Elem Social Studies 05 (Haley)

I started this class off without liking social studies at all. I have realized that it is not that bad. There are somethings I think I need to work on when it comes to this subject but those are just minor things. I know that I can not be bias toward the subject that I am teaching. I think it will have me go off subject and then the students won’t be learning what they need to know. I have also learned that I need to take risks with my students. I have to do things that I know will benefit them but wont necessarily meet the criteria of the planning team. I am excited to see how social studies looks in my classroom and how I become equipped with good risk taking skills.

1. Hard topics in social studies

Finally, the class where we talk about the big elephant in the room. HOW TO TEACH SLAVERY. I have been waiting to get tips on this topic. I have always been so scared of it because I have a lot built up behind this subject. I think what stuck with me the most was  creating a safe space. Whether that’s with the parents or with all the students in the classroom. This is a tough subject but creating a place where learning is comfortable is very essential. Also, digesting the children and challenging them to really think deeply about these subjects. Let them get all the questions out. Let them have uncomfortable conversations with their peers, this is how they are going to learn it. The 5 best practices was a very helpful tool and it made me all the more comfortable while talking to my group members today in class.

1. Civil Right Movement
2. The Watsons Go to Birmingham 

The civil rights movement is such a hard topic to teach without being opinionated about certain aspects. Whenever I picture myself talking about the civil rights movement to children, I see myself being really emotional. Like I want to make sure they are learning everything they need to know about the civil rights but I want to make sure I include the reality of what really was happening to black people at the time. I just think there is so many activities and so many books to read but everyone I have came across does not quite paint the horrible picture of African Americans past

The Watsons Go to Birmingham was a  really cute book to hear about. I think the book was very enlightening because it showed the culture of black people in this time. It was in the deep south where things were hostile and it painted a great picture of what was going at the time of the civil rights movement. I think the book went into much detail about some of the gruesome scenes in Birmingham, which I think children should hear about. It is the only way it will resonate with students. Hearing things like this will motivate them to maybe want to change the world they live in.

1. Out of the Dust book.
2. Adding music to lessons

The book was very interesting because it was really sad and I thought it was hard to teach children about this topic. I think the book was so raw. Was it too much for young students?I think the most interesting things about this book was the health and environment aspect of this time. There were so many topics covered in this book. This book is good for older grades. But a very important topic to cover.

 

Music is something that never really used in the classroom. But with my experience with kids, I see that kids learn a lot more through a song. The songs we listened to in class today stuck with me because they were catchy. Songs are easy to use and even easier to find. All the songs I learned I still remember today. They can be used on a test as well.

1. biographies

I found that making a biography lesson plan I was being bias with the person I chose. I chose to do Martin Luther King Jr, this is someone who has inspired me and I look up. I really liked doing this lesson plan because it was something I was passionate about. I just fear that I will say so much stuff that is bias and I wonder if it bad to be bias about someone like Martin Luther King. Should I be somewhat praising him or just presenting him as an activist?

1. Blood on the River presentation
2. Controversy over Indians in picture books.

 

I had to present my project today. I think that kids should be able to have a book talk within their classroom. This will be a change in who is speaking and I think will get the attention of the children in a positive manner. I also think doing a book talk about one book will allow the class to get the different perspectives of all the children. This could be good to compare or even spark up a great discussion. I think doing a book talk will bring up things that others might have missed. I think that finding experts was really fun and I think will be good for the  students to follow along with.

 

I think it was so crazy to see all the picture books with the pictures of Indians that were misinterpreted. This is something that has gone unnoticed for a long time. I think that there needs to be a change in the perspectives of these illustrators. Growing up I also thought of Indians in the way they were drawn but after this class I realized how horrible the Native Americans in the classroom could  feel.

Two topics-

1. Non Fiction book compared to Blood on the River
2. DBQ’s

 

I really liked the non fiction book that went with Blood on the River. The pictures that are shown in the book are great for kids to see because they give a great image of what Jamestown looked like. I thought that this book answered the questions that I developed while reading the fiction book. This book could have also been good to front load before going on the field trip to Jamestown. I wonder if this a good book to read out loud to the children or for them to just look at the pictures? One thing I noticed about this book is the dramatization of the people pictured. Somethings that pictured are not entirely believable. I wonder if kids will catch this?

 

DBQ’s was a very interesting approach. I think the hardest thing for me would be forming these questions. I want to be able to use questions that will get there minds going. I want my discussion questions to be entertaining. I would implement this into one of my lessons as long as the questions are really well thought out and I know that my children will get something out of the discussion following the questions.

1. The lesson plan
2. The field trip

 

I had a lot of trouble with making an “i can” statement on the lesson plan. I was having a lot of trouble coming up with words that would be kid friendly but still got to the point of my lesson. I did my lesson plan based of a fourth grade class so I tried to make it less childish but it was tougher than other subjects I have done. Along with that I struggled with the objectives for the day. It might have been because I did an introduction to Jamestown. Lastly, how do we find all the vocab we need for each lesson? is there I can make sure i’m putting all the vocab words on my lesson plan?

 

I thought the field was lovely. I really did like the distant learning program. I wondered how effective it and do kids usually stay on task for something like that and for that period of time. My only concern was knowing the right time in a lesson to include it. Would it be in the beginning, the middle or the end? Also how far long in the unit would you use it? Can something like this be used to show primary sources? these were all questions I had while we were using the program.

This weeks topics that caught my attention:

1. Performance based assessments.
2.  Thinking as a Historians.

We spent majority of the class discussing performance based assessments. When I was in school all we had was tests, quiz, and every now and then we had a huge project to do. I think that performance based assessments puts a spin on assessment and allows children to think outside the box. But I will say it scares me to have to think about all the extra work it requires to come up with these type of assessments in lesson plans. When we were talking about the rubrics I was thinking about how much more I would have to include in my lesson plans. Don’t get me wrong I want to do anything to make sure my children are learning in a way that is fun for me but I do not want to over work myself focusing so much on making rubrics and how I would grade these type of assessments.

Toward the end of class we looked at the first Thanksgiving again. In the question it used the word “historians” this word has been brought to my attention several times in this class but I still don’t feel like I am thinking like a historian. Reflecting off the question, I feel like that we were supposed to put ourselves in a historian shoes. I had a lot of trouble doing that. I think for children who have trouble doing this there can be different ways of thinking like this. Im going to work on mine in the mean time.

 

 

Ideas that had my attention to the most:

1. Front-loading/Building Background Knowledge
2. The Lesson Plan watched in class

After last class, I realized how similar front loading and building background knowledge are. They are very informational and get the brains going. These topics are sometimes new to the children so I think it is nice to begin with an activity of some sort. In class we did the “tea party” method. While doing this activity I was surprised to find out information on Harriet Tubman that hadn’t once known. Along with that the facts that stuck with me I later saw later in class during the short reading. The more you keep seeing the facts the better you get a memorizing it. This was very useful.

The lesson plan we watched in class was interesting. It had a lot to do with what we were talking about in class. But what drew my attention to most was how calm and comfortable the teacher was with the subject she was teaching. There was diversity within the classroom. But I tried to put myself in those children’s shoes and I think I would have been uncomfortable to talk. Of course I see that now and I know the only reason I can say this now is because I feel strongly about the way children are taught slavery and civil rights. Growing up I was taught it was another revolution that “changed” the world, but in reality it really wasn’t just a thing that happen. It shaped todays society and created the very separatism we have in our classrooms. It is hard for me to reflect on this because in my mind I felt like I was the only in the class that looked at the video like this.

 

 

Haley Berkeley