Organization of the Curriculum Documents

General Objectives

The general objectives for the course are outlined as knowledge, skills, or Values Objectives

. In the skills/abilities section of the required learnings, the learnings are prefaced with either "learn" or "practise". The word "learn" indicates that this will be the first time the skill is formally presented. "Practise" indicates that the skill has been formally presented at some earlier point in the students' education.

Note that there are specific knowledge objectives for each part of the content and strategies. However, the skills and Values Objectives

also apply to several parts of both content and strategies. Thus skills and Values Objectives

should not necessarily be read as belonging to only one part of the content.

Teaching Strategies

The teaching strategy column contains ideas which teachers may use at their discretion. The teaching strategies have been developed to incorporate the C.E.L.s and to develop concepts, skills, and values. The activities always attempt to achieve more then one objective at a time. The purpose of the suggested strategies is to help teachers design teaching strategies which will link content with skills so that the Common Essential Learnings are achieved.

Activity Guides

Activity guides have been prepared to provide teachers with detailed teaching strategies that can be used to achieve the above mentioned objectives. The suggested activities tend to be student-centred rather than teacher-centred. This was done deliberately because teachers indicated that they would appreciate support in this area. It is possible, with some adjustment, to modify many of these activities into a lecture-discussion approach.

Note: the list of teaching strategies is not intended to be prescriptive. Teachers may use as many or as few of the strategies as they wish. All of the strategies can and should be modified and adapted for use in different classrooms.

Further details pertinent to teaching strategies as well as other relevant information, will be found in the Saskatchewan Education, Training and Employment Publications which complement this guide. These are the Teacher's Activity Guide and the Annotated Bibliography.

Learning Cycle

All of the units in secondary school social studies and history have been organized according to the learning cycle diagrammed below. Students are always introduced to concepts and skills/abilities using familiar material (concept development). This is done to make it easier for students to concentrate on learning either the concept or the skill. Once students are familiar with the concept or skill, then they are ready to extend it by using it to understand and evaluate the past as a way of better understanding the present and the future (concept application).

social picture

Identifying The Core Content

The content and objectives which appear in bold are core material.

Teachers may choose to work through some, all or none of the remainder of the material. This material should be seen as an opportunity to individualize instruction for students with different levels of ability and motivation. Teachers may also choose to substitute locally developed material in optional areas where appropriate. Such material should reflect community interests and must also meet the core knowledge, skills, and Values Objectives

The Adaptive Dimension

Adaptations to the programs are based on the understanding that students learn in differing ways and at differing rates. These programs allow instructional approaches to be modified to accommodate the varying needs found in the classroom.

The majority of students in a class are able to achieve the Foundational Objectives related to curricular content. This does not mean that all students have similar abilities to take part in and benefit from a common lesson or that it is necessary for them to have identical individual goals. Adaptive teaching strategies permit the teacher to consider individual abilities and to establish goals based on individual abilities in the context of wider curricular goals and objectives.

Adaptive Instructional Techniques

Teachers who are prepared to use flexible instructional approaches and classroom procedures are already adapting for individual needs. Teachers who use resource-based learning, rather than relying on single texts, and who have flexible seating plans can use techniques such as peer tutoring, volunteers, etc. to free up time which can be used to attend to individual differences. At the same time, they are providing opportunities for independent learning to other students.

Adaptive Evaluation

Carefully chosen evaluation instruments can mean the difference between having an involved, motivated learner and one who feels rejected by the system. Homogeneous, competitive grading systems can seem highly punitive to students who do not fit the system. Such grading systems may not be appropriate in many situations.

There are a number of approaches to individualized, fair evaluations. For example:

mastery level/criterion systems can be highly individualized so that activities and testing are individualized; and,
particular students can use adjusted examination formats which are congruent with a particular need(s): i.e. oral instead of written exams, altered time requirements, level of questions, reduced written component, etc.