Page 291 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

You cannot depend on the manuals supplied with • social studies textbook series to suggest content and activ-
ities that meet the criteria we have outlined (Alleman & • Brophy, 1993). Consequently, you will need to learn to select learning opportunities based not just on whether
your students are likely to enjoy them, but also on • whether they offer sufficient educational value to merit inclusion in the curriculum. For judging activities that • purport to integrate across subjects, we suggest that you consider the following questions: •
Would an “outsider” clearly recognize the learning opportunity as social studies?
Does the learning opportunity allow students
to meaningfully develop or authentically apply important social education content?
Does the learning opportunity involve authentic application of skills from other disciplines?
Do students have the necessary prerequisite knowledge and skills?
If the learning opportunity is structured properly, will students understand and be able to explain its social education purposes?
• Does the learning opportunity have a significant social education goal as its primary focus?
• Would this be a desirable learning opportunity
for the social studies unit even if it did not feature across-subjects integration?
• If students engage in the learning opportunity with those purposes in mind, will they be likely to accomplish the purposes as a result?
CHAPTER 12 What Is the Role of Curricular Integration? 263
Reflective Questions
1. Suppose your mentor or principal has indicated that, because of time constraints, you need to find opportunities to integrate social studies with other school subjects. How will you respond?
Be ready to provide reasons and to give examples
to illustrate your points.
2. Recent research on literacy learning suggests that
acquiring skills in the use of informational texts results in better-informed citizens and higher scores on standardized literacy measures. Select one of the social studies units you have observed or taught and think of at least three “spaces” where informational texts would be useful. What could you expect as additional student outcomes?
3. Revisit a familiar social studies unit, preferably one you are observing or currently teaching. Which of its learning opportunities clearly match the goals and enhance meaningfulness? Should certain activities be excluded because they detract, distort the content, are not cost effective, or for another reason?
4. Imagine that the art or music teacher in your school is interested in planning opportunities for integration with a unit you are planning to teach on the Revolutionary War. How will you respond to the request? (Or, if your school does not have an art or music teacher, imagine that you want to integrate art or music into your social studies teaching.) Select an upcoming social studies unit. Identify the overarching goals and describe opportunities for meaningful integration with the arts.
5. Suppose you are planning a unit with an activity that calls for integration, but after reading this chapter you realize it simply is not cost effective even though it is topic-relevant and matches the goals. Describe how you could reconfigure it as a homework assignment and have the students share the results in a future lesson. Prepare a short note to families explaining
the activity and its purpose. Encourage family participation.
Your Turn: Integrating Social Studies Within the Total Curriculum
Use the following exercise focusing on a shelter unit to assess your level of understanding regarding the perspective on integration contained in this chapter. Study the goals carefully, and then read each of the activities. Using the guiding principles for productive
integration and the questions for making decisions about social studies integration, label each activity “good,” “bad,” or “conditional.” Be prepared to give reasons for your decisions.
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.