Page 335 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 14 What Is the Research Base That Informs Powerful Social Studies Teaching? 307
TABLE 14.1 CONTINUED
Principle/
Related What it Looks Like up Close:
Chapter Explanation A Snapshot Examples of Enactment
7. Practice and Application Activities Chapter 2 Chapter 11
Students need suffi- cient opportunities to practice and apply what they are learning and receive improve- ment oriented feedback.
Practice becomes more important as learning becomes more complex. Most practice should be embedded within application contexts that feature con- ceptual understanding of knowledge and application of skills. Practice and application can be extended through homework assignments that are authentic and realistic in length and difficulty.
The lesson focuses on the factors that contribute to decision making associated with food. The teacher uses a small portion of instructional time to model the home assignment asking students to locate a box of cereal in the cup- board and ask the family shopper why that particular kind was purchased (brand, coupon, nutritional value, cost, personal preference, and so on). The teacher helps the students envision having this conversation with the family member. The teacher emphasizes the impor- tance of completing the assignment and bring- ing the data to class so that a graph can be made that illustrating the basis for family decision making about cereals.
8. Scaffolding Students’ Task Engagement Chapter 11
The teacher provides whatever assistance students need to en- able them to engage in learning activities productively.
Besides selecting activities that match the goals, the activities should be at the appropriate level of difficulty, cost effective, and feasible. Activities need to be effectively presented, modeled, monitored, and followed up if they are to have full impact on the learning.
As part of their money unit (part of a larger study on market economy) students have decided to raise money for a field trip by having a bake sale. On this day, the teacher is preparing the class to develop an advertisement for the upcoming sale, using principles of good com- munication learned in a previous unit. After establishing that the announcement would be intended to advertise the bake sale to students and their parents, she uses questioning to scaf- fold thinking about other information that might be included:
T: Why do we want to tell the kids about the bake sale?
S: So they come.
T: So they come and bring...?
S: Money.
T: Right, they need to raise enough money to pay for the field trip. Here’s the next thing. What do we want to tell them?
S: That there’s going to be a bake sale.
T: Thad, what else do we have to tell them?
S: To get some money.
T: To bring some money. What else, Heidi?...If I said to you, “Heidi, Miss R.’s room is having a bake sale. Bring some money, “what are you going to ask me?
S: Why?
T: Sure, you’ve got to tell them why. Why are they having a bake sale? Everybody tell me.
S: For a field trip.
T: OK, what else should we tell them?...”Hey, Shane, there’s a bake sale. Bring some money.” Don’t you want to know...?
S: When?
(continued)
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