Page 111 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 4 What Social Studies Planning Tools Are Available? 83
inspiration for a lesson. We also acknowledge that planning is never an entirely linear process; often teachers revise their goals as the lesson develops. However, before getting too deep into the planning of the particular activities, it is critical to ensure you have set goals and have determined the ways in which students will show understanding of the objectives. As Wiggins and McTighe (2005, p. 15) explain, “too many teachers focus on the teaching and not the learning.” We see good planning as a continual revision of results, assessment, and activities until they are aligned. This might seem like a lot of effort in the short run, but in the long run it will benefit your students and save you time. See www.ubdexchange.org for more information.
We have used the term “alignment” and stressed its importance. What does it mean in relation to curriculum planning? Some definitions of alignment include the process of adjusting parts or sections so they are in proper relative position; it also means fitting together. These definitions represent what good curriculum does—it adjusts the various components (e.g., results, assessment, and instruction) to fit together. Have you ever had the unfortunate experience of not doing well on a test because the test had content dif- ferent than what you were taught and what you studied? In those instances, the assess- ment was not a good measure of student learning because it was not aligned with what was taught. It is critical for all three components: results (goals, objectives), assessment, and instruction to have the same focus.
While instructional alignment probably seems like common sense to you, it is easier said than done, especially if much of your instruction tends to be student-driven. Students often take teachers’ lessons in fascinating and important new directions, but in different than the ones teachers were planning. While often it makes sense to capitalize on this student-driven interest for a period of time, it is important to remember that sticking to one’s goals during instruction will help students meet the results you have established.
Long-Range Planning
This section focuses on one of the most difficult but most rewarding types of planning: the long-range version. It takes desire, tenacity, resourcefulness, and lots of time at first. It typically gets easier as you become more familiar with the nature of students at a particular age level, the specific content, and available tools such as standards and assess- ment expectations. Some of the advantages of long-range planning include your ability to use student test data in diagnostic ways; use the skills and formats from standardized tests in natural ways as the yearlong plan unfolds; look for natural ways to integrate across subjects; look for optimal places across the year to introduce new content and skills, places to practice them, and places to apply them to new situations; and determine the most appropriate places for large-group, small-group, and individual instruction, realizing that all students are assessed on standardized tests individually. While preparing students for life is your ultimate goal, you want them to be comfortable and confident in testing situations as well as feel efficacious as they work on their own in and out of the classroom.
During long-range planning, you will need to revisit the social studies aim adopted by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). It states that “the primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdepen- dent world” (NCSS, 2010, p. 3). As you think deeply about the year and familiarize yourself with the content designated for your grade level, we suggest you make a list of yearlong social studies goals that support the overall social studies aim. Also, create a “portrait” that describes what your ideal social studies learner will look like at the end of the year.
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