Page 298 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

270 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
TABLE 13.2 CONTINUUM OF MEANINGFUL HOMEWORK
Less Meaningful More Meaningful
Memorization of infor- mation: (e.g., location of states and capitals).
Plot on a U.S (labeled) map every time you hear someone mention a state and/or capital.
Plot on a U.S (labeled) map every time you hear someone mention a state and/or cap- ital and take notes regarding why the state and/or capital was mentioned.
Authentic application of information:
Hypothesize about the characteristics of states/capitals. For example, given the 2011 Wisconsin protests in Madison about labor issues, one could hypothesize that there is a sizeable politically liberal population there.
Lower-Level Thinking:
Much of our citrus comes from Florida and California due to climate and weather conditions. Find examples of citrus in your grocery store that come from Florida and California.
Locate the states of Florida and California on a U.S. map. Figure out how citrus would most likely be transported to where you live.
Interview individuals who are knowledgeable about the uniqueness of your state to determine what fruits, if any, your state produces that might be shipped to Florida and California. Explain. If none are provided, explain why not.
Higher-Order Thinking: The price
of citrus is driven by fluctuating weather conditions that greatly affect yield. Transportation costs affect price. Study the climate/weather map as well as gasoline prices over the past month to determine whether the cost will go up or down. Support your response with data.
Teacher-Driven Tasks: Read Chapter X in your textbook about protests.
Find examples of protests that have occurred in your region during the past year.
Interview individuals who have participated in protests.
Student-Driven Tasks: Get permis- sion and arrange for a peaceful protest associated with an issue that impacts students’ lives negatively and some- thing many students would want to change.
Taken from Alleman, Brophy, Knighton, Ley, Botwinski, & Middlestead, 2010, p. 6.
real-world connections and applications, and it obviously leans toward less meaningful (but still important) on the continuum. We have provided an example to illustrate how homework can be developed according to gradations of meaningfulness in Table 13.2.
Principles of Meaningful Homework
We have identified several principles of meaningful homework. These principles (some- times known as purposes or functions) are not presented in any particular order because their relative value depends on the teacher’s hierarchy of subject matter goals.
Providing for Expanded Meaningfulness and Life Application of School Learning
Homework assignments offer daily opportunities for students to use what is learned in school in out-of-school settings. For example, goals for a government unit might include helping students to (1) understand and appreciate the value of government services and how the funding of these services is generated (taxes); (2) understand the importance of government regulations in their lives; and (3) become more aware of the written and unwritten rules and laws that are part of their environment. Students could be encour- aged to read a journal entry that the class had compiled about governmental regulations to one or more family members and then discuss and look for examples of rules and laws that are part of the household. Charts such as Comparing Levels of Government (Table 13.3) Means and Functions of Government (Table 13.4) could be sent home as resources for use in completing the assignments.
Another example for expanding meaningfulness comes from a unit on shelter. Typical goals might include developing understanding and appreciating the types of homes that
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.