Blog for EDC 819: Using Technology to Teach Social Studies

 One of the things that struck me about this week's topic is how challenging it must be for K-8 educators to teach hard history. It's challenging at any age, but I feel there are more resources and guidance for high school teachers to address these topics than there are for educators of younger students. Also, the idea of even presenting a topic like slavery to 3-5th graders sounds really intimidating to me. What I loved about our Teaching Hard History resource this week as that it really breaks down not only age appropriate topics, but also age appropriate language when speaking to children about these topics.  For example, the three Essential Knowledge points below all address the economic pursuits of enslavers, but the language is presented quite differently depending on the grade level. Essential Knowledge Point number 7.B for K-2 students states: Although most enslaved people could not make money from their work, their enslaver did (A Quick Reference Guide... p. 7) . Esse...

I have to admit, I was a little intimidated by the blog topic for this week. To be honest, I have never thought about how to deepen the presence of Social Studies in the classroom, and I didn't know where to begin when it came to reflecting on  the topic. So, whenever I feel like I don't fully understand a topic, I read about it! Here is what I found. Unfortunately, Social Studies does not receive nearly as much support as English Language Arts and Math. Due to the requirements of state testing, those two other content areas receive more attention from school districts, particularly with teacher evaluations and professional learning (Diliberti, 2023). So, it is important for school districts to begin placing as much emphasis on Social Studies as they do other content areas. This may be one of the most critical ways Social Studies education can have a strong presence in the classroom (this really goes beyond the responsibility of the classroom teacher, and lands on the shoulders...

This week, I actually delivered my unit on Polytheism, so I will reflect on my experience with academic language. For my unit on polytheism, I anticipated that students would struggle the most with remembering, or even understanding, the following terms: Polytheism , Monotheism , Pantheon , Henotheism , Anthropomorphism , and Animism . The pre-assessment they took indicated that they had no or very little prior knowledge of these words, so I knew I needed to at least provide definitions and examples. I created a slideshow that included each of these words with their definitions. I also verbally and visually provided examples of these words. Students took notes on these words in their notebooks. In the second lesson, students were asked to read an article on Polynesian culture and identify examples of these words from Polynesian religion. So, for pantheon , students listed a couple of gods/goddesses within Polynesian religion. For animism , students identified aspects of Polynesian reli...

  For this week's blog topic, we were asked to reflect on what we have learned from our readings and research and through the lens of K-8 learners and their learning needs in today's world. We were also asked to reflect on a specific strand and theme. I will reflect on the strand: World History and Contemporary Issues. For the theme, I will reflect on: Theme E: Cultural Development, Interaction, and Change “This theme investigates the systems of beliefs, knowledge, values, and traditions as well as practices. As cultures interact or collide, each culture is impacted by adaptation, assimilation, acculturation, diffusion, and conflict (The New Hampshire…, p 8).” For starters, this week I learned what strands and themes were… Because I am on a Site Based Learning Plan for acquiring my Social Studies certification, I am learning piece by piece. I have reviewed the standards for social studies, but I have never looked at the various themes. Glad I was able to identify these componen...

  Today, I will be responding to the article: "3 Common Myths About Learning- and What Teachers Can Do Instead" by Jonathan G. Tullis. I found this article on the CPS Online Community of Practice for Educators Facebook page (someone had shared it), and I thought it provided some interesting points. This isn't really related to the topic of blogging, but it sparked my interest a little more than the other articles. This article emphasizes the importance of using research-based practices in the classroom. Often, as we plan out our units and lessons, we have ideas about what we think is best for students. Perhaps we rely on strategies that we were taught in our own educational journey, or use practices that were used on us in school. Or, we're simply taking advice from other colleagues in the field. But, sometimes what we think is best for students, is either ineffective or could even be detrimental to their learning.  One example in the article mentions the myth that ev...