Being someone that has always struggled with comprehension and inferences, I understand the value of knowing the terminology. There are certain words that you need to know to make sense out of what is being read. I do wonder, though, why vocabulary is such a focus in social studies. The math and science classes discussed the importance of reviewing math and science terms with students, but it was not overly emphasized. Is this because math and science terms are more concrete with a greater ability to be conceptualized with hands-on activities and visuals, whereas social studies terms are more representative of ideas? The picture activity that we did in class was intriguing. A few times my partner and I had differing opinions on whether the picture represented revolution or reaction. These pictures ended up being both, but we initially interpreted the pictures differently.
Another thing that I wonder, is at what point do you begin teaching the core content? With there being so much focus on vocabulary and a distinctly shorter amount of time devoted to social studies than other subjects, how does it all come together? It doesn’t seem like there would be enough time in a lesson to teach both vocabulary and content well.
There are a couple of strategies that I would like to include in my future classroom. For younger students, I like the idea of sketchnoting. While these students may not have the words to be able to explain what they understand, they could show their understanding of key concepts with drawings. Out of the graphic organizers, I particularly like the Frayer model. It can be easily differentiated for the needs of individual students and it can fit on a note card for later review. I also thought that the Alphaboxes were very useful. In order to be able to come up with several relevant words for each letter, the topic needs to be well understood. So not only would this organizer assist with vocabulary knowledge, but it would also demonstrate understanding. Most of the graphic organizers that were in the book, I have not seen before. One thing that I don’t understand is why would an H-diagram or Y-diagram be more effective than a Venn Diagram. I’m partial to the Venn Diagram.