

Bouck, Emily et al. "The Virtual History Museum: A Universally Designed Approach to Social Studies Instruction." Teaching Exceptional Children, vol. 42, no. 2: 14-20.

America
Grade Level:

Social Studies

This activity is intended to focus on developing critical thinking, research, reading and writing skills in Students by making students motivated about learning necessary facts about United States, its demographics, history and distinctive attributes of U.S.

Education Standards Addressed

This particular lesson plan adheres to the Education Standard of United States (Teaching standards of the respective states)

Enable students to develop report writing skills by following a given template.

Enable students to develop and demonstrate their understanding regir undertsanding e elop report writing skills by fts about United States, its demographics arding overall geography of the states, its history, important places of tourists interests, structure of the government, general economy, and demography

Enable the students to understand the report making process and develop reports using electronic tools such word processor and other softwares. The activity will also focus on developing graphs and necessary tables as well.

report

esources Needed:

1) Pencil

2) Notebook

3) Computer

4) BOOKS: Suid,…...

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Resources

Props will be required for role playing. Available at the School.

Activity

1) Comprehension of seceding states and the possible reasons behind these actions. Seceding states will be removed progressively from the board.

2) Students will be divided into two groups representing Union and Confederacy. They will select their leaders, design and make their own flags, slogans, other recruitment posters.

The TEEMS program would allow me to merge the higher-level knowledge I acquired as part of my discipline-specific undergraduate degree with the type of education-related knowledge I would gain through the Masters in Teaching, Social Studies Education program at Georgia State University. I seek further education in such elements of teaching practice as classroom management, lesson planning, and deploying a wide variety of pedagogical techniques, designed to address student's unique learning styles while still meeting standardized assessment goals.

I believe that I could be an asset to the TEEMS program because of my enthusiasm for teaching and my passion for expanding high school student's financial literacy. Students today have seen the impact a lack of financial knowledge can have upon the world in the wake of the recent subprime mortgage crisis. The recent recession that will continue to have an impact upon their future vocational lives.

I have lived in the Atlanta…...

Secondary Social Studies
Civic Goals for the Social Studies

Teachers are pivotal towards impacting knowledge to students thus, the effectiveness of a teacher yields to higher performance amongst students (ussell, Waters, & Turner, 2013). The effectiveness of a teacher that yields quality performance among students is not necessarily possession of a teaching certificate. ather, the assignment of a teacher to teach within their subject field is ideal to achieve the desirable outcome in informing students sufficiently.

Certification and ideal assignment of a teacher to their subject field will ensure that teachers competently deliver the related knowledge to students without much dependence on textbooks. Different states have different measures to evaluate a teacher's effectiveness in the delivery of knowledge and their competencies in the subject matter. It is however noted that the methods used in teachers competence and knowledge testing in the majority of the states are inadequate (ussell et al., 2013).

In situations…...

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Reference

Russell, W., Waters, S., & Turner, T. (2013). Essentials of Middle and Secondary Social Studies. United Kingdom: Routledge, Chapman & Hall Ltd.

Unit Lesson Essay Topic Ideas

History

The Causes and Consequences of the American Civil War: Analyze the complex factors that led to the outbreak of the American Civil War and explore its far-reaching social, political, and economic consequences.
The Impact of the Industrial Revolution on European Society: Examine the technological, economic, and social changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution, considering its effects on workers, urbanization, and the balance of power.
The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire: Investigate the reasons for the rise and eventual decline of the Roman Empire, analyzing its political, social, military, and economic strengths and....

1. Create a cozy reading nook in the classroom with comfy chairs, pillows, and soft lighting to make reading more inviting and relaxing for students.

2. Engage students in book discussions and encourage them to share their thoughts and feelings about the story. This can help them feel more connected to the reading material and increase their enjoyment.

3. Incorporate fun and interactive reading activities, such as book scavenger hunts, character dioramas, or reader’s theater performances, to make reading more engaging and entertaining for students.

4. Offer a variety of book options, including graphic novels, non-fiction books, and diverse literature,....

Standardized Testing Practices: A Pivotal Role in Academic Evaluation and Achievement

Standardized testing plays a crucial role in the evaluation and enhancement of academic achievement. It serves as a reliable and quantifiable measure of student knowledge and skills, facilitating comparisons across individuals, schools, and districts. Here are the key reasons why standardized testing practices are pivotal in academic evaluation and achievement:

1. Objective and Consistent Measurement:

Standardized tests are designed to be objective and consistent, ensuring that all students are evaluated using the same criteria. These tests are administered under standardized conditions, minimizing biases or variations that could impact student performance. This objectivity....

High-Yield Strategies: A Powerful Tool in Lesson Delivery

High-yield strategies are evidence-based teaching methods that maximize student learning and retention. These strategies prioritize the most important concepts and skills, ensuring that students focus on what matters most. By incorporating high-yield strategies into lessons, educators can significantly enhance the effectiveness of their instruction.

Types of High-Yield Strategies

Numerous high-yield strategies have been identified, each with its unique benefits. Some common examples include:

1. Spaced Repetition:
Involves reviewing the same material at increasing intervals, which helps strengthen memory and prevents forgetting.

2. Interleaving:
Alternating between different but related concepts, rather than teaching them in isolation, promotes deeper understanding....