Page 124 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

96 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
What is the rule of thumb regarding time allocations for large-group, small-group, and individual work? The short answer is: It depends on your goals. Generally speaking, we would encourage you to provide a balance. Typically, when you are pre- senting new material, there will be more large-group time. As students engage in proces- sing the information, they will then work more in small groups or individually.
Large-group time can be well spent for demonstration, delivery of new content through interactive discussion, storytelling, and reading a piece of children’s literature as well as for review and debriefing. Small-group time should be spent on processing new information. If it is allocated for research, then the information needs to be fed back to the large group in ways that show connections to big ideas. Concept webs and data-retrieval charts are examples of organizers that can be effective for this process.
Individual work time provides students with opportunities to “test” their understanding and application of the key ideas and skills. We have observed a paucity of independent work time, especially work calling for real writing (not just filling in blanks). It is very important in order to assess individual understanding and the ability to apply what is learned. It can also contribute to a student’s confidence level when faced with a standardized test.
Homework opportunities allow students to communicate about what they have learned in school by engaging family members in real-life application activities. This “co-construction” of expanded learning takes the meaning to a more sophisticated level and promotes a sense of efficacy. It encourages students to “explain” their world.
How often do I need to assess? In one sense you are always assessing. Before you launch a new unit, you want to find out what conceptions or misconceptions students have. During the unit, you want to find out what they are learning. At the end, you want to find out what they have retained and are applying. It does not stop there either because using what they have learned in new ways across units is the true test of retention.
Assessments are important even in the early grades. They send the message to students that content and skills are important and that they are expected to engage in the learning process. Recently, a second grade teacher aptly stated, “I want my students to realize early on that they are not tourists in my classroom. They are there to learn. I assess large group, small group, and individuals in a host of ways. Frequently, I ask them to assess themselves and each other using guidelines we establish together. We are kidding ourselves if we ignore the connection between high expectations and student achievement.”
How do I get families excited about participating in homework assignments?
Begin the year with a newsletter that includes your vision regarding home-school connec- tions and use other venues such as your classroom website, weekly communications to fam- ilies, parent conferences, and PTA meetings to elaborate on this practice. Explain that the social studies homework assignments are viewed as occasions for discussing and applying what has been learned in school in authentic situations. Underscore the importance of col- laboration—repeating over and over that family members, including babysitters, neighbors, and other familiar adults, are encouraged to participate. Explain also that the diversity of responses will be used in extended social studies lessons. The responses will not be viewed as right or wrong but as opinions or reports of experiences. Sometimes the data will be tallied, graphed, and charted, but the underlying goal is to increase the meaningfulness of the social studies content.
When you assign home activities, make sure you use the responses as an integral part of subsequent lessons—and in a timely fashion. For students who seemingly have little or no family support, offer adult volunteers to assist before school or during other appro- priate times. Do not get discouraged if at the beginning of the year only a small percent- age of students and their families respond. Keep working to build “habits” of good practice. See Chapter 13 for more discussion on homework.
Copyright 2012 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.