Social Studies: Definitions and Rationale
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Transcript Social Studies: Definitions and Rationale
Keys to an
Exemplary Social Studies Program
The Teacher
The Curriculum
The Students
THE TEACHER
Demonstrates both scholarship and
expertise in the curriculum
Participates in all aspects of the
development of the curriculum, including
setting goals and objectives,
implementation, evaluation, and revision
Uses sound instructional theory and
practice
THE STUDENTS
Critically examine significant content, issues, and
events from a variety of perspectives
Participate actively in their school community and
world
Engage in focused systematic observations and
comprehensive decisions
Understand democratic principles and participate
in the democratic process
THE CURRICULUM
Is guided by thoughtfully selected as well as clearly
stated and defined goals and objectives
Is based on sound scholarship from the content areas
relative to the social studies
Sets high expectations for students and uses a variety
of systematic and valid measures to assess student
performance
Relates appropriately to the age, maturity, interests,
and needs of the students for whom it is designed
SOUTH DAKOTA SOCIAL STUDIES
CONTENT STANDARDS
K-8 Standards
SIOUX FALLS - KINDERGARTEN
SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM
Kindergarten Essentials Guide
Quarter 1: Civics
Quarter 2: Geography
Quarter 3: Economics
Quarter 4: History
SIOUX FALLS – 1st GRADE
SOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE
1st Grade Essentials Guide
Quarter 1: Changes
Quarter 2: Geography
Quarter 3: Family Economics
Quarter 4: American Symbols
SIOUX FALLS – 2nd GRADE
SOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE
Second Grade Essentials Guide
Quarter 1: Communities
Quarter 2: History
Quarter 3: Global Relationships
Quarter 4: Economics
SIOUX FALLS – 3rd GRADE
SOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE
Third Grade Essentials Guide
Quarter 1: Civics
Quarter 2: History
Quarter 3: Geography
Quarter 4: Economics
SIOUX FALLS – 4th GRADE
SOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE
Fourth Grade Essentials Guide
Quarter 1: Civics, Geography, and
Economics
Quarter 2: Regions of the USA
Quarter 3: South Dakota
Quarter 4: South Dakota
SIOUX FALLS – 5th GRADE
SOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE
Fifth Grade Essentials Guide
Quarter 1: Early Cultures
Quarter 2: Exploration and Colonies
Quarter 3: American Revolution
Quarter 4: Westward Expansion and
Civil War
Social Studies Adventure
The social studies textbook your
students have is a tool, one of many,
Don’t let it take over the life space of
the curriculum. The textbook provides
a certain structure of scope and
sequence, but remember it is only one
tool in your toolkit of many tools.
John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher,
psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in
education and social reform.
Dewey made a strong case for the
importance of education not only as a
place to gain content knowledge, but
also as a place to learn how to live.
John Dewey wrote long ago that
children have four natural instincts
that they bring to school. They are:
John Dewey
1. Young people love to talk – Your classroom should be a place of conversation.
Language and intellect co-develop, They support one another. As students work together
on projects, they will talk about what they are doing. This is powerful learning.
2. Young people love to construct – Kids understood constructivism long before it
became the rage in educational psychology. They learn by building things, by using their
hands in connection with head and heart. Your classroom needs to become a
construction zone.
3. Young people love to inquire - Children bring the gift of curiosity to school. Our
task as teachers is to enhance, not dampen, that instinct, Social studies is about people.
Learning about different people involves families, communities, food, clothing, shelter,
traditions, habits, aspirations, and play.
4. Young people love to express themselves - Each child is an individual who is in the
process of becoming who they are, a process of self-discovery, an adventure in life. One of
the happiest tasks of a teacher is to get to know his or her students as individuals, to
support their interests, their talents, and their dreams. Every child is talented if only we
will recognize that.
Ellis, A.K.(2010) Teaching and Learning Elementary Social Studies
SOCIAL STUDIES SUPPORTS AT LEAST
5 CRITICIAL AREAS OF LEARNING
Citizenship – Social studies provides a forum for children to learn
about and practice democracy.
Discovery – Social Studies is designed to help children explain their
world. It provides insights to one’s history, culture, and landscape.
Self Concept – Social Studies can help children along the road to
positive self-development. Unless the lives of the children you come in
contact with daily are touched by you in a positive way, w=they will be
hard pressed to learn anything meaningful about the lives of others.
Knowledge – Social Studies should help children acquire a
foundational understanding of history, geography, biography, and the
social sciences.
Understanding of Others – Social studies ought to promote in children
a genuine sense of the social fabric. From the day they enter school,
children need to be supported and guided in their attempts to
cooperate, share and contribute. Teachers need to promote a sense of
the importance of others in their classrooms.
SOCIAL STUDIES
CURRICULUM PATTERNS
Social Studies is the study of human beings. It deals
directly with the basic needs of human beings: food,
clothing, shelter, belonging, security, and dreams.
Social Studies like other subjects of the curriculum is
designed to be taught in increments, or in a developmental
sequence:
Simple to the complex
Familiar to the remote
Known to the unknown
This progression of study from self to the world is known as
the widening horizons or expanding environments
curriculum.
SPIRAL CURRICULUM
Integrated with the idea of widening horizons is the
spiral curriculum.
The spiral curriculum introduces concepts and skills at
simple levels, to be pursued at deeper levels in later
grades.
The key to the spiral curriculum is to identify and
teach real social science concepts in a developmentally
appropriate way.
EXPANDING ENVIRONMENT
CURRICULUM
K = Awareness of Self in a Social Setting
1st = Understanding School and Family
2nd = The Neighborhood
3rd = The Community
4th = The Region
5th = The United States & Its Close Neighbors - Canada& Mexico
6th = The Eastern Hemisphere
7th = A Global View - the world as a home of many different people
8th = The United States - history and economic development