EDUC 4294 Social Studies in the Primary/Junior Division Consecutive Program

2011-2012 Dr. Nancy Maynes Room H234, ext. 4388 Schulich School of Education [email protected] Course Outline: EDUC 4294 – Social Studies in the Primary/Junior Division Consecutive Program

Introduction This course is specifically designed for Consecutive Education students. Experiences in this course are provided to:  solidify your current professional understanding of various teaching concepts;  provide opportunities to develop appropriate artefacts to enhance your professional portfolio; and  provide you with an overview of current issues and ideas related to teaching Social Studies in the primary and junior grades, including JK/SK.

Course Times and Attendance This is a short course. Because of the course length, the foci of each class will be intense and should not be missed.

Professional behaviour requires full attendance and timely arrival for every class. Absences must be discussed with the course instructor as soon as possible after the unavoidable absence. Any student who has missed two classes in this course without evidence of illness will be referred to the primary/junior chair for discussion about professional requirements. This practice is consistent with the practice of school boards who refer absent teachers to their Human Resources Department for intervention.

Please be on time for classes. Being late is disrespectful of others and wastes our limited class time. Remember, “on time” means “early” for teachers.

Course Texts Required Texts/Resources

Maynes, N. & Straub, J. (2010).Social studies: Innovative approaches for teachers. Toronto: Pearson Education.

Maynes, N. (2011). A student’s and teacher’s guide to project-based learning. Toronto: Pearson.

Optional Text

Maynes, N. (2011). Focus on learning: The art and science of planning, delivering, and assessing effective lessons. Toronto: Pearson. (We will not be making direct use of this text in this course but you may want it for your professional library.)

1 Course Assignments

There are two assignments for this course. Each assignment can be chosen from among the options outlined in the list provided later in the document. Each assignment is designed to be something that you could add to your professional portfolio as evidence of your professional skills. Each assignment is valued at 50% of the total course mark. The first assignment is due during the week of October 17th. The second assignment is due by the last day of the course in December.

For these assignments you may choose to work alone or with a small group of your construction. If you choose to work in a group, all group members are expected to make an equal contribution to the final product and the dimensions of the work should reflect the input of the number of people who have contributed to it.

During each week of the course, some time will include the new learning and related activities. Pre-reading from the text is expected for each class. Some class time will be devoted to individual or small group work to complete the chosen assignments and receive individual input into their completion.

Course Modules

There are 8 modules in this course. The course will follow the required text and is laid out to connect two or more chapters of the text for each module. This is a rough outline of the sequence of topics. Dependent of course participants’ needs, we may adjust the sequence or range of topics as the course progresses.

Chapters 1 & 2  Social Studies as a Transformative Discipline  Why Theory Matters: Moving from Theory into Practice

Chapters 3, 4 and 5  Instructional approaches for the Young Learner  Deconstruction as a Critical Teaching Skill  Central Concepts in Social Studies

Chapters 6 & 7  The Study of Controversial Issues in Social Studies  Aboriginal Education within a Canadian Context

Chapters 8, 9 & 10  The Methodology of Social Studies: Unit Design  Motivational Methodology in Social Studies

Chapters 11 & 12  Developing the Learner’s Skills for Effective Inquiry: Examining Structured Thinking in Social Studies

2  Classroom Discussion to Promote Effective Inquiry

Chapters 13 & 14  Using Informational Text in the Social Studies Program  Working with Maps in an Inquiry Context

Chapters 15 & 16  Using the Community as a Resource  Projects in the Social Studies Classroom

Chapters 17 & 18  Improving Student Achievement in Social Studies  Program Planning and Achievement Measures in the Social Studies Classroom

Powerpoint summaries for each chapter of the text will be posted on the course instructor’s web site for the course. Course participants may review those powerpoints before class, use them to add notes during class, or review them following each class. Of course, all three of these would be ideal. These powerpoints are designed as companions to the course textbook. Additionally, there are several other resources on the course web site, including many sample unit plans that may be of value to you. Because of the course length, we will not have time to review many of these resources together.

Note: A new Social Studies Guideline for Ontario is expected to be released during the time frame of this course. Course participants will be notified of the release as soon as the new guideline is made available. Electronic versions should be available at that time. However, the focus of this course is not specific to topics within the guideline of any specific province, territory, or country and should be of value for any jurisdiction where you may teach.

Assignments

Each of the two course assignments is valued at 50% of the final mark.

You may design your own assignment so that it meets the following criteria:  The product is of high quality.  What you produce reflects the intent of the provincial guideline for Social Studies and related support documents for the province of Ontario.  The product provides professional evidence of your skills as a teacher.  You provide the criteria and standards for assessing your assignment.

You may focus your assignment of any of the following topics. Topics are expanded to give you ideas for things you might produce. Both topics and expanded ideas can be negotiated as you start your planning. Additional related ideas can be considered.

Topic Suggestions  Framework for Social Studies program – explanation for parents; orientation evening for young children; framework for integration

3  Instructional Approaches – a toolkit or index of great teaching ideas connected to specific Social Studies concepts (not topics as they can change over time); series of bulletin boards; set of 12 or more sequenced activities related to expanding on one skill set (e.g., mapping skills); outline of unit with all direct instruction lessons identified and followed with indications of the consolidation and application activities through indirect approaches to support the main learning; play-based approaches to Social Studies for JK/SK learners  Central Concepts in Social Studies- design for a simulation or web quest to teach a key concept in Social Studies (see Chapter 5 of your text); board game; multi-media presentation; outline of topics connected to key ideas for a single grade; unit plan showing connection to key concepts  Controversial Issues and Actions – social justice projects for young learners; units designed for ELL learners, multiple perspectives, or aboriginal communities; trips and adventures to increase students’ exposure to community issues  Methodology of Social Studies – units designed for combined grades; centres for a unit of study; simulations and web quests; a web site for sharing and posting new strategies for teachers; brochures for parents to help them support key learning at home; differentiation plans and strategies  Inquiry in Social Studies – inquiry projects; inquiry outlines for students; step-by- step inquiry guides; project-based learning ideas and product exemplars; History Fair examples; technology supported inquiry  Informational Text Strategies – book collections; web use directions for a special project/topic; brochures for parents to outline skills for using informational text with their children; skills sequences for teaching with informational text  Community Resources and Projects to Support Social Studies – classroom trips; guest speakers; classroom kits; jackdaws; topic elaboration; History Fairs; internet research; using primary sources; Board policies  Student Achievement and Assessment – assessment policies at the board and school levels; student exemplars; moderated marking; growth schemes and rubrics; achievement criteria; differentiation strategies; assessment as learning; diagnostic, formative and summative assessment; making classroom tests; authentic assessment tasks; student success options