Page 283 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 12 What Is the Role of Curricular Integration? 255
Examples of Appropriate Integrative Activities
For an activity to be considered part of the social studies curriculum, its primary focus should be on one of the social education goals established for the current social studies unit—a goal that would be pursued whether or not this particular activity were included. Other guiding principles that you can use to determine whether an integrative activity is appropriate for social studies include the following: The activity must represent social studies appropriately and not distort or trivialize its subject matter; the benefits to social education must justify the activity’s costs in time and effort; the activity must be geared to the appropriate level of difficulty; and it must be feasible for implementation within the constraints under which you must work.
Examples of appropriate integrative activities that we have found in social studies materials fall into three major categories:
1. Necessarily integrative activities that focus on topics that draw on content from more than one subject area
2. Authentic applications in which skills learned in one subject area are used to process or apply knowledge used in another
3. Enrichment activities that help personalize content, make it more concrete, enhance learner curiosity, or add an important affective perspective
Integrative Activities that Focus on Topics that Draw Content from More than One Subject
Some topics inherently cut across subjects. For example, we have noted map and globe studies are part of geography, but they also require applications of mathematical knowl- edge and skills. We encountered a map activity for the early grades that calls for students to go on a walking trip around the school campus, make sketches of its key features, and measure distances. After recording their measurements, they return to the classroom and make a map to scale. After completing the map, they revisit the route and make any necessary corrections. Finally, they add pictures to enhance the sketches and design a legend so that the map will make sense to visitors to the school and to new students who need to be oriented to the school site. Mathematics and geography com- bined make this a meaningful and authentic learning experience, since in the world beyond school, adults use both geography and mathematical skills in tasks involving maps.
An elementary social studies unit that focuses on needs and wants includes teaching about an economic decision-making model. A key activity calls for applying this model to decide which bicycle is the best buy: a new model, last year’s model, a used bicycle that can be purchased at a garage sale for a mere portion of the original price, or another used one that is in good condition but needs new tires. Prices are attached to each model. Students are then encouraged to use their economics and mathematics knowledge to decide what constitutes the best buy, discuss alternatives and consequences, and finally, individually and then as a group, decide which bicycle to purchase.
In an upper-grade unit in which a major goal is to develop understanding regarding the tradeoffs that result from technological change, one activity calls for students to read a case study and discuss the pros and cons of introducing robotics into a factory setting. Students consider the costs and benefits to humans as well as to production profits when robotics are used to replace workers. Students study both science and social studies issues to understand and appreciate that changes can sometimes result in problems and other times lead to fresh and efficient practices.
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