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Note: The instruction and assessment sections that follow are common to the Grade 7, 8 and 9 curricula. |
Learning is a process in which students construct meaning as they acquire new concepts, or extend their understanding of familiar concepts. By interpreting new information and applying skills strategically, learners connect new knowledge and understanding to what they already know, and they reorganize or adjust their understanding to accommodate the new information and ideas. In order for learning to be effective, students require instruction in the use of a variety of meaning-making strategies and skills.
This section of the curriculum guide explains the philosophy behind the instructional practices that are effective in helping students to comprehend and interpret what they read, hear and view. Included in this section is information about:
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Children will not truly understand a concept until they have had an opportunity to reinvent it for themselves. Piaget |
Humans organize information into meaningful patterns or networks known as schemas. These schemas represent their experiences with and understandings of a wide range of concepts.
Kibby (1995), and other researchers, classify concepts into general categories. The categories are:
Social Studies incorporates action and event concepts and focuses on ideas, the most abstract of the above concept categories.
The ease with which students learn new concepts varies depending upon their prior knowledge and experience, and their present schema with respect to the particular concept. Concepts and the words that represent them are learned most effectively if they are “anchored in the life experiences of the learner” (Frey, 1993). As students make connections with their own experiences, they develop a revised schema about the concepts under study.
| Schemas, sometimes referred to as conceptual frameworks, are organized networks of knowledge and experiences about topics and concepts/ideas that create expectations as one reads, hears or views new information. Each person has his or her own schema about any concept based upon experiences with that concept. Each person adjusts his or her understanding of that concept by integrating the new information into a schema of prior knowledge. |
Simply providing students with a list of new words and explaining the concepts they represent is not adequate for most learners, especially if the concepts are abstract ideas such as power, diversity, culture and causality. Marland (1993) stresses that interaction, dialogue, personal involvement and experience with a concept are crucial in order for students to develop understanding of the concept. He also stresses the importance of a classroom environment in which students are mutually respectful and are willing to take risks.
Kibby (1995) asserts that learning concepts in this way is meaningful for a number of reasons.
Every learner has a personal schema of knowledge, experience and understanding that is organized into a framework or network that makes sense to her or him. In order to comprehend what they read, hear, or view, students must make connections between what they already understand about a concept and any new information that they encounter. As they access their prior knowledge, and use the new information to adjust, modify and reorganize their knowledge and understanding to accommodate what they have learned, students construct their own meaning of oral, written and visual text. For students who have difficulty making sense of what they read, hear or view, instruction and practice provide them with opportunities to develop these meaning-making strategies and skills.
The essence of instruction in grades 7, 8 and 9 Social Studies is helping students to acquire and extend their understanding of basic concepts, and to take action relative to those concepts. To teach concepts, teachers can use the deductive or expository approach, or the inductive or inquiry approach. Both approaches include the same steps, but the sequence of the steps differs in each one.
Deductive Approach
The following steps outline the procedure when teaching about a concept using the deductive approach. Teachers should:
Inductive Approach
The following steps outline the procedure when teaching about a concept using the inductive or inquiry approach. Teachers should:
It is important that teachers monitor and assess students' concept development on a continuous basis to determine if there are misconceptions that require correction. When checking for concept understanding, teachers observe for students' abilities to:
In the grades 1-12 Social Studies, each unit of study is developed around one major concept as the focus, and several related concepts. Based on the understanding that one cannot teach or learn everything about a concept at one time, concepts are introduced and re-introduced as developmentally appropriate at each grade, allowing students to build their schema of understanding about each concept gradually, in relevant ways.
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Language is an essential tool for learning in all subject areas. |
Communication, one of the Common Essential Learning, focuses on the language demands of each school subject and on the teacher’s role of developing students' communication abilities in all subjects.
Communication as a Common Essential Learning is based on three important principles that demonstrate the relationship between language, thinking and learning. These principles are:
Learners use language to receive, interpret and share ideas and information. Through the language processes--listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing and representing—students construct meaning and develop their thinking abilities. Students use the receptive and expressive language processes to learn in all subject areas.
Receptive Language Processes |
Instructional strategies that support one of the receptive language processes can be adapted to enhance students’ interpretive and thinking abilities in the others. |
Expressive Language Processes |
Instructional strategies that support one of the expressive language processes can be adapted to enhance students’ understanding and thinking abilities in the others. |
Listening is an essential component of the communication process. Effective listening is more than simply hearing. Comprehending oral information is a complex process in which listeners interact with a speaker to construct meaning within the context of their experiences and knowledge. Students develop the ability to be active, effective listeners when they deliberately attend to the speaker’s message with the intention of applying or assessing the ideas or information provided. Effective listeners:
Teachers can help students to become effective listeners by using instructional strategies that prepare them for their listening experiences, that actively engage them during listening and that clarify and extend their understanding after the listening experience.
| As learners advance, managing content area material requires additional reading skills. Although some readers acquire effective reading strategies incidentally and automatically, others need instruction on using systematic strategies—both thinking (metacognitive) and active. Tomlinson (1995) |
Research reveals that reading is the most important skill necessary for learning in Social Studies. It is the primary vehicle or medium through which students gather information in order to expand and develop new concepts. Therefore, it is crucial that students are provided with instruction about how to make sense of the resources that they read.
In Social Studies, as in other content areas, instruction in reading does not mean teaching students how to read; rather it involves helping students develop strategies for reading-to-learn from their expository materials.
Middle Level students are readily able to read narrative text because that is the genre in which they have had the most experience. However, they often find it difficult to make sense of their expository materials and informational resources. Teaching reading-to-learn skills and strategies in Social Studies not only helps students read their expository text material, but also increases their abilities to comprehend the concepts and achieve the stated objectives.
Reading is an active process of constructing meaning. Reading instruction in the content areas prepares students for what they will read, supports them as they access and interpret during reading, and clarifies and extends their understanding after they read. This helps them to integrate new information and ideas into their schemas in personally meaningful ways. In addition, this instruction helps students acquire new concepts and learn relevant content.
Contrasting Proficient and Ineffective Readers
Proficient Readers |
Ineffective Readers | |
Before Reading |
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During Reading |
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After Reading |
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(Adapted from Irvin, 1990, p.29. Used with permission of Orange Country Public Schools, Florida.)
The chart above compares the comprehensive strategies of proficient and inefficient readers.
Constructing meaning when reading, in other words, reading with comprehension, requires a wide range of skills and strategies. When students are reading to learn, they apply their current reading abilities, and develop other skills and strategies for comprehending and constructing meaning as they read expository text and resources.
The Venn diagram below demonstrates that readers bring prior knowledge to the text and construct their own meaning.
Effective instruction in reading-to-learn increases students' abilities to:
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What? |
Preparing for Reading |
Comprehending and Interpreting Information and Ideas |
Clarifying and Extending Understandings |
When? |
· prior to reading text |
· during reading text |
· after reading text |
Why? |
· motivate
· activate/build prior knowledge · set purpose(s) · pre-teach new vocabulary · relate to students’ lives · direct attention to organizational patterns and strategies |
· engage students in text
· enhance or increase focus/comprehension · provide concrete details for further discussions |
· clarify and extend comprehension and understanding
· demonstrate that there are different view points · encourage reflection on ideas/issues · examine relationships · engage in synthesis and analysis |
How? |
· set purpose for reading
· scan text for meaning cues · predict/infer meaning from cues · access prior knowledge about topics |
· read text (silently or aloud)
· jot notes (e.g., use KWL chart or learning log) · create a graphic organizer · connect new information/ideas to prior knowledge |
· create a summary
· discuss with peers · create a graphic organizer to demonstrate connection between new and prior knowledge and understanding |
It is important to make students aware that readers use different rates of reading, depending on the purpose for reading. Once students are aware of when to use different reading rates, they can adjust their rate of reading to accommodate the density of text and purpose. The following chart presents four basic reading rates and suggestions for when each rate may be useful.
| Reading Rate | Use this rate when the purpose is: |
| Skimming (readers conduct a quick overview to get the overall gist of text) | |
| Scanning (readers glance over text in search of a specific detail) | |
| Rapid | |
| Slow and Careful (readers wish to get an in-depth understanding of a passage or text |
Students encounter thoughts, ideas and information by viewing, as well as by listening and reading. The viewing process is a constructive process in which students build their schema about a topic or concept.
It is important for students to have opportunities to view a variety of media formats including visuals (e.g., photographs, political cartoons, graphs, charts, maps, art), drama (e.g., role play, readers theatre, live theatre) and other media (e.g., videos, television documentaries, CD-ROM). Each interaction between viewer and text differs because of students’ varying prior knowledge and cultural perspectives.
Oral communication is a vital learning tool in any subject area. Classroom talk is both immediate and spontaneous (e.g., discussion, group interaction), and planned and deliberate (e.g., debate, oral presentation). Through verbal and nonverbal language, students express their thoughts and understanding.
Fluency and effectiveness in speaking develop gradually with practice and instruction. As students develop their speaking proficiency, they develop self-awareness and increase their abilities to interact effectively with others. Regular opportunities to engage in informal and formal talk increase students’ thinking and oral language proficiency in many ways, including their ability to:
| Writing-to-learn strategies help students to explore ideas and make new information, concepts and vocabulary a part of their repertoire of language knowledge and use. |
Writing is a complex process that allows learners to explore thoughts and ideas by making them visible and concrete. Writing encourages thinking and learning for the following reasons:
When students are given opportunities to put information and conceptual understanding into their own words, they come to understand better what they are reading, listening to and viewing.
Students most often express their thoughts, ideas and information in written and oral language; however, they should also be encouraged to use visual, dramatic and multimedia formats to represent their understanding and support their written and oral messages. Representing enhances speaking and writing when students support their oral and written expressions with various materials and media (e.g., using video or audio clips and visuals to enhance an oral presentation).
Students should have opportunities to communicate using a variety of representative formats including visuals (e.g., graphic organizers, collages, illustrations, photographs), drama (e.g., role play, readers theatre, simulation) and other media (e.g., audio and video recordings, Internet web pages).
Middle Level students arrive in the classroom at different levels of understanding about the concepts, processes, skills and values inherent in Social Studies. The learning process, during which students construct their own meanings and explore and expand their understanding, is a very personal and individual experience. Throughout the learning process, teachers provide students with necessary instruction and support by constructing instructional scaffolds that take individuals from where they are in their understanding to the next step or stage in their learning process.
Frequently identified as the one of the most effective instructional techniques, instructional scaffolding describes a process in which students and teachers collaborate to design appropriate support as needed. Instructional scaffolds may be designed for individuals or groups.
The teacher’s role is one of helping students toward new learning, assisting students during the learning process and assessing the skill, process or product to determine if further instructional scaffolds are necessary.
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Instructional scaffolds must be designed to bridge the gap between what learners know and what they can do and the goal or skill they are attempting to achieve. |
Instructional scaffolds should be flexible and temporary. As students become proficient with new skills and processes, they add them to their personal
Repertoire—they internalize them. When this occurs, teachers must allow students to proceed on their own, and continue to observe for opportunities to construct new scaffolds as the need arises.
Most scaffolding is brief and immediate, and is provided on a one-to-one basis as teachers circulate to observe students actively engaged in working and learning. However, it is also necessary for teachers to anticipate possible difficulties that students may encounter within a particular activity or process, and plan instructional scaffolds that will assist them prior to, and throughout the task (e.g., steps for writing summaries, procedures for giving oral presentations, stages of the research process).
Scaffolds may be constructed for individuals, small groups or large groups, depending upon the task and the students’ needs. Mini-lessons (10-15 minutes in length) are often all that is required for students to be able to proceed with the task. Subsequent mini-lessons can be provided, as students require new information and skills to continue their learning experiences.
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A set of training wheels on a bicycle is a classic example of scaffolding. It is adjustable and temporary, providing the young rider with the support he or she needs while learning to ride a two-wheeler. Without an aid of this sort, the complex task of learning to pedal, balance, and steer all at one time would be extremely difficult, if not impossible for many youngsters. This scaffold—training wheels—allows the learner to accomplish a goal, riding a bicycle successfully, and then to happily pedal his or her way into a wider world. Graves, Graves and Braaten (p.14) |
Instructional scaffolds can be designed to teach students how to identify main ideas and supporting details, ask questions, cooperate in groups, predict, infer, summarize, do research, solve problems and so on. The teacher provides support only for the skills or parts of the process that students are unable to complete on their own. This support decreases as students’ levels of proficiency and competence increase, although they may require further scaffolding at another point in the task or process.
In order to build appropriate instructional scaffolds for students, educators must acknowledge that students learn at different rates, that they differ in their ability to think abstractly or understand complex ideas, and that they have different learning styles and strengths. Based on this understanding, teachers differentiate or adapt instruction to fit each learner's needs, styles and abilities.
Differentiating instruction to meet students' needs and abilities does not mean that all students cannot explore the same concept or topic. "Covering information takes a back seat to making meaning out of important ideas" (Tomlinson, 1995, p. 21). However, all learners need learning experiences designed to enhance their learning success. Differentiating instruction means making adaptations in one or more of the following:
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In a differentiated classroom, students and teachers are learners together. While teachers may know more about the subject matter at hand, they are continuously learning about how their students learn. Teachers assess students' readiness in a variety of ways and then design learning experiences based on their best understanding of students' needs and interests. Tomlinson (1995) |
Using differentiated instruction, teachers plan and use varied approaches to content, process and product in response to continuous monitoring of students' needs and abilities, recognizing that adjustments can be made as required.
The teacher's role in a differentiated classroom is that of a planner and facilitator of learning who gives students as much responsibility for their own learning as they are able to manage. In this role, teachers:
The Adaptive Dimension and Resource-based Learning are two Saskatchewan Education Core Curriculum initiatives that support differentiated instruction. See pages 9, 11 and 12 in this curriculum guide for information about each.
This curriculum provides students with learning experiences designed to help them understand some of the fundamental value positions within societies, and how they developed. While, at times, this curriculum deals with controversy, this should not be construed to mean that any belief is as good as any other belief. Even within a pluralistic society there are commonly held beliefs, and students should not be given the impression that all beliefs are equally defensible.
Exploring and examining controversial, value-laden issues encourages students to develop their own viewpoints, learn to respect others' viewpoints, and develop and apply higher order thinking skills to organize concepts and information in personally meaningful ways. Through this process, students begin to understand the role of values as the basis for making choices and decisions. From this point, students come to understand that values provide the criteria upon which traditions and organizations of society are based. Some such criteria include: human dignity, basic rights and responsibilities as defined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and respect for and acceptance of individual differences based on human dignity.
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In determining what is appropriate for the student in the areas of values objectives, teachers should be aware of both family and community standards. |
Educational decisions related to values objectives in the classroom should reflect family and community standards, as well as those of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. In resolving conflict between these two positions, students should be encouraged to consider the consequences resulting from each position evaluated against socially constructive values.
Assessment of Values Objectives
Generally, teachers would be well advised not to evaluate value positions of students summatively. The effect of such evaluation would be to place oneself in the position of formally calling a student's values incorrect. This may be necessary on occasion in some situations relating to fundamental human rights. In most cases, however, there is such a wide variety of acceptable positions in a pluralistic society that instead of condemning, a teacher should try to pursue with the student the reasoning that lies behind the value position.
Values objectives in the curriculum guide call for the student to appreciate, understand or show concern for some aspect of social life. This is not a demand that students adopt a certain value position; rather, it is a suggestion that students should begin to understand some of the underlying moral, ethical and aesthetic implications of the social issue in question. Objectives of this sort lend themselves much more readily to informal methods of formative evaluation.
From individual, group and class discussion, teachers can get a "feel" for what students have learned about the values that have been discussed in the classroom. They are able to chart changes that occur in student values rather than making a final evaluation as to the quality of those values. These changes may be noted through the use of anecdotal records and checklists.
Students should be encouraged to develop the thinking and communications skills that allow them to develop legitimate value positions and express and defend their positions in open discussion or debate. Teachers may evaluate students' work from this perspective, provided it is clear that the evaluation is focused on the skills of thinking, logic and communication, rather than on a specific value position.
Note: A more detailed discussion of these issues can be found in Understanding the Common Essential Learnings: A Handbook for Teachers, Saskatchewan Education, 1988.
Skills should be introduced in ways that demonstrate to students how they can use these skills to accomplish tasks related to their thinking, understanding and learning, both inside and outside of the classroom. Students who recognize the usefulness of a skill will be more inclined to learn it.
Steps in skill development include:
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Skills are learned most effectively when:
Assessment of Skills Objectives
It is important in evaluation to show clearly that there is a relationship or congruence between what has been taught and what is being evaluated. If an important teaching objective has focused on a specified skill (e.g., summarizing, locating information) it is the acquisition of the skill that should be assessed.
It is equally important when assessing skills that the students be asked to demonstrate in some way that they know which skill is needed in a particular situation and how to apply it. The material or situation in which the student is being asked to apply a skill should be unfamiliar.
| Interdisciplinary teaching is…education that is organized in such a way that it cuts across subject matter lines, bringing together various aspects of the curriculum into meaningful association to focus upon broad areas of study. It views learning and teaching in a holistic way and reflects the real world, which is interactive.
(Shoemaker, 1989, p. 5) |
Current researchers report many examples of teachers who integrate several subject areas to develop students’ skills and knowledge, while leading them to an understanding of conceptual relationships. Such instruction is referred to as interdisciplinary teaching. Jacobs (1989) defines interdisciplinary as “a knowledge view and curricular approach that consciously applies methodology and language from more than one discipline to examine a central theme, issue, problem, topic, or experience.”
Interdisciplinary teaching requires considerable thought and planning. However, it is important to remember that planning is a continuous, repetitive process based upon action and reflection within the teaching cycle. Graphic organizers, such as the two models that follow, are useful aids for producing an overview of interdisciplinary units.
Diagram A – Webbed Model
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Interdisciplinary Model |
Description |
Benefits |
Considerations |
Webbed(see Diagram A on the previous page) |
Thematic teaching using a theme or major concept as the connecting focus for instruction in several subject areas. |
Motivates student learning because it helps them to see relationships and make connections between ideas. |
Requires that one teacher have the same students for several subject areas, or that common planning time is provided for teachers to meet and plan together. |
Interrelated
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Concepts and information, interwoven through several subject areas, are examined by learning and applying common skills, concepts and attitudes in each subject area. |
Facilitates the acquisition and application of transferable skills. Motivates learning because it helps students to see relationships and make connections among disciplines. |
The focus themes or concepts must be carefully selected so that they are meaningful and relevant to students and to each subject area. The objectives of each subject area must be addressed. |
Planning Interdisciplinary Units of Study
Interdisciplinary units of study include objectives selected from more than one subject area. One broad concept, significant issue, historical event or social problem serves as the focus for these units. The following guidelines are suggested for developing interdisciplinary units of study:
Multi-grade classrooms, sometimes called multi-level, have been defined as "any classroom organizational structure which includes more than one grade and includes students of various ages" (Learning Together in Multi-level Classrooms, Horsman H., 1997, p. 7).
| The multi-level program is structured to closely resemble a real community. Children learn from a variety of sources—teachers, other adults and each other. Individuals of different ages, backgrounds, abilities and needs come together to create an environment where all have input and share responsibilities.
Maeda, 1994, p. 4-5 |
In multi-grade classrooms, teachers develop a community of learners by creating positive learning environments, and by providing students with opportunities to:
Researchers reveal that students derive many benefits from learning in a multi-level classroom. Students in these settings tend to develop a greater sense of self-esteem, self-discipline, self-confidence and security, often accompanied by greater academic gains. However, while there are many benefits to multi-grade settings, there are also challenges, for both teachers and students. At first, students who have been very teacher-dependent may find it difficult to work independently, make their own choices and decisions when necessary, set goals and take responsibility for their own learning. Gradually, these students develop the lifelong learning skills needed to learn and flourish in these settings, and obtain great benefit from the experience.
Teachers may find instructional planning for a multi-grade classroom takes more time, and that they need to be flexible in their planning, instruction and assessment in order to meet students' diverse learning styles, abilities and needs. Some suggestions for organizing instruction for students in multi-grade classrooms include:
Many of the challenges inherent in multi-grade classrooms can be overcome through the use of instructional methods and strategies advocated in Saskatchewan's Core Curriculum. These include:
In Middle Level Social Studies, the units of study and lesson plans included in the curricula incorporate these strategies. Teachers may adapt the units to fit their particular students and situations, combining units or developing new units as necessary. One suggestion for combining units of study in Middle Level Social Studies follows.
In a grade 7-8 multi-level setting that combines the grade 7 unit, Location, and the grade 8 unit, Culture, it is necessary that the teacher:
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Group # 1--Grade 7-8 Major Concepts: Location (grade 7) and Culture (grade 8) | |
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Large Group (6 students, both grades):
Assessment and Evaluation
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Small Group #1A ( three grade 7 students)
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Small Group #1B (three grade 8 students)
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Independent Learning
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Small Group # 1A
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Small Group #1B
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Large Group
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