At Washington
Elementary school, my cooperating teacher combines literacy and social studies
lessons together, instead of teaching them as two separate disciplines. Usually
after lunch, her students gather on the carpet in the classroom to learn their
lesson for the day. Kids are not required to sit on the carpet however, they
are allowed to sit wherever makes them most comfortable, including high chairs,
recliners, and a couch. The social studies lesson that I have witnessed have
focused on specific historical leaders, such as Abraham Lincoln and Rosa Parks.
Since she adds a literacy component to her lessons, the students are often
asked to read about the leaders, and then write about them as a group. My CT is
energetic when she teaches, and tries to use different voices and expressions
when reading aloud. She also tries to stop every now and then to ask if the
students understand what is happening, and if they have any questions.
While
I like the idea of combining the two subjects, as I think it shows students how
different disciplines are intertwined, I believe that I would run my classroom
a little differently. I think it is important to focus on literacy and social
studies as two separate subjects as well. Literacy is more focused on reading
and writing, while I think social studies needs a more hands-on component. For
example, with learning about Rosa Parks, I think the students would benefit
from maybe role-playing her situation, and discussing how they felt when they
were being discriminated against. Or for Lincoln, I would have students dress
up a little bit and get involved with the historical figure they are trying to
represent. I think when you add a creative component to school work; students
both enjoy and remember it more easily.
I
think students really like adding personal remarks and showing their knowledge
on the subjects too. For example, when my CT began talking about different
famous people, many students began shouting out or raising their hands to talk
about what they already knew about that person. Students like to feel
intelligent, and I think an important part of teaching is encouraging your
students. You can’t do the work for them, so keeping them engaged with hands-on
activities is a good way for students to keep up with what is happening in the
classroom. I noticed that when my CT would lecture for more than five minutes
straight, students tended to drift away from the classroom. Instead of looking
at the teacher and the lesson, they would look around. This is why when I begin
teaching; I will try to incorporate different activities so that students stay
interested.
I
created a couple different hands-on activities for social studies that I may
use in my classroom one day. One was a United States region matching game.
Another was an economics lesson on why saving is important, and the value of
different coins in American currency. I think these are also both important
components of social studies lessons, as social studies are not just history.
Like my CT, I would incorporate both literacy and economics as part of my
curriculum. Since elementary students are supposed to learn about a lot of
different subjects, I think this would be beneficial for their learning.
Here are my
social studies work jobs that I created. I plan to use these in my future
classroom. There are ones for different grade levels and different components
of social studies, like economics, history, geography, and government.
- http://books.google.com/books?id=DB-eFUNTjKcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=rosa+park+for+kids&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TWUnU-nAA-vOyAHyh4CgDA&ved=0CE4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
