Tuesday, January 31, 2012

We will begin class today by turning in your assignment for Chapter 5. We will then discuss the "Teacher Toolbox" strategies and a survey I would like you to complete. After this, we will each share our "hook" for the Lesson Plan 7 on page 178 of your text, "Using the Globe to Learn About Earth". If we have time, I will share my talking globe with you so you can play a game.

Assignment for Thursday, February 2:

Read Chapter 6 in your text, pages 204-233 (shorter than some). Complete the reading guide for Chapter 6 - it is due to be handed in at the beginning of class on Thursday.

Look Ahead: Refer to your syllabus for the assignment (#4) from Chapter 6. That will be due next week, Feb. 7th.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

As always, I will collect your assignment that is due today at the beginning of the class period.

In class today, we're going to discuss Chapter 4 in the text, paying particular attention to primary and secondary sources. What are they and why do we (and children - our students) need to know about them?

Assignment for Tuesday, January 31:

• Read Chapter 5 in your text. Your assignment is to identify 10 concepts or topics from Chapter 5 that you want to remember for when you have your own classroom. Each topic should be described with 3-4 sentences. (Do not simply give me a list.) Include enough information so you can refer back to it later.
• Think about the lesson plan on page 178 of your text (Lesson Plan 7). Come to class prepared to share a motivator, or anticipatory set, with the class that you would use to begin this lesson if you were teaching it to a 1st grade classroom.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

We will begin class by collecting your assignments that are due today - numbers 3 and 4 on page 114.

We will then review the 7 guidelines for teaching in a diverse classroom (the posters) from Chapter 2. We will also continue/complete our activity with the two speeches that we started in class last Tuesday.

Assignment for Tuesday, Jan. 24th:

• Read Chapter 4 in your text.
• Respond to the following 3 prompts (use a table for the first two):

1. Summarize the essence of each of the six disciplines presented in Chapter 4 and explain the importance of each to children and their communities.
2. Correlate the six disciplines presented in this chapter with state Social Studies curriculum guidelines (standards).
3. Distinguish between "absorbing" and "doing" history.

This assignment is due at the beginning of class next Tuesday.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Your six dimensions of citizenship education summary is due today, at the beginning of class.
We will begin class by reviewing the 7 guidelines for teaching in diverse classrooms on the posters you made in class last week. We will then move into an activity using two famous speeches - one by Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce and one by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Assignment for Thursday, Jan. 19th:

Respond to numbers 3 and 4 on page 114 of your text, in Chapter 3. For number 3, you don't have to write up a lesson plan. Just come prepared to share an idea of a lesson on the Constitution. For number 4, a handwritten paragraph response is sufficient. I'm not going to specify the "length" of your response; just make sure your response has relevance - some "meat" to it. Give me specific examples.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

We are going to be meeting in the computer lab in B06 today for class. Lisa Cantlon would like to use our classroom for a test and we have a computer project to do so it works out perfectly! So, COME TO B06 FOR CLASS ON THURSDAY, JANUARY 12th!

Your assignment for today is to read Chapter 2 and respond to #2 on page 66. I will collect those responses at the beginning of class. Then we'll spend a few minutes talking about the first part of Chapter 2. After that, you're going to get on the computers and develop a series of posters for the "Seven Guidelines for Teaching in a Diverse Classroom". Each one of you will take two of the guidelines and design a poster for those two guidelines. Because there are four of you and seven guidelines, one of you will also make the title page. We will then scan and print these documents on our new poster maker so they can be displayed.

Assignment for Tuesday, January 17th:

• Read Chapter 3 in your text.
• In your own words, summarize each of the six dimensions of citizenship education described in the chapter. The summary of each one of the dimensions must be no less than 300 words. This means your total document will be a total of no less than 1800 words (6 dimensions x 300 words). This is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, Jan. 17th.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

We will begin class today with a discussion of the content in Chapter 1, which you were assigned to read for today. I will give you a handout of the 10 themes established by the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS).

Assignment for Thursday, Jan. 12:

• Referring to the example on page 11 of your text, develop an example of your own for another grade level. You will need to refer to your 10 themes handout.
• Read Chapter 2 in your text - pages 28-67.
• Respond to #2 on page 66, in writing, and be prepared to hand it in at the beginning of class that day.

Keep in mind that this is a methods course! Methods courses are more work, requiring more time and effort, than typical content classes. Just so you know what to expect!