Page 105 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

made to their lives outside of school. Once you have clarified your major social studies goals for the year as a whole and for the unit you are planning, the next step is to determine which content relating to the unit’s topic to develop and how to represent it to your stu- dents. The content should be clustered around power- ful ideas that students can apply to their lives outside of school, and developed in ways that connect to the stu- dents’ prior knowledge and home experiences. Devel- opment of these big ideas should include their connections to one another and to related skills, values, and dispositions. These connections should not get lost in the process of moving from broader goals to more specific plans for units and lessons.
To illustrate what is involved in developing unit plans around goals and big ideas, we drew from our own 12-lesson unit on shelter (Alleman & Brophy, 2001), showing some of the introductory material that summarizes ideas relating to shelter that we view as powerful, the first lesson in its entirety, and the goals, main ideas, and assessment activities for the rest of the lessons. The unit is designed to deepen students’ aware- ness and appreciation of activities relating to shelter in the contemporary United States, help them to view these within a broad historical and multicultural con- text, and help them become anticipatory and effica- cious concerning their own future decision making related to meeting their shelter needs.
CHAPTER 3 How Do I Select Powerful Goals and Powerful Content? 77
Reflective Questions
1. Selecting and representing meaningful content for social studies units requires thoughtful, goal- oriented planning. Assuming that you accept the importance of this work, at least in principle, how will you proceed?
2. Many school districts require grill-and-drill ses- sions in preparation for high-stakes testing at the expense of teaching substantive content in powerful ways. Suppose your conscience gets the best of you and you decide to challenge this practice. What will you do?
3. What arguments can you make for depth over breadth for both students and teachers? What do you view as the trade-offs? Challenges?
4. Teachers often feel disempowered and very dis- couraged by the push for breadth, regurgitation, and mandated test preparation. How can you retain a positive attitude, maintain your integ- rity, and yet at some level accommodate the “system?” Or is that possible?
5. Why do you think goal-oriented planning is so challenging? What are the challenges and what are some strategies for overcoming them?
6. One of the ways teachers garner support for their ideas is by acquiring outside funding from mini-grants. What would you include in a pro- posal asking for funds to help you in designing a goal-oriented social studies unit (designate topic) that will focus on understanding, appreciate, and life application?
7. Suppose you decide to revamp your social studies program by shoring up your goals. Where would you start? How would you proceed?
8. Imagine that your cooperating teacher or prin- cipal observes your social studies class during the upcoming unit. You want this person to see evidence of your teaching for understanding. What will this look like? Sound like? What about your teaching for appreciation? And your teaching for life application?
Your Turn: Selecting and Representing Content
Identify the units you have taught—or plan to teach—this year. Examine them first by responding to the follow- ing questions:
1. What topics are most useful as bases for advancing my students’ social understandings and civic efficacy?
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