Page 304 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

276 Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students
Renting vs. Buying
Another goal in a shelter unit might be for students to understand and appreciate the range of homes that have been created over time, the changes homes have undergone, and the reasons for these changes. Students could take home copies of a chart comparing the distant past, the recent past, and today, and identify differences between modern homes and those in earlier time periods. Older family members could be asked to help the students write responses in the appropriate spaces on the chart.
Another goal of a shelter unit might be for students to understand and appreciate how technology, inventions, and discoveries have enabled people today to live in controlled environments and to begin to grasp how these conveniences “work.” As a homework assign- ment, families could be asked to assist their child in touring their home looking for ways that the family has taken advantage of modern conveniences such as heating, cooling, water, and lighting. They also could be encouraged to show their children how utilities are made available to the home and routed and controlled through pipes, faucets, thermostats, fuses, circuit breakers, and switches. The drawings, photos, and explanations that this assignment yielded during our observations indicated enthusiasm and new-found knowl- edge. For example, one student shared his drawing and explanation of the furnace and said, “Ours is always broken. I sat down with the furnace guy on his last call to our house and said, ‘Now tell me how this thing is supposed to work’ ” (Alleman & Brophy, 1998). This new knowledge draws upon powerful ideas in history (how technology has influ- enced human life over time) and geography (how humans have interacted with the environment to meet their needs).
Having students gather data about their own families to share with peers can create immediate interest in an often bland, repetitive topic. If students live within extended family arrangements, for example, they might develop responses to a list of questions: What role does Grandmother play when Mother works nights? How is her role different from what it would be if she lived out of state? What are the gains in your home as the result of the extended family arrangement? What are the potential problems that need to be worked out? How is your living arrangement similar or dissimilar from the one you read about describing a family in Japan? These attributes of extended families can be compared to those of nuclear families in our culture and to those of extended families in other cultures, noting similarities as well as differences.
Data gathered from family members can also enhance students’ appreciation of diverse perspectives on social studies content and engender the realization that social studies is broadly focused and frequently open to debate. For example, suppose one of the goals of a social studies unit is for the students to understand and appreciate the global connections between their community and one in East Asia. Typically, students would be asked to read textbook material, discuss it in class, and list connections on the chalkboard. This lesson would have more impact if students were asked first to inter- view the adults in their households and/or neighborhoods about their views of global connections with East Asia. For example, a parent or neighbor who is presently laid off from an automobile plant might feel quite different than a parent or neighbor who sells Japanese-made audio/video equipment at an appliance store. Interviewing could be coupled with an investigation of the home to determine the number and nature of goods from East Asia that are found there. Homes with access to the Internet could provide
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Advantages of Disadvantages of Advantages of Disadvantages of Renting Renting Buying Buying
Allows mobility and Cannot make changes Capital investment Limits mobility flexibility to the property