Megan's+First+Page

=Abstract Articles: Social Studies =


 * This page contains 4 articles that I have read. Three of them are projects that can be done in a Social Studies classroom and one is how technology can be used in a Social Studies classroom. **

=** Supporting Classroom Assessment Practice: Lessons from a Small High School **= Allen, David. “Supporting Classroom Assessment Practice: Lessons from a Small High School." Theory Into Practice 48.1 (2009): 72-80. ERIC. 31 Oct. 2012 .

the author talked about using the Institute for Student Achievement to coach a small school on how to have their students excel. They focus in on a high school history teacher, Joe. Joe has been overwhelmed with his student’s unsuccessful attempts at trying to complete writing assignments. His ISA coach, Suzy gave him some ideas on how to get his students to successfully finish a writing assignment. She informed him that he should spend a whole class period describing the assignment so that students would get a better idea about what they were doing. She also suggested that he set a timeline for when things were due, so that the students completed the assignment in sections. He found success in these ideas. He found that the students strive off of feedback and the timeline allowed them to go to the teacher and ask question and learn from the teacher’s feedback. Joe then shared these newly discovered techniques with the rest of his colleagues to help the school strive as a whole. He not only started to use DBQs more but BBQs or book based questions. The school also adopted writing assignments across subjects. Joe teamed up with an English teacher and together they had their students write a paper on the book //Animal Farm//. This allowed students to understand the historical point of view with their history teacher but also learn how to write and interpret properly with their English teacher. He also brought in graphic organizers to help students develop a clear thesis. The teachers of this school decided it would be a good idea to share their strengths and weaknesses with their students writing, and other teachers gave suggestions on what was working for them. They used rubrics to clearly state what they wanted in the assignment, and had other teachers give the students positive and negative feedback for a new perspective.

= = =Public Opinion on Long Island about the Vietnam War: A School Year Project Using Local Sources and Perspectives in the Classroom and in Student Research Papers = Howlett, C. (2004). Public Opinion on Long Island about the Vietnam War: A School Year Project… The History Teacher, 37(4), 457-472.

The purpose for this assignment was to get students to study the Vietnam War more broadly and recognize how it hit their hometown. The teacher utilized his school library, public library and even a close by college library for her student to gain as much information as they could. The teacher had the librarian properly teach the students how to complete research whether it was primary source documents; such as newspapers from the time period, and secondary sources from internet databases. The librarian also taught the student how to cite correctly. The teacher had students visit their local American Legions and arrange a meeting with a veteran. The teacher made the students present a picture, newspaper, or journal entry from their research throughout the school year. At the end of the year the students were required to write a final paper on all of their findings.


 * Reading for Democracy: Preparing Middle-Grades Social Studies Teachers to Teach Critical Literacy **

 Reidel, M. (2011). Reading for Democracy: Preparing Middle-Grades Social Studies Teachers to Teach Critical Literacy... Social Studies, 102(3), 124-131. Retrieved December 7, 2012.

In this article, there was a study done to see if subject teachers were teaching literacy as well as their subject topic. The study found that most teachers said that they did not have time to teach literacy. The author points out how students need to be able to not just understand the reading but also have the ability to critique the text as well. Making sure that students read in dialogue, taking social action, and allowing students to research a topic of their choice are all ways that will develop better literacy within a classroom. Developing an opinion is vital to our society. Under democracy it is vital for citizens to have an opinion and speak that opinion so that we can protect our liberties. Students need to develop their ideas and be able to argue them. As a social studies teacher, Steven Wolk states that critical literacy is vital to how we interact with the world. Another important factor that teachers should use is to have a variety of texts for students to be able to use and read. The text book shouldn't be the only text that teachers should use. Primary and secondary sources are vital in Social Studies instruction. Whether it is a diary entry of a historical figure or a novel based off of true events, both can broaden student’s knowledge and improve literacy. These ways of instructing literacy should start when teachers are still in college. They should continue throughout their career as refreshers. Teachers should take part in doing these activities to see what it is like and better their understandings. That way they are more likely to use them correctly. Teaching students to develop a stand on what they believe and how they interpret history and learn from it should begin in middle and high school. These ideas that teachers can implement will not only prepare them for college but the real world as well. As a democratic society, students need to be able to develop a stance on government and need to be able to understand why they believe in what they do. A presidential election is a perfect example. Eventually students will have the opportunity to vote and need to know why they are voting for a candidate, such as having similar beliefs and it is important for them to tell others why they are voting for the candidate.

=**Retooling the Social Studies Classroom for the Current Generation **=

Wilson, Elizabeth. "Retooling the Social Studies Classroom for the Current Generation." Social Studies 102.2 (2011): 65-72. ERIC. Web. 8 Dec. 2012.

Students are becoming more knowledgeable on how to use technology. Teachers are starting to implement technology in their classrooms. In this article a social studies teacher Lisa Matherson tells how she uses technology in her classroom. She uses tools we call Web 2.0 tools. They are ways we can teach using technology, such as blogs, wikis and creative ways to make presentations interesting to students. The first one she uses is blogs. Students use social media sites daily. This gives them the opportunity to ask other students and the teacher questions online. It also gives the teacher the opportunity to post questions and topics and have the students answer them online, and its paperless. Another tool Lisa uses is Wikis. The wiki lets the whole class contribute to something. It had the same format as writing a paper except it is online and the students can view each other’s all in the same spot. Another tool Lisa used was the use of Digital Media-Sharing. She implemented this tool in her classroom by assigning a project where students had to create campaign advertisements. She had her students watch and use videos, pictures and other items of these digital media sites to develop a better understanding of their candidate and to help the other students understand as well. The uses of these technologies help students understand content in a fun way. Students have to have a better understanding and want to prove to other students that they know their stuff when they have to present it. These technologies improve the classroom for the better.

=__Web 2.0 Tool __=