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Introduction
When the semester began, I felt that I was going to be overwhelmed with creating lesson plans for social studies. This is something that I had never done before, and I was unsure of how to even use the frameworks. Being able to work in pairs, and sharing ideas with one another, made this experience more pleasant than I expected it to be. I feel that I have had big improvements since the Kindergarten lesson plan, and I feel much more comfortable now after writing the 6th grade lesson plan. -
Kindergarten Part 1
When I worked with my partner, we decided that we would focus on the community aspect of the Kindergarten Frameworks. We used the standards, CIV K.1 Describe roles and responsibilities of people in authority (local/state/national e.g., judge, mayor, governor, police), CIV K.2 Explain how all people, not just official leaders, play an important role in a community. From there, we decided that we were going to teach the students what community helpers are and what their roles are in our community. -
Kindergarten 2
Looking back on the lesson, I feel that I would change the initiation of the lesson. My partner and I chose a youtube video that didn't describe to the students what community helpers are in the best way for the students. I feel that I could use an alternative such as showing students an online book on Epic! explaining what community helpers are. Within this lesson, I didn't have a strong understanding of primary sources. This is something that I wanted to improve on going forward. -
First Grade Part 1
This lesson came much easier than the first Kindergarten lesson. My partner and I were able to come up with an idea almost immediately. We decided that we wanted the students to create a map of what their home is to them including 3 different symbols, a map key, title, and compass. We used the standard, GEO 1.1 Construct, maps, graphs and other representations of familiar places. We then showed the students a map of Hamden, and used a mark up technique as our primary source. -
First Grade Part 2
I was much happier with the first grade lesson outcome than the kindergarten lesson. I noticed that the Frameworks for first grade were similar to the kindergarten frameworks. I feel that since I was already familiar with the Kindergarten Frameworks, I felt more comfortable when I began working with the first grade Frameworks. I felt that I had a better handle on incorporating Primary Sources for this lesson by pulling up a Hamden map on google maps and marking it up for the students to see. -
Second Grade Part 1
This lesson was also focused on maps. The students were asked to create their own map, showing what the important places are. They also had to draw the shape of Hamden thinking back to the primary source that was shown to them. When reflecting back on this lesson, I thought of the online tool that was shown in class. The website had a map of Boston, and then when you click, it shows present day Boston. I think this would be a great way to engage the students, and to use as a primary source. -
Second Grade Part 2
I noticed that the second grade Frameworks has similar content to grade one, but went more into depth. The students were asked to create maps of their home, and think about why they chose certain locations. I noticed that the second grade Frameworks shifted into more inquiry based learning. The students had to construct their maps, but then figure out how the map helps us understand our community as well as our roles in the community. -
Third Grade Part 1
This lesson focused on the students using primary sources from the past and comparing them. I noticed that for the third grade history theme, it goes more into depth than the second grade history theme. The second grade frameworks read that the students should be explaining how historic sources can be used to study the past. In the third grade frameworks, the students need to look at historical sources from the past and compare them to one another to study the past. -
Third Grade Part 2
This was the lesson that helped me feel much more comfortable with primary sources. I was happy that I challenged myself by creating an objective where the students are looking at two primary sources and comparing them to find similarities and differences. This is the lesson that helped me get a full grasp on what primary sources are, and why they are useful. My partner and I focused on the history of Wallingford, so we were able to find a few different types of primary sources from the past. -
Fourth Grade Part 1
My partner and I decided that we were going to choose economics as our theme for this lesson plan. Economics is something we both felt we weren't very confident with. We weren't sure which standard we should choose, but then we decided to go with ECO 4.3 Identify examples of the variety of resources (human capital, physical capital, and natural resources) that are used to produce goods and services.
We thought to assign students one of the resources, and have them create a paper slideshow. -
Fourth Grade Part 2
I noticed that there were differences in the third grade economic frameworks compared to the fourth grade frameworks. In the third grade frameworks, the students were just expected to identify examples of the resources. In the the fourth grade frameworks, it states that the students should find a variety of examples that are used to produce goods and services. This has the students thinking more in depth. -
Fifth Grade Part 1
Fifth grade was the lesson where I felt that the content became more complex. The two framework standards that we decided to use were, HIST 5.9 Explain probable causes and effects of events and developments. HIST 5.10 Use evidence to develop a claim about the past. We decided to put the students in groups, and assign them a figure from the American Revolution creating a digital storytelling video, including writing 5 sentences about why the figure is influential using supporting facts. -
Fifth Grade Part 2
The fifth grade lesson was when I felt as if I started to feel more confident when using different technology tools. In class, we watched a video on storytelling videos. This is something that my partner and I immediately incorporated into our lesson plan. I feel that this helped make our lesson stronger. This also could be seen as a fun and interactive way for the students to learn about figures from the American Revolution. -
Sixth Grade Part 1
The sixth grade lesson I felt was the most challenging content wise. Our sixth grade lesson was used as an introductory lesson. We used the standard GEO 6–7.9 Analyze the ways in which cultural and environmental characteristics vary among various regions of the world. We decided to assign the students to different countries in Europe, and have them research. The students would research on the chrome books, and then present their findings in an oral presentation to the rest of the class. -
Sixth Grade Part 2
My group members and I found a lesson on the Discovery Education website, and adapted it. This lesson showed me the significance of making social studies exciting for students. This lesson also gives the opportunity for differentiation. When the guest speaker came in, she talked about how it works well when each student in the group has a role that they are in charge of. This makes the child feel they're making an impact. I feel that this lesson would be great for that differentiation system. -
Conclusion
This course has taught me a lot about social studies. Before taking this course, I only thought of textbooks, memorization and scholastic news when dealing with the subject of social studies. Social studies is much more than memorization. Students need to be able to make sense of what they're learning, which can be done in engaging ways such as storytellings or paper slide shows. I no longer feel as overwhelmed when looking at the frameworks, I feel much more confident when using them.