Page 342 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

314 Appendix A
FIGURE A.1 Proposed Planning Checklist
We encourage you to use the following checklist as a self-monitoring tool as you engage in planning. If you can answer “yes” to all of the questions, we think you are well on your way to developing a powerful social studies program in your classroom.
Do I have adequate data about my students that can inform my content and process plans?
Is there evidence in my long-range plans that I am seriously considering what an ideal social studies learner will look like at the end of the school year?
Do my long-range plans show evidence of in using skills and formats from standardized tests in natural ways?
Do my long-range plans show evidence of incorporating designated content standards in meaningful ways?
Do my long-range plans show evidence of integrating across subjects in natural ways?
Do my long-range plans show evidence of a thoughtful pattern of introducing new content, skills, places for practic- ing them, and places for applying them in new situations?
Do my long-range plans show evidence of integrating across subjects in natural ways?
Do my long-range plans show evidence of my strategic decisions for using large-group, small-group, and individual instruction, realizing that all students are assessed individually?
Do my long-range plans reflect the primary purpose of social studies: to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world?
Have I made a list of yearlong social studies goals that support the overall social studies aim?
Unit Planning
Are all the curriculum components aligned (e.g., content clusters, instructional activities, assessment tools, and home assignments?)
Do my units include goals that focus on understanding, appreciation, and application?
Do my goals align with the big ideas drawn from selected content needed to guide my planning, teaching, and evaluating?
Does each unit build on the preceding ones so that there is a continuous revisiting and applying of big ideas?
Weekly and Daily Planning
Do I focus on the goals and big ideas in every lesson?
Are my daily priorities focused on coherent content linking prior knowledge to new material and scaffolding students’ task engagement?
Are my activities and assignments sufficiently varied and interesting enough to motivate student engagement?
Are my activities and assignments sufficiently new and challenging enough to constitute learning experiences rather than pointless repetition and yet easy enough to allow students to achieve high rates of success if they invest reason- able time and effort?
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.