EDN 405
THEORY & PRACTICE IN TEACHING SECONDARY SOCIAL STUDIES
Instructor: Dr. Robert Smith
Office Phone: 962-4076
Office: Education Building
376
Home Phone: 256-1860
Smithrw@uncw.edu
Parallel Instructors:
Janis Perozzi (
Richelle Dombroski (Laney
High)
Melissa Dickerson (Laney High)
Welcome! This course has been designed to be
a collective exploration of what it means to be a Social Studies teacher in the
This course occurs at a
crucial point in your development. Most of you will continue through next
semester to Internship 2 with the ultimate goal of getting a social studies
teaching position. How you view this
semester will affect the achievement of this final goal. School systems are looking to hire effective
teachers and in particular those who show leadership, initiative, and who take
responsibility. Use this semester
wisely, particularly the methods course and the field experience, to develop
the knowledge, skills and dispositions that will enable you to be successful.
This course supports the Watson School of Education conceptual framework: to develop
highly competent professionals to serve in educational leadership roles.
COURSE TEXT & MATERIALS:
Optional:
Breaking Away from the Textbook, W. Cordero &
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
1. Attendance is Required. Excessive absenteeism may result in a lower grade.
The final grade can be reduced by one letter grade for more than one unexcused
absence.
2. Assignments submitted after the due date may result in a lower grade.
Assignments one week late will be penalized by 20%. More than one week, 40%.
3. Participate in class activities.
4. Complete all assignments as detailed in the requirements section.
5. All papers should be typed, and double spaced. Papers will be graded based
on writing style, organization and ideas.
COURSE OBJECTIVES:
1. Students will be able to identify characteristics of social studies
education including content and methods.
2. Students will utilize research and inquiry to inform decision making about
effective social studies instruction
3. Students will develop a critical analysis of the relationship between the
goals of social studies education and the larger social and political context.
4. Students will develop lesson plans, including a short planning unit, that
incorporates a variety of instructional strategies for teaching social studies
as well as utilizes internet resources.
5. Students will demonstrate basic instructional design and delivery through
peer teaching.
6. Students will be able to design instructional strategies that accommodate
students from diverse backgrounds.
7. Students will develop a social studies portfolio to demonstrate their
achievement of a) INTASC standards and
b) NCSS Thematic Strands.
COURSE
ASSIGNMENTS POINT DISTRIBUTION
A. On
Line Discussion
30
B.
Thoughts on Teaching Social Studies
15
C. Social Identity
Paper 25
D. Unit
plan 55
E. Battleship Assignment 10
F. Peer teaching
lessons 30
G.
Portfolio 60
Total
Points 225
GRADING:
A = 225-216 A- = 215-207
B+= 206-201 B = 200-195 B- = 194-189
C+= 188-184 C = 183-178 C- = 177-173
D+= 172-168 D = 167-163 D- = 162-158
F = Below 158 points
DESCRIPTION OF THE COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
·
Successful
completion of the assignments requires that you carefully read and respond to
all parts.
·
We will use
Taskstream to submit assignments electronically for A. Discussion of Readings, D. Unit
Plan and F. Portfolio)
A.
Discussion of
There
are five readings that we will discuss throughout the semester. Apart from the
first reading in which you will turn in a hard copy of your response, all other
readings will be discussed electronically. You are to respond to the reading
and also to one other person e.g. agree, disagree, raise a question or make a
personal connection. Your responses should be posted by 9:00am on the Tuesday
when the assignment is due. Click to view questions for each
discussion. Questions will also be posted on the discussion board. (Approximate
length half a page, 5@ 6 points each).
B. Thoughts on Teaching Social Studies: The purpose of this paper is to get you to begin to
clarify your thinking about why and how to teach social studies.
Write down your thoughts to the following
questions. Provide as much detail as you are able to.
This paper will serve both as a benchmark
that you can refer back to as well as help you in setting goals for the course
(15 points).
1.
Why did you
decide to become a teacher?
2.
Why did you
choose to teach social studies?
3.
What are your
goals for students?
4.
How were you
taught social studies at high school? Was it effective?
5.
How do you plan
to teach social studies (90 minute lesson)?
6.
What are your
goals for this course?
C.
The social identity paper requires you to explore the development of
your own social
identity as a way to better understand how race, class, gender and
sexuality affect peoples’ lives, including educational opportunities.
Describe your experience of growing up and
specifically what you were told about who you are (in terms of race, social
class, gender and sexuality) and what you were told about people who are
different than yourself. Include all
four categories of race, class, gender and sexuality in your paper. Examine
the messages that you received from groups such as your family, school, peer
group, religious experiences and work. Include only the most important groups.
1. Describe your response to what you were taught, making
sure to include your current beliefs.
2. Include examples of any incidents you experienced or
tensions you observed that caused you to reflect on the beliefs you were
taught. (20 points)
3. What strengths and limitations does your social
identity present to your effectiveness as a social studies educator? (5
points)
(Expected length 3
pages)
D. Unit Plan - Submitted Using TaskStream
The unit plan provides you with an
opportunity to learn many of the important aspects involved in planning and
thinking about how and what to teach. Much social studies teaching is text book
driven, depending on lectures, rote memorization and quizzes. The goals of this
assignment are for you to design a social studies unit (defined as a minimum of
4 lessons) that engages students and incorporates a variety of resources. A
text book can serve as a resource but the objectives of the lessons should
clearly match the NC state objectives.
The Unit Plan is divided up into four steps
and submitted over a period of 7 weeks: Make sure you read the list of required
resources to be included in the plan – see Step 4.
Step 1:
Topic: From a standard social studies text, (US History, World History, Government
etc.) choose two topics. You are asked to pick two topics so that I can approve
at least one. My criteria are a) appropriate, manageable topics and b) a
diversity of topics within the class.
Step 2: (September 27)
Rationale: Imagine you are introducing your unit to a group of high school students. Your goal in the rationale is to
explain to them why this is an important topic
in terms that they will be able to relate to or find convincing.
(Approximate length 1 page) (5 points)
Competency goal(s) or objectives:
Include the appropriate objectives from the N.C. standard course of study (5
points).
Performance
Outcomes: Show how the unit addresses
the four goals of social studies by listing 1) Knowledge: concepts, key names,
events or dates 2) skills, 3) values and 4) social participation goals that you
want to develop through unit activities. Make sure all four areas are addressed (10 points).
Step
3: (October 11)
2
Lesson Plans: Using the NC six point
lesson plan, create 4 lesson plans including a different strategy for guided
practice, a different focus and different closure for all 4 lessons. For
Step 3 submit only two lesson plans (10 points).
Step 4: (October 25)
Remaining 2 Lesson Plans (10 points).
Evaluation: Include a description of the criteria/methods that you would
use to evaluate students' learning. (A detailed list of quiz items is not
needed) (5 points).
Resources: Research your topic by gathering a variety of materials and
resources. Talking to an "expert" on your topic is a good
way to find out about resources. List the resources that you have used in
designing your unit including a resource from five of the seven categories
below.
Text Reference: Provide a full reference of the text-book that you
referred to in designing the unit plan. (Resources and Text Reference 5
points).
(Overall presentation 5 points)
E.
Battleship Assignment – details
to come (10)
F. There are two peer teaching lessons included
in the course. Each of these requires a lesson plan and will last for
approximately ten minutes. One peer teach will be scheduled each week and
students can choose a topic related to the teaching of social studies (e.g.
group work, discipline, teaching students with special needs etc.) or a topic
in their discipline (e.g. World War 1, Slavery, Rights of Women, Types of
Economy). The second peer teach is scheduled in the syllabus and students
select a topic in their discipline.
Prior to teaching each lesson, you are
to hand in a self-assessment of your teaching abilities including your
strengths and areas to be developed. Identify two students to provide you with
feedback on your teaching. After you have taught the lesson you are to submit a
written assessment of your teaching performance based on instructor feedback,
student feedback and self evaluation. This assessment should be
submitted within a week of your teaching).
Pre-Assessment 4 points;
Lesson Plan 5 points; Post Assessment 6 points. The grade will be recorded on
the sheet inside each student folder (30 points).
G. Portfolio Requirements - Submitted
Using TaskStream
You are to assemble a portfolio that demonstrates your growth as a professional
social studies educator - basically document how participation in this course
has contributed to 1) your growth as a social studies teacher and 2) developed
your understanding of high school students. Your portfolio should address a)
the INTASC Standards and b) the NCSS ten thematic strands.
You are to include a minimum of five and a
maximum of eight examples of work, demonstrating competence in relation to 5
INTASC Standards and five NCSS thematic strands. You may
include: social identity paper or educational philosophy, lesson plans,
materials developed such as units of instruction, student samples, teacher
journals, tests or assessments, video tapes of classroom
lessons, etc.
For each piece of work/evidence, include the
specific INTASC standard and/or Social Studies Thematic
Also
Include:
·
a table of
contents of your entries.
·
a brief
introduction to your portfolio
·
a final paragraph
on your future needs for development as a teacher.
(You will continue developing your portfolio
during the internship, providing evidence of the remaining standards.)
Useful General Resources:
Teaching Strategies and other Resources:
· Discipline Help Excellent web site describing
different types of inappropriate behavior and how to deal with them.
· Ideas for
getting students to write
· Reading – ways to invite students
· Teacher Expectations
· Paideia Seminar
· Cooperative Learning
· NC Assessment EOC’s
· Praxis
preparation materials for Specialty Test