-Share an interesting quote and big idea from Chapter 1 of Making Connections in Elementary and Middle School Social

Studies (A.
J ohnson, 2010)

Interesting Quote:
Your activities and assignments should be designed to reinforce learning and extend students thinking. (Page 7 Para. 2)
Big Idea:
When teaching social studies in the classroom the educators need to make sure that the information presented to the students is engaging and
interesting. Activities and lessons need to be talked about, but more importantly children will learn better if they are actively engaged in the
conversations. Having the children work with their peers, participate in actual or web-based field trips and role playing will help the children learn and
retain the information better. If the students are not actively participating in their learning experiences they will suffer in and out of the classroom. They
will not remember what is being taught and will not be able to use past learning experiences when learning new concepts in social studies. Students
also need a voice in the classroom. The students need to be able to make choices. Ask the students what they are interested in and what they want to
learn about. Teachers can also give students a topic or theme to choose from. By doing this, the children will feel a sense of power and they will want
to learn about these topics because they chose what interests them. Educators also need to make sure that they are challenging students thinking. In
other courses I have learned how to ask questions using the Depth of Knowledge and Bloom Taxonmy. Using these strategies will lead to open ended
questions and will challenge the students thinking. Having the students use their problem- solving skills for real world and community problems will
help enhance their learning experiences. It will actively engage the students inside the classroom and also in their community. Through my personal
observations inside and outside of the classroom I have came to the conclusion that students learn best when they are actively engaged.
Give at least one example of how this chapter relates to your experiences or thoughts about social studies:
Unfortunately, I have not seen social studies being taught in the classroom today. If teachers and administration would take the time to listen to the
students needs and interests I think this subject would be taught more often. Teachers in schools today are putting their emphasis on literacy and
mathematics because of the ongoing pressure of the CRTs. I believe that social studies, history and science are also very important subjects that need
to be taught in the classroom because children need to learn about different cultures, morals, religions etc.