Thursday, July 30, 2009
Glogster!!!
A friend pointed me towards this GREAT site - make sure to scroll to the bottom and to follow the Glogster EDU section to the forum directed at teachers and students. Basically this gives your kids the ability to access a VERY user-friendly visual blogging site. The possibilities of this are pretty great - check out the safeguards etc. to make sure its right for your kids.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Important Documents
*The Arizona State Content Standards are the blueprint which guides instruction in our Social Studies classrooms. This link will give you access to all of the K-12 Content Standards so that you know what students were taught in previous years and what they will be learning in their other classes.
*The Cartwright School District has created pacing guides to help teachers "map out" which concepts should be taught in a particular Quarter. This helps provide consistency for our students who move between Cartwright schools, it also makes it possible for us to create district-wide common assessments. In order to access these pacing guides you need to
1. Log in to your First Class account
2. Select "Conferences"
3. Select "Teaching and Learning"
4. Select your grade level and Social Studies
*When students engage in writing in your Social Studies classroom one key way that you can help support preparations for their success on AIMS is to have them use the 6 Traits Rubric to evaluate their work. The more that students interact with this rubric and become familiar with its components the more successful they will be when it comes to the AIMS writing assessment.
*Social Studies teachers are often called upon to support the AIMS tested areas of Reading and Math (and now Science). Rather than grasping at random Language Arts standards I'd suggest taking a look at the AIMS Blueprint which will guide you towards those most-frequently assessed skills and knowledge that will help prepare students for success.
*When planning your Social Studies lessons it is important to engage students in meaningful lessons that elevate their thinking to the highest possible level. Useful in purposefully creating challenging learning activities is this Verb Wheel Based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Check the verbs you use in your planning to make sure that you are creating cognitively demanding experiences for your students.
*The Cartwright School District has created pacing guides to help teachers "map out" which concepts should be taught in a particular Quarter. This helps provide consistency for our students who move between Cartwright schools, it also makes it possible for us to create district-wide common assessments. In order to access these pacing guides you need to
1. Log in to your First Class account
2. Select "Conferences"
3. Select "Teaching and Learning"
4. Select your grade level and Social Studies
*When students engage in writing in your Social Studies classroom one key way that you can help support preparations for their success on AIMS is to have them use the 6 Traits Rubric to evaluate their work. The more that students interact with this rubric and become familiar with its components the more successful they will be when it comes to the AIMS writing assessment.
*Social Studies teachers are often called upon to support the AIMS tested areas of Reading and Math (and now Science). Rather than grasping at random Language Arts standards I'd suggest taking a look at the AIMS Blueprint which will guide you towards those most-frequently assessed skills and knowledge that will help prepare students for success.
*When planning your Social Studies lessons it is important to engage students in meaningful lessons that elevate their thinking to the highest possible level. Useful in purposefully creating challenging learning activities is this Verb Wheel Based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Check the verbs you use in your planning to make sure that you are creating cognitively demanding experiences for your students.
Where to go when you don't know.....
Who won the war of 1812? Okay, who even fought in the war of 1812? There are A LOT of resources out there, there are a few that are reliable.
*Digital History Online: This site includes an online textbook that I've turned to several times, they also have a good collection of primary source documents. Not great if you are looking for quick answers - but FULL of useful information.
*Digital History Online: This site includes an online textbook that I've turned to several times, they also have a good collection of primary source documents. Not great if you are looking for quick answers - but FULL of useful information.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Integrating Literature Into the Social Studies Class
It can be overwhelming to locate literature that reinforces the historical concepts that you are teaching. This database is AMAZING and worth a look. You are able to select the historical period, genre, format and more -- and when titles are suggested they are accompanied by a brief description of the book itself.
Here is another database that I am less familiar with but that also looks good.
Here is another database that I am less familiar with but that also looks good.
Multimedia Resources
The internet is FULL of resources that you can use in your Social Studies classrooms. You can find images, audio, video and more to integrate into your planning that will engage students and strengthen your lessons.
*TeacherTube is full of helpful video clips on a variety of topics. I rely on both this site and YouTube - but appreciate that you find fewer inappropriate or completely off topic clips on this site.
*Keepvid is an excellent tool for saving video clips that you find on YouTube or TeacherTube. If you work at a school with slow internet connection, or at a location where youtube access is blocked - keepvid is a great alternative.
*For Cartwright Elementary School District teachers the Classzone website which is connected to our adopted text - McDougal Littell's "American History" can be a GREAT support. This site has interactive maps and animations as well as a number of links to websites that support specific topics in the text.
*TeacherTube is full of helpful video clips on a variety of topics. I rely on both this site and YouTube - but appreciate that you find fewer inappropriate or completely off topic clips on this site.
*Keepvid is an excellent tool for saving video clips that you find on YouTube or TeacherTube. If you work at a school with slow internet connection, or at a location where youtube access is blocked - keepvid is a great alternative.
*For Cartwright Elementary School District teachers the Classzone website which is connected to our adopted text - McDougal Littell's "American History" can be a GREAT support. This site has interactive maps and animations as well as a number of links to websites that support specific topics in the text.
Teaching with Primary Sources
The Library of Congress teacher resources website is a great place to start when trying to assemble a lesson plan that integrates primary source documents. One of the things that I like best about this website is that it includes primary source analysis forms that take students through how to analyze various types of artifacts.
The National Archives website also is an excellent resource that provides primary source analysis forms for student use.
The National Archives website also is an excellent resource that provides primary source analysis forms for student use.
Lesson Plans
Many websites now charge for access to teacher created lesson plans. Over time I will add my own lesson plans that have worked for my students - I will start with some links to prexisting websites that I've found helpful.
Mr.Donn's History lesson plan page has been around forever. Not all lessons are created equally and not all are aligned with the Arizona State standards - but in general the lessons from this website are well developed.
Links to some great lesson plans can be found at Best of History Web Sites - there's A LOT of information on this website if you have the time to dig.
Mr.Donn's History lesson plan page has been around forever. Not all lessons are created equally and not all are aligned with the Arizona State standards - but in general the lessons from this website are well developed.
Links to some great lesson plans can be found at Best of History Web Sites - there's A LOT of information on this website if you have the time to dig.
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