ELEM ED 317 Teaching Social Studies Preschool - 8
Guideline For Preparing Curriculum Unit
by
● Lessons
● Displays, Bulletin Boards, or Learning Centers
● Assessment of Students’ Learning
● Reflections on Teaching the Unit
Proofread the final copy of the curriculum unit to correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors. Place all parts of your unit in a three-ring binder without inserting individual pages inside plastic sheet covers. Divide your unit binder into 10 different sections and clearly label each section of your unit so readers may easily find the different components. Use the following divisions in your unit binder.
Describe any special learning needs, gender (number of females and males), social class (number of children who qualify for free and reduced lunch or the criterion for low-income), linguistic, and cultural backgrounds of the students who participated in the curriculum unit. Explain the pre-assessment or formative assessment strategy used to discover your children’s prior knowledge regarding the main ideas they should learn during the unit and summarize your students’ prior knowledge of the topic.
Definitions (from research paper)
Define your topic to explain clearly what your topic is. Write your definition as if you are explaining it to others who have little or no prior knowledge of the topic. Clarify any significant concepts or terms. If your topic is dealing with an historical event, explain what it was, when it occurred, its significance, and what perspectives you are including. If you are focusing on a community, state, region or country, clarify its significance and location. Explain the main content themes or important aspects of the topic. One theme might be “Different family structures,” another might be “How families meet needs and wants,” and a third might be “Challenges families face.”
Rationale (from research paper)
Clearly describe the rationale or why this unit is important for students’ learning. Clarify which school district social studies benchmarks, state standards (from the DPI web site) and national standards (from National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies) your unit is addressing and integrate similar standards from each level. Explain why each benchmark or standard is important to teach. Elaborate with your own ideas for the importance of teaching this unit.
Develop five lessons for your unit. For each lesson, include: (1) topic/key concept; (2) national and state standards and school district benchmarks; (3) connections to students’ lives; (4) goals/objectives;
(5) assessment targets and methods; (6) classroom description; (7) students’ descriptions (make sure any students with special learning needs are included); (8) needed prior knowledge;
(9) classroom management strategies; (9) technology components/considerations; (10) materials preparation; (11) division of responsibilities; (12) introduction to lesson, core instruction (steps of lesson and transitions between steps), and closure.
Be very complete in describing the lesson steps so that another teacher could teach from your lesson plans. Include recommended social studies education practices and how you are differentiating instruction to meet any special learning and language needs of your students in addition to visual, auditory, and tactile learners. Attach examples of any handouts, copies of PowerPoint presentations, Smart Board activities, photographs, song lyrics, or any other materials used in your lessons. In at least one or more lessons, include reading/language arts strategies and materials to help your students achieve social studies goals and reinforce reading/language arts skills. Include state or local school district literacy benchmarks or standards and literacy goals in the lesson plans which include literacy activities (reading, writing, and presenting).
Include a corrected copy of your research paper to show the content knowledge or your research on the main content topic and key concepts for your curriculum unit.
Provide an avenue for families to be involved in the unit. Be sensitive to socioeconomic, sexual orientation, cultural, and linguistic diversity among families. For example, if you ask families to complete an activity at home to reinforce your unit, make sure all families have the materials, resources, and time they need to complete the activity. If you send any written communication to families, make sure the letters are written in a language that the families can read. One simple method of involving families is through a letter explaining the unit’s main goals and activities and inviting families to share their knowledge and experiences regarding the topic with their children and discuss what their children are learning.
DISPLAYS, BULLETIN BOARDS, OR LEARNING CENTERS
Develop a display, bulletin board, or learning center in order to reinforce important ideas, display students’ work, and/or provide enrichment activities for the unit. Include a photograph of your display, a list of materials included in your display and how students used them in the unit. Include a photograph of the bulletin board and explain its purpose and use in the unit. A learning center should have three or more activities which students could complete independently. Include a photograph of the learning center, a description of these activities, and how the students used them during the unit.
Include a web of your topic, two or three main content themes, and main sub-themes. Any content theme or sub-theme on the web should be focused on in your lessons. The web should be revised from your research paper if you modified the content you’re teaching in the final unit from what you planned to teach when you prepared the research paper.
ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS' LEARNING
Consult with your cooperating teacher to discover the type of assessment information needed for students (proficiency ratings for meeting school district benchmarks or narrative evaluation). Even if your cooperating teacher does not request an assessment of students' work during the unit, you must develop and use an assessment plan. The students' overall assessment should reflect how well they met the benchmarks of the unit. Prepare a spread sheet showing the school district benchmarks you are addressing, the different ways students can show they are meeting the benchmarks, and the list of students in your class (use first names only or initials). Use different assessment strategies including journals, writing projects, graphic organizers, drawings, role plays, individual or group research reports, presentations, oral interviews, or tests. For each lesson, develop criteria by which you will assess students’ work, explain the criteria during the lesson, and model how students may complete the assessment activity proficiently. I strongly encourage you to develop rubrics to assess students’ work in each lesson. Explain and provide examples of the record-keeping system for documenting students' attainment of the benchmarks during the unit. Attach a copy of either the final proficiency rating or the final narrative evaluation which portrays how well the students met the benchmarks. Explain how you arrived at the final proficiency rating or final narrative evaluation for each student. Highlight the final proficiency rating for each student with a special learning or language need. Give a copy of the assessment data you have compiled to your cooperating teacher at the close of the unit.
REFLECTIONS ON TEACHING THE UNIT
First, explain how you differentiated instruction and assessments for students with any special learning needs, how well these students met the benchmarks, and why they were successful or not successful in meeting the benchmarks. Second, thoroughly describe why specific lessons went well, how and why they might be improved, and why all students met or did not meet the benchmarks. Third, clearly explain any new insights gained about teaching from the experience of teaching a curriculum unit. Make your insights very explicit! For example, you may clarify that a new insight is the importance of using engaging activities to keep students involved or the significance of teaching a relevant topic in promoting children’s learning.
List the resources you used to prepare your lesson plans in APA style. For more information on citation of sources, see the Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab at http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/. Organize your list of resources under these headings: Books (textbooks, brochures, curriculum guides, children's books, general reference books); Periodicals (professional journals, adult's and children's periodicals); Audiovisuals (DVDs, videos, or video clips); Electronic Media (Internet sources); Miscellaneous (photographs, charts, resource people, field trip contact person, artifacts, and maps). An example of the list of resources follows:
RESOURCES
BOOKS
Professional Books
Bauer, C., Rego, R., & Van Thiel, S. (2003). Oshkosh on the water: A historical guide to Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Oshkosh, WI: Oshkosh Area School District.
National Council for the Social Studies. (2010). National curriculum standards for social studies: A framework for teaching, learning, and assessment. Silver Spring, MD: National Council for the Social Studies.
Brochures
City of Oshkosh. (1998). 1998 City of Oshkosh guide to recycling. [Brochure]. Oshkosh, WI: Author.
Curriculum Guides
Satz, R. N. (1996). Classroom activities on Wisconsin Indian treaties and tribal sovereignty. Madison, WI: Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.
Children's Books
Sewall, M. (1986). The pilgrims of plimoth. New York: Atheneum.
PERIODICALS
Professional Journals
Zong, G., Garcia, J. & Wilson, A. (2002). Multicultural education in social studies. Social Education, 66, 447-448.
Magazines
Platt, D. H. (1973, September). Rosaline Willard Peck, Madison's first homemaker. Badger History, 27, 54-59.
Newspapers
Zellmer, D. (1998, February 8). State farmland values on rise: Economist says consumers should feel little impact. The Oshkosh Northwestern, pp. A1-A2.
AUDIOVISUALS
Video
Jones, J. (Reporter). (1991). A week on the reservation [Video]. (Available from WLUK TV, Green Bay, WI)
Cassette Recordings and Compact Disks
Kobialka , D. (Violinist). (1996). Celtic quilt [Compact Disk]. Daly City, CA: Li-Sem Enterprises.
Thunderchief. (Vocalist). (1994). Native realities [Cassette Recording]. Madison, WI: MisTree.
ELECTRONIC MEDIA
Web Site
The Economist Newspaper Limited. (2009, June 4). Brazil’s poor schools: Still a lot to learn. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13782570
Fox River. (n.d.). In The American heritage® dictionary of the English language (4th ed.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Fox River
Oshkosh Area School District. (2011, June 4). OASD standards and benchmarks: Kindergarten social studies: Focus of study: Self and family. Retrieved from http://curriculum-instruction.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/curriculum-benchmarks/k-5-benchmarks/Grade%20K%20Social%20Studies%20Unit%20Frameworks2011.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
Oshkosh Area School District. (2012, June 1). OASD standards and benchmarks: Grade 1 social studies: Focus of study: Neighborhoods. Retrieved from http://curriculum-instruction.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/curriculum-benchmarks/k-5-benchmarks/Grade%201%20Social%20Studies%20Unit%20Framwork.WebGrader.2012-13doc.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
Oshkosh Area School District. (2012, June). OASD standards and benchmarks: Grade 2 social studies: Focus of study: U.S. communities. Retrieved from http://curriculum-instruction.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/curriculum-benchmarks/k-5-benchmarks/Grade%202%20Social%20Studies%20Unit%20Frameworks%20%202012.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
Oshkosh Area School District. (2012, June 1). OASD standards and benchmarks: Grade 3 social studies: Unit frameworks: Focus of study: World communities. Retrieved from http://curriculum-instruction.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/curriculum-benchmarks/k-5-benchmarks/Grade%203%20Social%20Studies%20Unit%20Frameworks%202012.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
Oshkosh Area School District. (2012, June 1). OASD standards and benchmarks: Grade 4 social studies: Focus of study: Wisconsin. Retrieved from http://curriculum-instruction.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/curriculum-benchmarks/k-5-benchmarks/Grade%204%20Social%20Studies%20unit%20framework%202012%20Webgrader.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
Oshkosh Area School District. (2012, June 1). OASD standards and benchmarks: Grade 5 social studies: Focus of study: Regions of the United States. Retrieved from http://curriculum-instruction.oshkosh.k12.wi.us/curriculum-benchmarks/k-5-benchmarks/Grade%205%20Social%20Studies.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1
Pearson Education, Inc. (2000-2009). Kids from Brazil. Retrieved from http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0930059.html
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (n.d.). Social studies performance standard A geography grade 4. Retrieved from http://standards.dpi.wi.gov/stn_ssa4
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. (n.d.). Social studies, standard B: History performance standards - grade 4. Retrieved from http://standards.dpi.wi.gov/stn_ssb4
MISCELLANEOUS
Resource People
Jungwirth, Clarence. Oshkosh and Wisconsin Historian. Oshkosh, WI.
ELEM ED 317 TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES PRESCHOOL - 8 CURRICULUM UNIT RUBRIC (Complete and attach to final copy of written curriculum unit) Dr. Ava L. McCall |
3 - Met Expectations 2 - Partially Met Expectations 1 - Did Not Meet Expectations
NA - Not Applicable
Culture/Diversity |
Wisconsin Educator Standards 2, 3, 10 |
3 points total |
|
3 2 1 NA |
Contains content about the beliefs, values, knowledge, customs, language, and/or the arts of different cultural groups, whenever possible. |
||
3 2 1 NA |
Includes content which challenges stereotypes, preconceptions, and prejudices directed toward a specific cultural group, whenever possible. |
3 2 1 NA |
Encompasses content which encourages an appreciation for diversity, whenever possible. |
3 2 1 |
Describes the learning/language needs, ages, gender, social class, linguistic, cultural backgrounds, and prior knowledge and experiences of the topic for the students involved in the curriculum unit. |
3 2 1 |
Incorporates differentiated instruction to help students with diverse learning needs (visual, auditory, tactile, any identified learning needs, and English learners), gender, social class, linguistic, and cultural backgrounds learn. |
3 2 1 |
Offers appropriate family involvement in the unit which respects the social class, sexual orientation, cultural background, and linguistic diversity among families. |
Student Evaluation:
Teacher Evaluation:
3 - Met Expectations 2 - Partially Met Expectations 1 - Did Not Meet Expectations
NA - Not Applicable
Content/Curriculum |
Wisconsin Educator Standard 1 |
7 points total |
|
3 2 1 |
Defines the unit topic or theme and important terms or concepts. |
||
3 2 1 |
Incorporates appropriate national, state, and local school district social studies curriculum standards and benchmarks. |
3 2 1 |
Identifies appropriate, substantive, short-term or individual lesson plan social studies goals/objectives or learning outcomes for student learning. |
3 2 1 |
Includes appropriate state or local school district English/language arts/literacy standards/benchmarks and literacy goals/objectives in at least one lesson plan. |
3 2 1 |
Includes content which is connected to the students’ lives. |
3 2 1 |
Includes significant subject matter knowledge (corrected research paper). |
3 2 1 |
Represents topic and main content themes for all lesson plans in the revised curriculum web. |
3 2 1 |
Uses APA format correctly to cite all resources used in the lesson plans. |
Student Evaluation:
Teacher Evaluation:
Learning/Pedagogy |
Wisconsin Educator Standards 4, 6, 7, 8 |
5 points total |
|
3 2 1 |
Applies effective teaching methods and learning theory in lessons (draws out students’ prior knowledge of the topic, reviews concepts and ideas from past lessons, builds on students’ knowledge, challenges misconceptions, and provides opportunities for students to construct knowledge, connect it to their prior knowledge and experiences, and show what they understand). |
||
3 2 1 |
Includes recommended social studies education practices and grouping methods (individual, small group, and whole class) to help diverse students attain lesson goals/objectives. |
3 2 1 |
Integrates different levels of questions to promote students’ higher levels of thinking, such as comprehension, synthesis, analysis, application, evaluation, and critical thinking. |
3 2 1 |
Includes reading/language arts strategies and materials to help students achieve social studies goals/objectives and benchmarks in at least one or more lessons. |
3 2 1 |
Uses effective technology to help students attain lesson goals/objectives and benchmarks. |
3 2 1 |
Incorporates differentiated assessments to allow diverse learners demonstrate learning. |
Student Evaluation:
Teacher Evaluation:
3 - Met Expectations 2 - Partially Met Expectations 1 - Did Not Meet Expectations
NA - Not Applicable
Change Agent |
Wisconsin Educator Standard 4 |
1 point total |
|
3 2 1 |
Incorporates content and teaching strategies which encourage students to question why, such as why inequalities, injustices, and environmental problems exist and how changes might be made. |
||
Student Evaluation:
Teacher Evaluation:
Reflective Professional |
Wisconsin Educator Standard 9 |
3 points total |
|
3 2 1 |
Explains how instruction and assessments were differentiated for students with any special learning/language needs, how well these students met the benchmarks, and why they were successful or not successful in meeting the benchmarks. |
||
3 2 1 |
Includes an analysis of why lessons went well, how and why they might be improved, and why all students met or did not meet the school district benchmarks. |
3 2 1 |
Explains new insights gained about teaching from the experience of teaching a curriculum unit. |
Student Evaluation:
Teacher Evaluation:
Skillful Practitioner |
Wisconsin Educator Standards 5, 6, 8 |
6 points total |
|
3 2 1 |
Includes detailed, carefully planned lessons including organization of instructional activities, steps of the lesson, directions for activities, and transitions between activities to engage all students in learning and prevent classroom management problems. |
||
3 2 1 |
Includes instructional materials used in lessons (such as students’ worksheets, graphic organizers, PowerPoint presentations, SmartBoard activities, photographs, games, and song lyrics). |
||
3 2 1 |
Includes appropriate classroom management strategies to promote a positive learning environment and enhance student learning. |
||
3 2 1 |
Includes a display, bulletin board, or learning center to reinforce or extend students’ learning. |
||
3 2 1 |
Describes a summary assessment of each student’s learning overall from the curriculum unit (proficiency rating of benchmarks met and any narrative about each student’s performance). |
3 2 1 |
Uses correct writing mechanics throughout the unit. |
Student Evaluation:
Teacher Evaluation:
Summary Student Evaluation:
Summary Teacher Evaluation: