Page 268 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

240 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
Secondary Principles That Apply to Each Individual Activity
The principles in this section refer to features of activities that are desirable but not strictly necessary. Each individual activity in a curriculum should embody all of the primary principles listed above and as many of the following secondary principles as can be incorporated in ways that are consistent with the primary principles.
1. Multiple goals. An activity that simultaneously accomplishes many goals is prefera- ble to one that accomplishes fewer goals (so long as it is just as effective in accomplishing the primary goal). In social studies, activities that allow for integration across subjects or inclusion of special topics (e.g., career education) or skills (e.g., problem-solving) may be desirable. However, such integration should not interfere with accomplishment of the primary social education goal.
Most successful integration occurs not as a result of deliberate attempts to inject integration into the curriculum, but as natural by-products of goal-oriented attempts to pro- vide opportunities for authentic applications of big ideas. This process will identify numerous activities that incorporate various inquiry and thinking skills as well as knowledge or skills associated with language arts or other school subjects. If this does not occur sufficiently, you might look for ways to adapt planned activities so as to incorporate more content from other areas or to shift from individual to cooperative formats. Be sure, however, that any such changes are consistent with the overall goals of your social studies program and with the primary goal of each activity. See Chapter 12 for more about curricular integration.
2. Motivational value. Other things being equal, activities that students enjoy (or at least find meaningful and worthwhile) are preferable to activities that students do not enjoy. Typically, authentic, holistic, life-application activities not only are of greater pedagogical value but also are more enjoyable to students than information recognition or retrieval worksheets, isolated skills practice exercises, or boring, repetitive seatwork.
Like integration, motivation is an important but nevertheless secondary principle. Too often, curriculum developers or teachers treat it as primary by planning “fun” activities that lack goal relevance. No matter how much students may enjoy an activity, it has no curricular value unless it promotes progress toward some worthwhile goal.
3. Topic currency. Activities that are constructed around currently or recently taught powerful ideas and that cohere as a set that builds toward major goals are preferable to “orphan” activities that are constructed around isolated content. Inserted skills exercises or activities that are built around disconnected topics tend to disrupt the continuity and thrust of the students’ progress through curriculum units. Furthermore, the isolated nature of these intrusions minimizes their value as learning experiences.
4. Whole-task completion. Opportunities to complete whole tasks are preferable to isolated practice skills, matching of words to definitions, or other work that does not cohere and result in closure as completion of a meaningful task. This is another principle that will mostly take care of itself if activities are planned with emphasis on major goals and authentic life applications.
5. Higher-order thinking. The best activities challenge students not just to locate and reproduce information but to interpret, analyze, or manipulate information in response to a question or problem that cannot be resolved through routine application of previously learned knowledge. This principle incorporates Newmann’s ideas about thoughtfulness in academic activities (Newmann, Secada, & Wehlage, 1995). It implies that good activities will engage students in sustained and thoughtful discourse or writing about content in ways that cause them to think critically and creatively about it as they attempt to conduct inquiry, solve pro-
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