Page 153 - Powerful Social Studies for Elementary Students 4th Edition

CHAPTER 6 How Can I Teach Geography and Anthropology Powerfully? 125
Having addressed history teaching in Chapter 5, we shift attention in this chapter to teaching content drawn from geography and anthropology. We have grouped these two disciplines within Chapter 6 because they share an interest in culture, which is one of the most frequently taught concepts in all of social studies. The remaining social sciences are addressed in Chapter 7.
Principle 5: Coherent Content: To facilitate meaningful learning and retention, content is explained clearly and developed with emphasis on its structure and connections. Coherent content refers to content whose knowledge and skills are connected to each other, whereby the sequence of ideas or events makes sense and the relationships are apparent. Coherent content is facilitated through the use of powerful ideas as an orga- nizational tool. Please see Chapter 14 for a more in-depth description of this principle.
Coherent Content
Geography
Geography is the study of people, places, and environments from a spatial and ecological perspective. The spatial aspect refers to where different places in the world are located,
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a textbook in order to pass a test. Looking at social studies through this lens can help elementary school teachers avoid the monotony of textbook reading, and can bring social studies to life for their young students. Instead of simply pointing out a place on a map, why not bring actual artifacts from different locations and cultures to show your students? Being able to give them a little glimpse of what our world has to offer will promote intrinsic interest in the subject—plus, it is way more fun! And as Brophy, Alleman, and Halvorsen have pointed out in this chapter, since there is no formal anthropological curriculum, being able to inter- twine anthropology into your geography will make both subjects pop out—if my own travels have taught me anything, it is that every place is rich in culture. In short, make these subjects come alive!
Needless to say, my concerns with being the next boring social studies teacher are beginning to vanish. Being able to change my thinking about social studies has absolutely given me a deep appreciation for the subject. Now, I can- not wait to pass on the “social studies is all around us—it helps us understand how the world works” mentality to my young students. I mean, what a great motivational tool! The next time my students say to me, “Hey, we went to the beach yesterday!”, I can’t wait to let them know that they just experienced geog- raphy (by going to a new location), sociology and anthropology (by people watching), and economics (if they paid to enter) just by soaking up the sun with their friends and family!