Transcript Concept Attainment Democracy Lesson • 5th Grade Level

Concept Attainment
Democracy Lesson • 5th Grade Level
Becky Dougherty • Catherine Li
Valerie Mighetto • Karen Nelson
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Introduction
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
The Concept Attainment model is an
instructional method that teaches students
concepts by using pattern recognition and
categorizing skills.
By learning this skill students are able to
deductively apply the concept in new
situations
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Instructor preparation
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Identify a significant concept to the students.
Convey the characteristics of the concept to
the students.
Present the students with positive and negative
examples to illustrate the concept.
Ask the students to define the concept.
Coach the students to articulate the reasoning skills
they used.
Ask the students for examples of the concept to
demonstrate their new knowledge.
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Context
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Elementary school
5th grade students
Social Studies focusing on
American government
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Concept
 Democracy
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+ Ted’s class will vote to
decide who will be on
student council. Every
student in his class gets
to vote. Those students
with most votes will be
on student council.
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- Bill is the leader of a
group of boys. He is the
boss. No one dares to
question his decisions.
He has two friends who
are “bodyguards” and
they enforce his
decisions.
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+ In Ms. Hansen’s class, the students worked
together to come up with class rules.
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- In Mr. Hansen’s class, he
made all the rules, and he
decided that all students
with blue eyes must sit
on the floor.
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+ The mayor and officials
of a city were elected by
the citizens of that city.
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- The mayor of a
city is assigned
by the governor
of the state.
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+ The citizens of the city vote
to make decisions about city
planning. For example, the
citizens of Davis were able
to vote whether or not they
wanted a Target store in
their town.
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- The city officials made the decision to paint
all the houses in this city pink without
asking the opinion of the
people living in
that city.
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+ In the USA, every
citizen, in good
standing, regardless
of race or ethnicity
has the right to vote.
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- In ancient Egypt,
Pharaoh was the
supreme ruler, and his
word was law.
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+ In the USA, people
elect a new president
every four years.
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- In ancient Egypt,
when the old
Pharaoh died, his
son became the new
Pharaoh and so on.
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The students begin to
understand the concept
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The exemplars become more complex in the
second part of the lesson.
Additional exemplars will test and confirm
the concept hypothesis
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+ Margaret Thatcher
was elected to serve
as British Prime
Minister.
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- Under the Taliban rule
in Afghanistan, girls
and women could not
attend school.
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+ Salvador is class
president. He was
nominated by his best
friend, but the majority of
the class voted for him.
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+ People can express
their political views
through newspapers,
television, and other
public media. For
example, you can say
“I strongly oppose the
recent action taken by
Bush government....”
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- The news is controlled
by the government.
People are not allowed
to discuss their own
ideas or views in
newspapers, television,
or any other public way.
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-
In 1960, many people
of the Christian faith in
China were put in jail
because of their
religion.
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-
The American
colonies were ruled
by England.
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+ The people of ancient Athens developed a
system of government that elected officials
by lot and decisions were made by
majority rules.
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+ The county
supervisors defeated
the proposal to build
a new stadium
downtown.
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-
After the Civil War, the 15th
Amendment guaranteed
African American men the
right to vote, but American
women were not granted the
same right until 1920.
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Assessment and evaluation
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Ask the students to define the concept
of democracy
Have the students develop their
own exemplars.
Can they articulate the reasoning skills that
they used to learn the concept?
Ask the students to suggest other concepts
that can be identified with this method.
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Concept and rule
Concept: Democracy
Rule: Democracy means “rule by the people”
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Critical attributes
 People
have the right to vote
 All people are considered equal
 There is respect for individual rights
and freedoms
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References
1.
2.
3.
Pritchard, P. D., Florence Fay (1994). "Teaching
Thinking Across the Curriculum with the Concept
Attainment Model." 20.
Todd Twyman, Jennifer McCleery., Gerald Tindal
(2006). "Using Concepts to Frame History
Content." The Journal of Experiment Education
74(4): 331-349.
Johnson, J., Carlson, Susan (1992). "Developing
conceptual thinking: The concept attainment
model." Clearing House 66(2): 117-121.
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