The following section describes a variety of instructional strategies that can be used to assist students to develop Social Studies concepts and comprehend their course material. The instructional strategies described and exemplified on the following pages are designed to enhance comprehension, develop concepts and encourage critical and reflective thought. Teachers are encouraged to review the included strategies, selecting and using the ones that best meet the particular needs of their students and the objectives of the lesson.
These strategies can serve as useful scaffolds for individuals, small groups or the entire class, depending upon students' needs. Instructional scaffolds are most effective when provided to students, as they require them, within the context of what they are attempting to achieve. However, when teachers are able to anticipate students' need for particular skills or knowledge, it is effective to plan instructional mini-lessons in advance. Scaffolds are intended to be temporary structures or information. As students have the opportunity to use these strategies, they internalize them and apply them independently.
An anticipation guide consists of a series of statements to which students respond with “agree" or "disagree”, “true or false”, or “likely or unlikely”. Following their individual responses, students discuss their responses with peers in pairs, small groups or the entire class. After students read the selection, encourage them to think reflectively and critically by giving them opportunities to discuss or write about their responses, and compare them with the author’s ideas.
The purpose of an anticipation guide is to generate interest in the material to be read by inviting students to be curious and predict what the reading selection might be about. As well, anticipation guides serve to introduce unfamiliar vocabulary, activate prior knowledge and/or set a purpose for reading.
The following anticipation guide is one that might be used if students are studying the concept of citizenship.
Anticipation Guide | ||
Agree |
Disagree |
Anticipation Statement |
1. Being a citizen of Canada is the same as being a citizen in any other country of the world.
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2. Voting is the only responsibility of "good" citizens.
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3. All citizens should have the same rights.
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4. All citizens have the responsibility to obey the law.
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5. I am thankful to be growing up as a citizen of Canada.
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Extend Your Learning
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Brainstorming is one way of quickly generating ideas for later connection and reflection. During a brainstorming session, students share all the ideas that come to mind regarding the concept or topic under discussion. Fluency and quantity are important components of brainstorming. Brainstorming can be done individually on paper or in a group, orally.
Explain the following expectations and ask students if they have any others they believe should be added to the list:
Some guidelines for brainstorming include:
Circle learning is a strategy during which students share information and learn from interactions with one another. Because the strategy involves repetition, it encourages students to explore and clarify conceptual understanding.
Some guidelines for circle learning include:
Classification is a process in which a system is developed to organize and sort information, ideas and concepts into meaningful patterns or categories. Classification systems can take the form of charts, webs, concept maps and other graphic organizers.
The key skills in classifying include:
It is important to encourage students to develop their own systems of classification that make sense to them and that clearly reflect their understanding. Students construct their own meaning as they classify information, ideas and concepts. On page 409 of this curriculum guide is a sample template for assessing students’ classification skills.
A collage is a visual representation of the student's ideas, emotions and understanding in response to a specific topic, concept, situation or issue. Although a collage may include some words, it is usually composed of a variety of visual materials such as photographs, magazine pictures and scraps of cloth and paper.
Encourage students to use collages to demonstrate their understanding of concepts or social issues, or to demonstrate that they recognize the nature and character of time and place in historical events or eras. They can assemble their collages individually, in pairs, in small groups or as a class, depending upon the objectives.
Collages can be used as alternatives to, or in conjunction with, written and oral presentations. Extend student learning by having individuals or groups write one to three paragraphs explaining how their collage represents their understanding of the chosen subject.
The following criteria can be used by students to design their collages, and by students and teachers for assessment purposes. Teachers may develop checklists, rating scales or rubrics using these criteria.
Criteria |
Guiding Questions |
The topic, theme or message of the collage is clear. |
What is my main topic or theme? What idea(s) am I trying to convey? |
The selected visuals and material enhance understanding of the topic, theme, or message. |
Have I chosen images and materials that communicate my topic, theme, or message clearly and effectively? |
The visuals are arranged to direct the viewer's eye in a way that matches the student's intent. |
Have I thought about how I want to direct the viewer's eye (e.g., to one main image; from left to right; to move from one image to another in no particular order)? |
The style of collage is appropriate for the topic, theme or message. |
Have I arranged the visuals in a style that suits the idea I am trying to get across (e.g., abstract, emotional, realistic)? |
The collage includes adequate detail. |
Do my images reflect adequate detail about my topic, theme or message? |
The collage demonstrates overall organization and planning. |
Is it clear that I have organized and planned my collage? |
The images are presented with care. |
Have I combined the images with care? |
Concept maps are similar to other web diagrams in that they demonstrate connections between concepts; however, the difference is that concept maps also include a descriptor to show the links among the concepts. The links are labeled to explain the relationship between the concepts, which reveals the thinking process that has created those links. Arrows may be used to describe the direction of the relationship. These can be read like a sentence to follow the mapmaker's thought patterns.
Concept maps can be used to:
When students develop concept maps, they are constructing meaning. Creating a concept map is not a linear process; it is recursive. In other words, at any time during the process, words and ideas can be added, deleted or rearranged as students recall what they know, learn new information and reflect on their understanding. While developing concept maps is a meaning-making process, some basic steps for getting started or learning the process include:
Some suggestions for making concept maps attractive, clear and easy to read include:
Note: Concepts are usually nouns and linking labels are usually verbs.
The concept map on the following page begins with the concept oil shortages, and provides an example of subsequent concepts and the linking labels.
Concrete objects and artifacts are useful in developing Social Studies concepts. The objects and artifacts may be models that represent the real thing (e.g., Greek architecture), or they may actually be the real item being studied (e.g., stone arrowheads).
Teachers may display concrete objects and artifacts for the purpose of approximating firsthand experiences for students. Concrete items create interest, motivate learning and encourage discussion. As well, they provide alternative learning experiences for students whose learning style is tactile.
Students can borrow, buy or make concrete objects and artifacts to enhance and support their projects and reports. The ability to select or make artifacts that effectively support specific parts of a process, event or situation involves both critical and creative thinking.
Concept Map: Oil Shortages
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Positive interdependence emphasizes that students work together for mutual support while providing opportunity for all students to contribute to the achievement of the goal. When structured interdependently, students recognize their own contributions as well as the contributions of others within a supportive, cohesive environment. (Dueck and Layh, 1991, p.12) |
Cooperative learning includes both positive interdependence and individual accountability. Students are responsible for their own learning, as well as the learning of all members of the group.
Cooperative learning experiences are particularly effective at the Middle Level because students are developing socially as well as intellectually, and tend to prefer working with peers. Competitive individual efforts may be appropriate at times; however, cooperative learning experiences have the advantage of helping students take risks, work together and support each other. Through cooperative learning, students:
Some guidelines for cooperative learning activities include:
See page 360 for details about the jigsaw cooperative learning strategy.
The newspaper is still a source for much that we need to know on a daily basis; however, news sources today extend beyond newspapers to include weekly and monthly journals, radio and television news programs and documentaries, and the Internet. Researchers reveal that students who study news in school are more interested in current events, find news more relevant and are more likely to attend to news reports outside of school.
Current events are just that, current, so it is not possible to predict where these will fit into each unit of study as it is being developed. However, while teaching each of the units, teachers can watch for current news stories and issues that will help students to develop the concepts and achieve the objectives of the curriculum. Within the units of study, some suggestions are made for incorporating events that were current at the time of writing this
document (e.g., the issue of changing citizenship laws in Canada in December 1998 would help to develop the concept of citizenship in Unit 2, grade 8).
Incorporating relevant current news, both print and non-print, offers the following benefits:
The following activities are suggestions for ways that current events might be included in the curriculum. They will be most valuable to students if they are included within the context of lessons to help students develop the concepts and achieve the objectives of the curriculum.
Why is it News?
The Five Ws
Local, National or International
Comparing Media Treatments
Voice Your Opinion: Editorials and Letters to the Editor
Skimming for Information
Although it is unlikely that most people have time to read every news article thoroughly, the ability to skim a news article to identify key words and ideas is a useful reading strategy.
Reading Graphs and Graphing the News
Graphs and charts are part of students' daily lives. They encounter them inside and outside of school, on television and in newspapers and magazines. The ability to interpret the information that these visual representations provide is a valuable skill. As well, the ability to graph information for various purposes enhances critical and creative thinking skills.
Mapping the News
Map reading and interpretation are essential Social Studies skills. Through the use of maps, students develop a sense of themselves within the physical world.
Charting the Weather
The weather page in the newspaper can be the starting point for many interesting classroom activities.
Political Cartoons
Newspapers frequently include political cartoons that express opinions about current issues and satirize the people involved. Analyzing and interpreting political cartoons can help students to identify other points of view on a topic, and to develop their critical thinking skills. Examining political cartoons of the past can help students to get a sense of various perspectives on issues of relevance at that time (e.g., cartoons printed at the time of Canadian confederation or World War II). See page 350 in this curriculum guide for a template that is designed to assist students as they analyze and evaluate political cartoons.
Political Cartoon Analysis Chart
View the PDF file for this chart only by clicking here. |
Describe
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Analyze
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Make Inferences
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Make Judgements
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Express an Opinion
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Debating develops students' critical and creative thinking, helping them to become active listeners and to respect that a variety of valid viewpoints exist on any given topics. Debates at the Middle Level may be formal or informal in structure. Both formal and informal debates have rules and defined procedures.
Formal Debate
Formal debate has a recognized set of rules and traditional procedures. Participants attempt to present the best arguments for or against a proposal, thereby defeating the opposing team. The purpose of formal debate is to help students develop their critical and creative thinking skills, strengthen their speaking abilities and practice their active listening skills.
Assess formal debate using criteria explained to students prior to engaging them in the process. See page 353 in this curriculum guide for a sample assessment template.
For more information about formal debate, contact the Saskatchewan Elocution and Debate Association (SEDA) on their Web site at http://www.dlcwest.com/~seda.
Informal Debate
Informal debates also operate under a set of rules; however, the rules are more flexible than those of formal debate and may vary from one situation to another. The purpose of informal debates is to help students work together to understand common issues.
Some guidelines for using informal debate include:
The templates on the following pages are examples of tools that can assist students and teachers as they prepare for and assess debate.
Debate Planning Sheet
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View the PDF file for this sheet only by clicking here. |
Group ___________________________________________________________________________________
Policy Resolution_________________________________________________________________________
List the pros and cons in the space below. If you are using information from a print or other resource, note the exact source (title and copyright date, page, column, paragraph, web site address, etc).
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Rating Scale for Evaluating the Speakers in a Formal Debate
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View the PDF file for this rating scale only by clicking here. |
1 Needs Improvement 2 Fair 3 Average 4 Good 5 Outstanding |
1st Affirmative Speaker |
1st Negative Speaker |
2nd Affirmative Speaker |
2nd Negative Speaker |
Organization and Strategy
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Evidence
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Delivery
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Refutation
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Parliamentary Procedure
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Judge’s Decision
The debate should be awarded to the team that bests supports its contentions through logic and evidence, and best refutes the contentions of its opponents.
If neither team meets its obligations, then the debate should be awarded to the team that best demonstrates the basic skills of debate.
| This debate has been won by |  Affirmative Negative |
(Source: Saskatchewan Elocution and Debate Association.)
Decision making is the process of determining the best choice to be made when faced with a problem or a dilemma. Students need to be able to recognize when decision-making skills are required to arrive at a preferred choice from a number of alternatives.
The following guidelines may assist students in learning and using the decision-making process.
Discuss with students the transferability of the skills in the decision-making process. In what situations (in and out of school) could they use what they have learned?
Discussion is a speaking-to-learn strategy that assists students in developing their critical thinking and interpersonal skills. It gives them practice in expressing ideas orally in a logical manner and helps them to clarify thinking, hear others’ viewpoints, resolve conflicts, arrive at conclusions and find alternative solutions.
When instructing students to enter into discussions, it is important to clarify the purpose of the discussion and the procedures for the process. Discussion is guided by the central purpose of developing the group’s knowledge or understanding of the concept or topic being discussed. The discussion should be open-ended, and should not require students to come to a single conclusion. However, the group members should be able to provide reasons for their conclusions and support for their viewpoints.
During discussion, students should be expected to:
Teachers can build scaffolding for student discussions by clearly stating the purpose of the discussion, by setting expectations for group interaction, and by providing focus questions to initiate and guide the discussion. As well, teachers should make clear what the outcome of the discussion is to be (e.g., written product, action, oral report), and how the group will be expected to share information and ideas. Setting time limits for group discussions is necessary, so that students get on task immediately and stay on task.
Learning is enhanced in the context that best gives meaning to the concepts, skills, processes and values being taught. Learning experiences that take place in the community's museums, streets,
industries and natural environments address the diverse learning styles of the students, enhance motivation and connect classroom learning to the real world.
For learning experiences outside of the classroom to be authentic and meaningful, teachers must plan and organize carefully.
Educational excursions beyond the boundaries of the regular classroom are intended to add meaning, vitality and interest to regular classroom experiences. They might be planned as motivating events to stimulate interest in a certain concept or topic. They may serve as first-hand research about an area already under study, or they may culminate a unit of study. These excursions encourage students to become active learners, and provide a way of relating theoretical study to practical problems and the real world, enriching the learning experience.
Local communities provide a wealth of resources for learning a variety of concepts. For example:
Some guidelines for planning and conducting out-of-classroom learning experiences include:
Prior to the Excursion
During the Excursion
Following the Excursion
| Generalizations are statements of the relationship of two or more concepts. These statements may range from very simple to very complex… Generalizations…provide us with a useful means of expressing the relationship between accumulated facts and information in a highly organized and systematic way. They eliminate the need for us to go back to original statements again and again. In a sense, generalizations become a kind of shorthand for the knowledge that we accumulate during our life experience. They are also useful as a means of helping us explore new situations.
Banks and Banks, 1999, p. 86 |
A generalization states a relationship between two or more concepts. Often, educators and textbooks have stated generalizations as truths that students must accept and find examples to prove, with little or no discussion of their source or validity (Banks and Banks, 1999, p. 87). However, in order to encourage students to think critically and apply what they learn, it is more effective to have students arrive at their own generalizations and test them to determine their validity. Banks and Banks (1999) consider that it is a good test of a generalization “to try to recast the statement into the ‘if…then’ form. Not only does this force the relationship into clearer perspective, but it also requires that the concepts be stated in sequence so that their logical cause and effect or other association is plainly evident” (p. 88).
There are varying levels of generalizations based upon the range of their application: those that apply universally to all people at all times; those that apply to particular regions, cultures or eras; and those that are based on very few small samples. It is valuable for students to learn to identify the level of the generalizations that they make, so that they have a clear perspective of the implications and applications of the generalized statements.
The key skills in generalizing include:
Making generalizations helps students to develop their abstract thinking processes, and requires practice. It is important for teachers to give students examples of generalizations and to model the process for them. On page 410 of this curriculum guide is a sample assessment template for use by students. It may be adapted to serve as a tool for teacher assessment of generalizing.
| Creating graphic organizers to illustrate the organization of ideas and information aids comprehension and learning.…the effects of graphic organizers are greatest when students have in-depth instruction and training in their use and when students construct graphic organizers themselves.
Bromley, K., 1995, p. 8 |
Graphic organizers are visual tools that develop students’ thinking and understanding by revealing patterns, relationships and interdependencies among ideas, concepts and information. Visual tools, such as graphic organizers, help learners to construct meaning because they “represent mental, flexible, often quickly changing, and highly generative patterns” (Hyerle, 1996).
Much of the information students encounter in printed text and other media is presented in a linear fashion. Students must work out relationships and construct holistic concepts for themselves, which is difficult without instructional scaffolds, such as graphic organizers. Students require instruction about how to connect their prior knowledge to new knowledge in ways that are personally meaningful to them, and to construct new understanding based upon the connections they make. Organizing and analyzing ideas, concepts and information using integrated, nonlinear visual representations helps students to identify relevant relationships, discard irrelevant data and develop higher order thinking skills.
Researchers report that teaching students to use visual tools, such as graphic organizers, enhances their:
| The process of creating, discussing, sharing, and evaluating a graphic organizer is more important than the organizer itself. Students learn from the active investigation and negotiation, or give and take, that accompanies the use of a graphic organizer.
Bromley, K., 1995, p. 28 |
Students will require instructional scaffolds to support them as they become independent in the use of graphic organizers. Some guidelines for introducing a visual tool include:
Students should learn to use graphic organizers for a variety of purposes, including:
| Graphic organizers are tools students can use to establish patterns for their thinking, writing, and reporting. These organizers help middle level students develop intellectual discipline and the ability to think in the abstract and reason logically.
Schurr, Thomason and Thompson., 1995, p. 270 |
Organizers for Generating Thought
Graphic organizers for the purposes of generating thought develop as students express their ideas and share their knowledge about a particular concept. The resulting structures show intricate relationships between ideas and information. Webs or mind maps are non-linear structures useful for developing students’ quick generation of ideas, and their ability to make connections and think fluently. These types of organizers evolve during the thinking process and encourage free associations and links among ideas as they develop. Brainstorming techniques such as concept webbing, semantic mapping, clustering and mind mapping are examples of visual tools for generating and connecting ideas and information.
Organizers for Structuring Thought
Graphic organizers for the purpose of structuring thought are designed in response to a specific task, and enhance students’ abilities to organize, analyze and synthesize selected information from print text and other media. These graphic organizers are concrete, but flexible, structures that call for student input of specific information in response to questions or headings, and which guide their understanding of the interrelationship of such things as details to main ideas and causal relationships. These visual tools are often presented to students for the purpose of having them complete a content-specific task (e.g., to help students make sense of their print text materials). As students fill in the required data gleaned from their reading, listening or viewing experiences, they also develop their comprehension skills and conceptual understanding. (See pages 359 and 394-398 in this curriculum guide for sample visual organizers that can enhance students' understanding of expository patterns.)
Organizers for Transferring Thought
Graphic organizers for the purpose of transferring thinking are designed to teach students to improve their understanding of content skills and concepts, and transfer understanding to other contexts. In some ways this type of visual tool is similar to that used to teach students to organize information and structure thinking; however, in addition to improving their content learning, these organizers are designed to develop basic thinking patterns and directly enhance thinking, reflection and metacognition. Examples of common visual tools for the purpose of developing these cognitive thought processes include: classification diagrams that show hierarchical relationships, flow charts that show sequential connections, fishbone diagrams that show cause-effect relationships and Venn diagrams that show comparisons. While these tools are relatively concrete structures, students use them for constructive thinking and create their own transfer of thinking processes from one context to another.
The three purposes of graphic organizers outlined above are not exclusive of each other. While the focus may be on one purpose, other thinking skills are engaged and developed simultaneously. Also, it is possible to use one graphic representation for more than one purpose.
Extended Learning with Graphic Organizers
Following construction or completion of a graphic organizer, have students write and/or discuss what they have learned about the concept or information and about their thinking processes. For example, students who have completed a flow chart organizer could write a paragraph summarizing, in their own words, the series of events or the steps in a process. Then, they could orally explain their summary to a partner or small group, referring to their organizer or written summary if necessary.
There are many examples of graphic organizers throughout this curriculum guide, including those on the following page.
An interview is an effective way to gather information and provide the participants with practice in improving speaking and listening skills. Results of interviews can be prepared for inclusion in research reports or presentations.
Students might interview people from the community or topic experts who have first-hand experience or knowledge regarding topics being researched. It is important that students view the interviews as authentic learning experiences, and see definite and articulated connections with what they are doing or learning in the classroom. For example, a student could arrange an interview with a community Elder where Aboriginal treaty agreements are being researched, or with a local politician if the political system was the topic.
Effective interviews are the result of careful planning. The teacher and students together should draw up a checklist of preparation that must be made for interviewing. The following sections describe some guidelines for conducting successful interviews.
Prior to the Interview
During the Interview
Maintain a friendly interested attitude. Always be polite. Offer reassuring comments.
Following the Interview
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The jigsaw is one of the most powerful learning strategies for teaching and studying narrative [and expository material. This approach allows the teacher and the students to work through large amounts of material in a relatively short time. Dueck and Layh, 1991) |
The jigsaw strategy creates interdependence among the group members because each member has a responsibility to learn designated material and teach it to the other members, and to learn the material that others teach him/her.
Some guidelines for jigsaw learning include:
Using the KWL strategy students create a chart similar to the one below. KWL helps students to identify the information they need or wish to obtain. Prior to reading, students complete the first and second columns of the chart, stating WHAT THEY KNOW and what they WANT TO KNOW. During and after reading students complete the third column, stating WHAT THEY LEARNED. At this point, if the resource they use does not provide the information that they require, students continue the process with another resource. Some teachers include a fourth column, HOW I PLAN TO FIND OUT, placing it between the second and third column. This encourages students to identify possible sources of information and to use a variety of resources to answer their questions.
Once students have gathered the information, it is useful to have them classify it in three or more categories.
This strategy could be used occasionally, or it could be used on a continuous basis in the form of KWL journals. KWL journal entries are made each time the students read or view/listen to resources. The regular entries provide useful data for continual assessment of students’ reading comprehension and thinking processes.
Know, Want to Know, Learned (KWL) | ||
Research Topic: | ||
What I know about this topic |
What I want to know about this topic |
What I learned about this topic |
Categories of Information Category 1 Category 2 Category 3 |
Summary of Information (may be written or in the form of a concept map) |
The learning log, sometimes called a content journal, is a useful writing-to-learn strategy that provides opportunities for students to keep a continuous record of their learning as it happens.
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A content journal [learning log] is a place for students to record their personal insights, questions, confusions, disagreements, and frustrations about what is being learned….Journal writing is primarily writing students do for themselves; it helps them sort out what they think about what they are learning. Moore, et al., 1998, p. 198-199 |
In addition to being a place where students can explore and reflect upon their own learning, learning logs or content journals are a source of information for teachers about students’ attitudes, understanding, concept development and interests. This information helps teachers to decide what needs to be taught to whom at any given time. The teacher can then provide instructional scaffolding as necessary.
The use of learning logs can be loosely structured or highly structured. When the structure is loose, the teacher may require a certain number of entries each week, but students write independently, choosing their own topics and formats to explain their understanding of and response to what they are learning (e.g., some students may write a diary, others may write a letter to the teacher or a peer, some may use illustrations).
When the use of learning logs is highly structured, the teacher requires students to respond to specific concepts, ideas, information and questions being explored in class, and usually determines the format the response will take. As well, teachers provide time for students to write in their logs daily (e.g., five minutes at the end of class, two minutes to record their current knowledge about a specific concept that is about to be introduced). Teachers usually provide prompts such as a statement, topic or question to stimulate thinking, focus responses and encourage reflection. Prompts may be specific or general. Some general prompts include questions such as:
Provide students with model examples of effective log entries. Discuss criteria for effective reflective and critical thinking skills, and explain the difference between recalling information and interpreting and responding to the information. Emphasize that students are expected to express their own thinking and ideas.
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While reading the journals, some teachers write comments to the students, creating a written dialogue about how well students are learning the course material and how clearly they express what they have learned. Moore, et.al., 1998, p. 199 |
Assessment of learning logs or content journals is usually informal, the purpose of the assessment being to inform the teacher about instruction needed by each student. Although teachers do not grade each log entry, they may give students points for writing regularly, keeping their entries up-to-date and demonstrating reflective, critical and analytical thinking skills.
The learning log template that follows is an example of how students might reflect upon an oral report. A template such as this organizes students’ thinking and provides the teacher with information for further instruction.
Learning Log Guide for Oral Reporting
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View the PDF file forthis guide only by clicking here. |
Use the following form after giving a report. The responses can help both you and your teacher decide what you have learned and where you can improve in your reporting abilities.
Name |
Date |
Purpose/Object of Report | |
What I Did | |
What I Learned | |
How I Could Improve my Reporting Skills | |
Teacher Comments | |
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Children should know that unless readers are able to read for social change and justice, they will find themselves confirming existing meanings determined by others' ideologies.
Yenika-Agbaw, 1997, p. 452 |
Reading literature provides opportunities for students to develop Social Studies concepts in personal ways. Students experience immediate and personal connections to historical eras and people, and to contemporary issues involving people of today. As readers identify with story characters, they gain insight into the impact of real events on the lives of the people who were or who are affected. Also, readers identify issues raised in the stories, question the ideologies behind the stories and understand ways in which the issues and events affect their own lives.
Types of literature that enhance Social Studies include:
Selecting Literature Resources
Literature selections and activities should be chosen purposefully to encourage thought and to extend understanding of Social Studies concepts. When selecting literature resources to complement and illuminate the concepts of the Social Studies curricula, it is important to consider questions such as the following:
Historical and Contemporary Fiction
Through historical and contemporary fiction, students develop a better understanding of people of various cultures and social issues of the past and present. Historical fiction tells stories of people and events of the past. Writers recreate the past, using verifiable facts that present authentic and accurate pictures of specific times in history. Stories reflecting actual historical eras allow readers to experience the way people lived and thought in the past, including their basic human values and their responses to various political and social situations and changes. Contemporary fiction usually tells stories of people and events of the present. Through stories, authors provide insights into current issues and events, encouraging empathy and understanding in the reader.
Reading fiction can increase students' awareness of their own society. Students can explore such issues as the uneven distribution of power among people or cultures, or ways that location affects a particular society, as revealed through characters in a story. Through fiction, students can make connections between the past and present, and see how lives and attitudes differ in different times and places.
Picture Books
The use of quality picture books can enhance the development of Social Studies concepts and add enjoyment to learning experiences for Middle Level students. “The combination of stimulating artwork, accessible language, and shortness of text can be very appealing to this age group….The beauty of the artistic characterizations of people from all ethnic
and racial backgrounds provides a strong visible statement of valuing diversity, which is an especially important message for early adolescents” (Miller, 1998, p. 377).
Picture book is the term commonly used for a short story or work of non-fiction whose words and pictures together produce meaning beyond their individual images. The quality of illustrations and visual appeal of many sophisticated picture books construct layers of meaning in both words and pictures that are appropriate to more mature audiences.
Picture books appeal to a range of interests and accommodate a range of reading abilities. These books can be used to explore serious subjects, provide a concrete and motivating introduction to the study of abstract concepts, stimulate classroom discussion, introduce other countries and cultures, encourage critical thinking and enrich vocabulary.
Picture books to enhance learning in Social Studies should:
Resource-based Learning and the Adaptive Dimension are addressed through the use of picture books because they provide opportunities to differentiate instruction, build instructional scaffolds, activate prior knowledge, develop interest and motivate learning.
Teachers may choose to develop a collection of appropriate picture books that students can read as part of assignments or by choice. As well, it is valuable for teachers to read aloud to students. Because picture books are short, they get their message across quickly and provide opportunities for the teacher to work orally with students in response to a story. Through discussion, teachers can model the types of thinking they want their students to do when they are reading independently, and help them to develop their skills in predicting, critical thinking and questioning. As well, teachers can demonstrate how to defend opinions and how to listen actively to others.
Engaging and Reflective Activities
While it is essential to provide silent reading time for students, it is also necessary to engage them in discussions and activities to explore, compare and extend their understanding of the story and the concepts it develops. Some activities include:
Activities, such as those listed above, should not be used in an isolated manner. As students engage in an activity with their literature selections, have them investigate the content and Social Studies concepts by:
Literature resources are enjoyable, and can be used to enhance and support the Social Studies curriculum. They demonstrate to students that, while people lived and thought differently in the past, they had to face many of the same problems as people do today, and while people of other cultures may live and think differently, they share universal concerns.
The PACE strategy introduces students to concepts in their resource material through succinct, motivating, teacher-written narratives. This storytelling approach activates and builds students' prior knowledge, and generates interest in the topic to be explored. This strategy is useful for preparing students for viewing, listening and reading experiences.
Guidelines for constructing and using the PACE narrative strategy include:
Sample PACE Narrative
The following narrative is an example that might be useful to provide grade 9 students with a sense of the people and situations in medieval times.
A Medieval Story
A merchant is returning from the fair, where he has sold all his merchandise and gained a large sum of money. Pausing in a city…he finds himself before a church, and goes into the chapel to pray to the Mother of God, Holy Mary, putting his purse beside him on the ground. When he rises, he forgets the purse and goes away without it.
A burgher (citizen of a medieval European city) is also accustomed to visit the chapel and pray before the Blessed Mother of God Our Lord, Holy Mary. He finds the purse and sees that it is sealed and locked. What is he to do? If he lets it be known that he has found it, people will cry that they have lost it. He decides to keep the purse and advertise for its owner, and he writes out a notice in big letters, saying that whoever has lost anything should come to him, and he posts it on the door of his house.
When the merchant has gone a good distance, he realizes that his purse is missing. Alas, all is lost! He returns to the chapel, but the purse is gone. The priest, questioned, knows nothing about it. Coming out of the chapel, the merchant finds the notice, enters the house, and sees the burgher who found the purse and says to him, "Tell me who wrote those words on your door." The burgher pretends he knows nothing and says, "Good friend, many people have come here and put up signs. What do you want? Have you lost anything?" "Lost anything!" cries the merchant. "I have lost a purse full of money, sealed with such and such a seal and such and such a lock." The burgher sees that the merchant is telling the truth, so he shows him the purse and returns it to him. When the merchant finds the burgher so honest, he thinks, "Good sir God, I am not worthy of such a treasure I have amassed. This burgher is far worthier than I." "Sir" he says to the burgher, "surely the money belongs to you rather than to me, and I will give it to you, and commend you to God." "Ah, my friend," says the burgher, "take your money, I have not earned it." "Certainly not," says the merchant, "I will not take it" and he leaves.
The burgher runs after him crying, "Stop, thief! Stop, thief!" The neighbours take up the hue and cry and catch the merchant and ask, "What has this man done?" "He has stolen my poverty and my honesty, which I have carefully preserved up to this moment."
(Gies, Joseph and Frances. Life in a Medieval City. Harper and Row: New York, 1981, pp. 123-124. Used with permission.)
This reflection strategy or thinking tool may be used to help students process and synthesize information. It provides a framework for focusing on the central concept or idea, making personal connections and exploring related questions. This strategy may be used to promote in-depth reflection after any learning experience.
P Point - What is the main point or idea of this lesson/story/experience?
L Link - What link does this idea have with what is being studied in class? With the students' life experiences?
U Use - Is this information useful? Who else might find it useful? When might it be applied? How were language or materials used to communicate ideas?
Q Questions - What further questions come to mind about this topic/idea/experience?
Problem solving involves finding the best possible solution to a problem using a clearly defined process. Students engage in many lifelong learning skills during the process of problem solving, such as communicating, accessing and selecting information, making decisions, thinking critically initiating change and accepting consequences of change.
Guidelines that support students as they learn the problem-solving process include:
Problem-solving Process
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View the PDF file for this sheet only by clicking here. |
Statement of the Problem |
Possible Solutions 1. 2. 3. |
The best solution is # because…… |
Action Plan for Solving the Problem |
Problem-solving Graphic Organizer
Proposition/Support Outline is a writing-to-learn strategy that develops students’ critical thinking and research skills. Students gather a variety of relevant data to support a proposition, a statement that can be argued to be true. This strategy is also useful for analyzing written, oral or multimedia information to determine the validity of an author’s proposition.
Whether students are using the Proposition/Support Outline to develop support for their own propositions, or to judge the validity of someone else’s, they can use the following guidelines.
Proposition:
Support for the Proposition:
Readers Theatre is a form of dramatic interpretation that involves students in creating and reading scripts orally. Readers Theatre requires no scenery, costumes or action. Readers convey mood, tone and emotion, and suggest situations and characters through the use of their voices, facial expressions and gestures.
Generally, each selection for Readers Theatre should allow for five or six readers. Selections should convey the writers’ intentions and hold the interest of the audience through clearly written dialogue and vivid oral expression. Readers Theatre helps students to:
Some guidelines for Readers Theatre include:
The following section provides information on guiding students through the process of writing reports, and creating oral and multimedia reports.
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Step 1- Writing the Body of the Report | |
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Materials |
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Procedure |
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Notes: Canada. Gov’t feared US takeover because population sparse; needed to attract immigrants; built railway; gave loans; gave land; no war duty for religious groups; immigration increased from Europe; Hutterites, Mennonites Paragraph based on notes from above: The Canadian government had a problem because it was afraid that if it did not increase the population of the country the USA would take over. Therefore, the government set out to attract immigrants by building a railway, giving away loans and land, and promising that certain religious groups would never have to go to war. As a result, immigration to Canada increased and there was less likelihood that the USA would take over the country. | |
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Assessment Suggestions For accuracy of observation, select only a few criteria at one time. |
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Step 2- Writing the Introduction | ||
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The introductory paragraph should capture the reader’s interest, and may include information that:
Sentences to avoid include:
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Assessment Suggestions
Use anecdotal notes or a pre-designed checklist to see that the introductory paragraph meets the criteria. |
Sample introductory paragraph: Does the world face an environmental crisis? It is difficult to ignore the daily reports of environmental disasters occurring in all parts of the world. We hear about oil spills contaminating the oceans, industrial air pollution, sewer and garbage affecting water quality and many other ways that humans are damaging or destroying our life-sustaining environment. If we believe all that we hear and read about environmental disasters, it would be fair to assume that the answer to the question is "yes!" | |
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Step 3- Writing the Conclusion | ||
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Some examples for appropriate conclusions include: Sample concluding paragraph: Yes, the world does face an environmental crisis and, if we can believe even some of what we hear and read, we Canadians are the greatest culprits in creating this crisis. It has been most startling to discover that Canadians are among the most wasteful people on earth, and I would not have believed it unless I had discovered it for myself.
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Step 4- Writing the Bibliography | |
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Examples of Bibliographic Entries | |
Works to be Cited |
Example Entries |
Book (one author) |
Morris, N. (1998). Rivers and Lakes. Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON: Crabtree Publishing Company. |
Book (two or three authors) |
Howe, H. and R.T. Howe. (1987). Ancient and Medieval Worlds. White Plains, NY: Longman Inc. |
CD-ROM |
Parliament Hill: An Interactive Tour. (1997). Sydney, NS: Voyageur Interactive Technologies Limited. |
Encyclopedia Article (It is not necessary to give a full publication citation for encyclopedias. If the article does not cite an author, put the title of the article first.) |
Kaley, D. “Ancient World of the Mayans.” World Book Encyclopedia. 1997. Or “Rainforests of the Amazon.” Colliers Encyclopedia. 1989. |
Interview |
West, Jane. Personal Interview. January 23, 1998. |
Magazine Article (If the author is not cited, put the title of the article first.) |
Taylor, R.J. “Loggers Versus Tree-Huggers.” Canada and the World. Vol. 61 (02), October, 1995. |
Newspaper Article (If the author is not cited, put the title of the article first.) |
Kayter, D. “Local Group Requests Federal Funding.” Regina Leader Post. May 13, 1996. |
Pamphlet (if no author is cited, put the title of the pamphlet first; list the country of publication in brackets) |
Environmental Pollution. [Canada]: n.p., n.d. |
Television or Radio Program |
“Violence of Adolescent Girls.” Sixty Minutes. CBS, January 27, 1989. |
Video and Audio Cassettes |
Rights From the Heart. Videotape. National Film Board, 1998. |
World Wide Web |
Remmell, "Cultural Geography." Mr. Remmell’s Home page. 1998. Online. http://www.members.aol.com/MrRemm |
Oral reports and presentations are the result of research. How much research depends upon the topic and the objectives to be achieved. In many classrooms, oral presentations follow the production of written reports as a way of sharing what students have learned. However, written and oral reports need not occur together, and oral presentations may be separated entirely from formally written reports.
Students preparing for oral reports follow the research process as for written reports. They identify the topic, then locate, collect and organize the information. They do not record the
information into a formally written report; rather, they record key words and brief phrases on note cards or overhead transparencies as reminders to help keep the order of the presentation logical.
Students should be encouraged to become very familiar with their research topic so that they are able to speak fluently and respond to questions from the audience.
Oral reports allow immediate questioning, prompting researchers to give additional information about what they have learned. Thus, teachers should allow time for questions after an oral report. Moore, et al., 1998, p. 298 |
Teachers and students together can develop guidelines and assessment criteria for planning and delivering oral reports and presentations. Teacher assessment may take the form of a checklist or rating scale (see the following sample assessment templates), while student self-assessment may take the form of a Learning Log entry or a self-assessment checklist.
Some guidelines for planning oral reports include:
Debriefing following an oral presentation provides listeners with opportunities to ask questions, clarify understanding and make connections between what they know and what they have learned. This also provides teachers with the opportunity to help students recognize connections between the content of the report and the curriculum concepts and objectives. As well, debriefing helps speakers assess how well they have expressed themselves, and set goals for improvement when they give their next oral presentation.
Assessment of Oral Report/Presentation
Title of Report | ||||||
Presenter(s) |
Date | |||||
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Criteria |
Needs Improvement |
Superior | ||||
Clarity of Purpose |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | |
Organization of Material |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | |
Sufficient Supporting Information |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | |
Accuracy of Information |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | |
Presentation |
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1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | ||
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | ||
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 | ||
Comments | ||||||
Assessment of Oral Reports/Presentations
A rating similar to the one below can provide the basis for assessment and discussion following a report.
Student |
Date | ||||
Topic | |||||
Rate the criteria on a five point scale |
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1 = |
Not at all |
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2 = |
To a small extent |
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3 = |
To some extent |
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4 = |
To a considerable extent |
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5 = |
Outstanding, to a large extent |
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Content |
Presentation | ||||
There was a clear and interesting beginning and ending. |
The student spoke clearly. |
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The report stayed on topic. |
The student spoke enthusiastically. |
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The report was well organized and carefully prepared. |
The student used a variety of techniques (e.g., overhead projector, blackboard, humour, concrete materials). |
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I understood and learned several things from this report, including: |
The student used the time frame effectively. |
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The student was able to deliver the report using brief notes or an outline. |
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(Adapted from Graham and George, 1992, p. 68. Used with permission of Pembroke Publishers.)
Students should develop the ability to communicate effectively using a variety of media. Concrete objects and artifacts, visuals and audio-visual aids enhance oral and written reports and presentations. Multimedia presentations create and hold the interest of the audience, entertaining as well as informing. Presentations that use a variety of media address a variety of learning styles. Some students need to see and/or touch objects in order to understand the information. Others learn more effectively by viewing a diagram or graphic organizer to focus their attention.
Teachers should inform students of the criteria for effective multimedia presentations prior to having students develop them. Showing examples (e.g., a video clip of previous student presentations), or modelling the expectations in a teacher-created presentation would be helpful to students.
Computer technology is a valuable resource when it is used to develop, support and enhance students’ abilities for researching and reporting. Computer technology resources, used effectively and efficiently, have the capacity to:
| Varying teaching strategies through the use of technology and multimedia resources in the classroom can enhance experiences in inquiry, research, communication, construction and expression. |
Computer technology serves three major purposes for students in the Social Studies classroom. It serves as:
Computer technology offers many benefits, but it also offers some challenges. For example, not all Internet sites include accurate and complete information, and some sites may include misleading, biased and stereotypical information. As well, it can be very time consuming when students must search for useful and accurate information in such large forums as the Internet. Some solutions include:
Evaluation of Internet can follow many of the same criteria as evaluation of print resources: accuracy, currency, objectivity, coverage and appeal. However, Internet site evaluation requires additional criteria that look at technical quality and authorship. Home pages can now be created by any person or group without the usual filters provided by editors and publishers. In addition, quality sites may be linked to inferior works. The number of sites available and their ease of access make careful evaluation imperative.
The following criteria are listed in the form of questions to give users a comprehensive checklist for critically evaluating web sites. Although users may not be able to find the answers to all these questions, they should be aware of the many factors
that combine to form an evaluation. As well, users should balance their evaluation of the site’s ease of use with its content to provide an overall judgement of its value.
Authorship
It is helpful to identify authors and hosts of a site in order to assess their level of expertise, their bias and their site in the context of their other writing.
Is the author identified?
What are the author’s qualifications? Does the home page list the author’s position and affiliation?
Is the author well-known and well-regarded? Is biographic information given about the author? Is the document written as part of the author’s professional duties? Has the author published other works? Has the site been arrived at through links from a reputable site? Does the home page list the author’s postal or telephone address?
Can the author’s bias and motivation for writing be inferred from the above information?
Is the web site’s sponsorship or publisher identified? How reputable is the publisher? Is the publisher recognized in the field? Does the home page contain a watermark or logo that identifies its publisher? Does the home page provide a link to the goals of the organization?
Is the webmaster identified? Can the user access the webmaster from the document? Does the page contain a postal address or telephone number for the webmaster in addition to the e-mail address? If the material is covered by copyright, is the copyright holder identified? Can the host be verified? (Use programs such as “Whois”.) Is the document on the same host as the publisher? (Check the URL.)
Based on the above information, can the publisher’s (host’s) bias be inferred? Does the organization have a known agenda?
Accuracy
Users need to be assured that their sources are free form error, and that they are authoritative, thoroughly researched and follow appropriate norms of writing.
Is the information free from error? Are there internal inconsistencies in format or information? Are there spelling, grammar, typographical or mathematical errors?
Does the site list an editor?
Does the work contain documentation that recognizes sources? Can these sources be easily accessed to verify the facts? Is there a bibliography? Is statistical data contained in graphs or charts, and are the sources for these acknowledged? In a research document, does the author show how data was gathered and analyzed?
Does the information contradict facts already gathered?
Currency
One of the most valued characteristics of the Internet is its currency. Users expect Internet home pages to contain current information in frequently updated pages.
Is the publication date provided?
Does the home page state when the site was last updated?
Is the content of the site up-to-date? Does the document state when statistics were gathered?
Objectivity
Every web site is created for a specific purpose and audience. Users should ensure that they identify the author’s purpose. They should also analyze how the author’s point of view is presented.
Is the objective or mission of the site indicated?
Is the point of view balanced? Does the author acknowledge controversy surrounding issues? Does the author present both sides of issues, or discuss the advantages and disadvantages of techniques?
What strategies is the author using to sway the opinion of the audience?
Does the site contain advertising? Is the advertising intrusive? Is the advertising clearly separated from the main text?
Does the site include text or visuals that contain biases or stereotypes?
Coverage
The topics presented, the depth in which those topics are explored and the number of options for interaction usually determine the value of a site.
Do the topics adequately address the site's main focus? Are there topics that need to be included? Is each topic explored in sufficient depth?
How does the coverage compare with that in other sites?
Does the advertising outweigh the educational value of the site?
Does the information provide links to other useful resources?
Do visuals or sound add to the ease or depth of understanding?
Does the site include options for interaction? Does the site contain a FAQ area? Does the site include a Chat area (real time) or Ask the Expert (e-mail)? Does the site include a MUD?
Is the site’s content suitable for its intended use? Does it contain problematic content (language or visuals)? Are topics or issues dealt with in a manner appropriate to the intended use?
Technical Features
Sites should be easily loaded, contain adequate links and provide clear directions. Users should be aware that slow loads are often caused by high volumes of net traffic.
Does the home page contain a table of contents, index or other organizer?
How long does it take for visuals or sound to load? Are thumbnail graphics used?
Is the format standard and readable with the browser? Does the site require a secondary viewer (Java, Acrobat Reader)? Does the site require additional software? Does the site contain search features (internal, global search engine)?
Does the site include a text alternative to graphics?
Is the site interactive? Does the site give directions for interaction? Is information given clearly for writing the author or submitting to the site?
Does the site state that it is under construction?
Do all links work? Are links text-based (underlined as a Browser setting) or graphic (buttons, maps)? Are links clearly labeled?
Aesthetic Appeal
An engaging site is easily read and usually includes well-designed graphics, visuals and sound, if appropriate.
Does the site contain visuals? Are they clear and appropriate to the page? Do they add to the page?
Does the site contain sound? Is the sound in a common format (such as Real Audio)? Is the sound clear? Does the sound add to the site?
When Internet users are involved in research or want access to interactive communication online, they are faced with several challenges. The following list of strategies addresses some of these common difficulties and suggests possible solutions.
Challenge: Determining What Type of Information is Needed
The Internet contains several types of informational sites, such as full text documents first published in print, original articles, news media sites, commercial sites, bibliographic citations, personal pages, interactive communications or simulations sites, or technical databases from organizations and government agencies and Canadian or international sites. It is important to know which type of site is required.
Strategies
Challenge: Identifying Terms Useful in Searching
In conducting a search, it is important to type in search terms that will provide links to relevant sites, without resulting in a list of hundreds of unrelated home pages.
Strategies
Challenge: Finding Resources that List Useful Sites
Research that lists new or interesting sites can sometimes provide annotated bibliographies of sites that would otherwise be overlooked.
Strategies
Challenge: Identifying the Authorship of a Site
Knowing the authorship of a site helps readers identify the credibility and accuracy of a site. For example, an educational site written by students would not be the best choice for studying a topic in depth. In the same way, a commercial publisher’s site would contain useful information about the availability of a book, but not an unbiased review of the text. If the author is listed, it is often important to learn what credentials the author has. It is also important to know something about the biases and motives of the publishing body.
Strategies
Adapted from Walster, D. 1997, January-February. "Search engines on the World Wide Web." Emergency Librarian 24(3), 21-23.
In Social Studies classes, students are often required to do research and create reports using their research. Just as often, students are not provided the necessary instruction and practice that will allow them to accomplish their task successfully. It is crucial that teachers and students view research as a process, and that they take time to follow the process in order to develop their research skills and write clear, effective reports.
The following example is a step-by-step guide (adapted from Write More Learn More: Writing Across the Curriculum, Phi Delta Kappa, 1988) with which to develop students’ abilities to locate, gather, select, and organize ideas and information.
Researching and creating interesting, well-structured reports require instruction and practice. Using this step-by-step guide takes time; however, it is time worth spending because the instructional scaffolds eventually become internalized. Each time students go through the research process, they adapt it to fit their own learning needs and styles, thereby becoming more adept at the research process.
Research requires that students receive instruction that assists them to:
| Timelines suggested for each step of the research process are approximate. Teachers are encouraged to assess their students’ abilities and needs and adjust the times accordingly. It is important that students have adequate time for each step as they go through the process. |
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Step 1 - Topic Selection | ||
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Assessment Suggestions Involve students in the development of the assessment criteria, and/or inform them of the criteria, prior to beginning each step of their research. |
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Preliminary Research Information Form
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View the PDF file for this sheet only by clicking here. |
Student Name |
Date |
Topic 1
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Sources |
Topic 2
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Sources |
Topic 3
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Sources |
Topic Selection Assessment Checklist
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Criteria |
Yes |
No |
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Process |
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Product |
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Anecdotal Comments | ||
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Step 2 - Narrowing the Topic | |||
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| Procedure | · Explain to students that, now that they have selected a topic, their next step is to narrow the topic by deciding what it is they want to know about the topic, and what information they will present to their readers.
Traditional Outline Format Write on the chalkboard a topic (e.g., the name of a person well known in history, an issue or event). Brainstorm with the class the kind of information available in the library about the topic. Have the class select two or three categories of information. Demonstrate how to write a report outline using the chosen categories as headings. Topic: Japan I. Introduction
1. Latitude and Longitude 2. Relative Location 2. Plains III. The Japanese Family 1. Extended Family 2. Nuclear Family Webbing Outline Format
Graphic Organizer Outline Format
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Assessment Suggestions
Checklists are useful scaffolds, making students aware of expectation guidelines or goals as they progress through the activity. |
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Step 3 - Locating and Gathering Information | ||
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Procedure |
Excerpt from resource: Canada became a nation in 1867. At that time the Canadian government feared that the United States might take over the Canadian West. How could the Canadian government prevent the Americans from claiming the West? If Canada was going to become a strong nation, the government had to get people to settle the West. A railway would have to be built so that people and their belongings could get to the West. Immigrants would have to be attracted to settle the new land. From 1870 to 1896, the West’s population still did not grow very quickly. In 1885 the district of Alberta had a population of only 15,500. Canada was still a strong part of the British Empire. The Canadian government wanted British people to come to Canada. However, not enough British people wanted to come to Canada. The government had to look elsewhere for immigrants. It began to look in other parts of Europe like central and eastern Europe. The government helped some of these people come to Canada by paying for transportation and granting large tracts of land. The government gave loans and promised certain religious groups they would never have to fight or go to war. The Hutterites and Mennonites are two groups who came because of this promise. (Excerpt from The Search for a New Homeland: Polish and German Speaking Canadians, Palmer and Frideres, 1990, p. 5) Example of brief notes gleaned from the above excerpt using words and phrases: Canada. Government feared US takeover because population sparse; needed to attract immigrants; built railway; gave loans; gave land; no war duty for religious groups; immigration increased from Europe; Hutterites, Mennonites
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Assessment Suggestions Anecdotal notes, taken throughout the research process, are useful as reminders of where students require further instructional scaffolds. |
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Note-making Guide
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View the PDF file for this guide only by clicking here. |
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Topic | ||
Category 1 |
Notes |
Sources |
Category 2 |
Notes |
Sources |
Category 3 |
Notes |
Sources |
Role play is on-the-spot "acting out" of a situation, problem or incident. It is one way for students to explore issues or events as a group. Role playing provides a means for testing ideas and plans of action in a practice situation. Through role playing the students can experience how it feels to do something in addition to participating in discussion.
Role plays get the student into another "identity", providing opportunities for them to perceive how others might feel, think, or act. The general purposes of role plays are to clarify viewpoints and to develop an appreciation and understanding of different perceptions, attitudes and values. Role plays are especially useful in helping students understand the circumstances of different ethnic and cultural backgrounds.
Role playing allows for the exploration of many vital human issues, from individual and civil rights to questions of ethics, global security and international understanding. Students might role play community workers and explore the positions of city and municipal officials in certain situations, or they might investigate various sides of a social issue through participation in role plays. For example:
Role play provides opportunities for students to:
There are four distinct stages in role play: setting the scene, the role play, debriefing and closure.
Setting the Scene
The task in this phase is to provide the purpose or reason for the role and to prepare the group. Several strategies are available:
The Role Play
Debriefing and Closure
Simulation is an instructional strategy that can be used to bring a sense of reality to the learning experience. A simulation reflects a real-world process or issue, and enables students to experience the feelings and perspectives of other people. The situations being simulated are reduced and simplified so that students can focus on selected aspects of reality.
Simulations are based on situations, problems, events and issues used to develop the Social Studies concepts. In simulations, students analyze information and make decisions as working members of models of social, economic or political systems. There are commercially made simulations that are motivational, instructional and entertaining. As well, teachers and their students can develop their own simulations based upon events, issues, situations and problems about which they are learning. Effective simulations involve participants in:
Prior to entering into a simulation, teachers should explain to students how it relates to the objectives and concepts of the lesson or unit. The debriefing should summarize what happened, students’ responses to what happened and the effectiveness of the process in developing their understanding of the concepts.
Good summarizers write in their own words but are careful to maintain the author’s point of view and to stick closely to the sequence of ideas or events as presented in the reading selection. When important ideas are not explicitly stated in the material, good summary writers create their own topic sentences to reflect textually implicit main ideas. Vacca and Vacca, 1996, p. 345 |
Summary statements sum up, or consolidate, what is learned from the resource material. When students summarize what they have learned, they become active learners, constructing their own meaning. “Summarizing reinforces and consolidates the many processes involved in learning from text, such as determining important information, perceiving text structure, and drawing inferences” (Alvermann and Phelps, 1998, p. 221).
The key skills in summarizing include:
Students develop a variety of thinking skills as they improve their abilities to summarize effectively oral and written expository text. It is important to show students examples of effective summaries and to model the process of summarizing for them. As well, it is necessary for students to practise summarizing until they are able to do it independently as one of their internalized meaning-making strategies. On page 411 of this curriculum guide is a sample template for assessing students’ summarizing abilities.
A survey is a fact-finding study. Basically, a group of people is chosen (a sample) and then a number of questions are asked of each person. Information is collected, and then the results are put together and conclusions are formed. A variety of ways are available for presenting the information gained from surveys. This strategy is similar to the interview. The major difference is that the survey strategy collects written information and the interview collects information through oral questioning.
Using the survey strategy involves planning the survey, collecting data, analyzing the findings and presenting results.
Planning
Planning a survey involves defining the topic to be studied and deciding on the kind of study to be conducted. Some studies canvass or poll a group of people at just one point in time. Longitudinal studies involve finding out about people over time, and comparative studies look at people in different areas or compare different groups. For example:
Once the type of survey is selected, questions must be designed and a sample must be chosen.
Questions
Sampling
Sampling is the term that refers to the process of choosing individuals to survey. Usually a representative sample is chosen. This means a part of a larger group is surveyed rather than every member of the group. A representative sample is easier to study than the whole group. There are basically two kinds of representative samples: a random sample and a stratified sample.
Choosing individuals at random produces a random sample. When a random sample is selected, that means that each member of the survey population has an equal chance of being chosen. A random sample has to be quite large to make sure that it represents different groups within the population.
A stratified sample involves choosing individuals so certain distributions of age, gender, ethnic background and economic background are represented. Smaller samples can be chosen when stratified sampling is used.
Collecting the Data
Analyzing the Findings
Presenting the Results
Graphs provide a visual and concise way of organizing materials and they also give information at a glance.
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The presentation of survey results can be written or oral and should include:
Guidelines for Presenting and Using Visual Aids
Using Survey Results
Students benefit from using and examining survey results in their research processes. Some things to remember when reviewing survey data include the following:
By conducting surveys, students:
Talking circles provide safe environments in which students are able to share their points of view with others without fear of criticism or judgement. Talking Circles are useful when the discussion topic has no right or wrong answer, when students are sharing feelings, and when students are considering moral or ethical issues. As well, it is an effective strategy for reaching group consensus and for problem solving.
The class sits in a circle and each student has the opportunity to speak. If the circle is large, it can be effective to seat ten or twelve students in an inner circle and the rest in an outer circle arranged around the inner circle. Only those in the inner circle are allowed to speak and students take turns sitting in the inner circle. The circle continues until the participants have nothing further to say on the topic.
Students may pass around a neutral object such as a stone. The person holding the object is the only one permitted to speak. The object is passed to another student who then becomes the speaker. This continues until everyone has had an opportunity to share.
Some guidelines for Talking Circles include the following:
Comprehending Expository Text
| Once students understand expository text structures, they have access to a variety of strategies for retrieving information from content-area resource material. |
During the research process, students encounter a variety of resources, including print text that they must comprehend and interpret to gather information for discussion or reporting. Often students require instruction in order to comprehend the information in expository text.
Middle Level students are familiar with the structure of fictional writing because that is the genre they most often read, and the way in which they have received the most instruction. However, these same students often struggle with understanding the expository writing of their content area reading materials and texts. Teaching students to recognize the various writing patterns inherent in their expository reading material helps them to comprehend what they read and, ultimately, it helps them to develop and apply new concepts in other situations.
The following four text structures or patterns appear in most expository material encountered by Middle Level students: sequence or time-order, problem-solution, cause-effect and compare-contrast. Provide students with the following information as needed for them to make sense of various reading materials.
Sequence or Time-Order Text Pattern
Sequence text patterns are used to list events in a series or information in chronological order. They are often used to present steps in a linear process, the chain of events caused by some action or the stages of some procedure or event. Historical events that follow a time sequence are often described using this text pattern.
Signal words used in sequence or time-order text include:
The following excerpt exemplifies the sequence text pattern:
Riel was put on trial in Regina for treason. He was found guilty by a jury of six English-speaking Canadian men. The jury asked the judge for mercy, but the judge chose the maximum penalty of hanging.
The decision to hang Riel caused a great reaction. Petitions were sent to Prime Minister Macdonald asking that Riel be pardoned. Queen Victoria ordered the governor general to ask that Riel not be hanged. The newspapers were full of articles on the subject. The debate was carried on in the House of Commons and in the Cabinet in Ottawa.
Prime Minister Sir John A. Macdonald took two months to make up his mind. He had the power to step in and stop the hanging, but he refused to do so. He knew that by not stopping it he would make French Canadians very angry and his Conservative Party would lose many votes in Quebec, but he and his Cabinet decided that the hanging should go ahead. Riel was hanged on November, 16, 1885.
(Excerpt from Canada Revisited, Clark McKay, 1992, p. 252)
Students could examine the above example, as well as examples in their current reading materials, and make notes about the passage using a graphic organizer such as the text summary frame that follows. They could then summarize the sequence-of-events passage in their own words.
Summarize a sequence/time-order text passage by listing the events, steps or stages in the order that they are organized or that they occurred.
The following guidelines can be used to assist students in their first experiences in summarizing a sequence text passage.
Sample Sequence/Time-Order Summary Frame Initiating Event Event 2 Event 3 Event 4, etc. Concluding Event |
An example of a pattern for writing a summary of a sequence/time-order text passage follows:
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This is how _______________________ happened. First, _________________________, then _______ And ______________________________________ Next, ____________________________________. Then, ____________________________________ Finally,___________________________________ |
Problem-Solution Text Pattern
With the use of a simple, generalizable frame and a pattern for writing summaries, students learned fairly quickly how to attend to and remember the main ideas from problem-solution passages in their classroom textbooks and how to write summaries about what they read. Armbruster, et al., 1989 |
Text with a problem-solution structure states the problem encountered by a group or individual, the action taken by the group or individual to solve the problem, and the results of that action.
Signal words for the problem-solution text pattern include:
The following excerpt exemplifies the problem-solution text pattern:
Canada became a nation in 1867. At that time the Canadian government feared that the United States might take over the Canadian West. How could the Canadian government prevent the Americans from claiming the West? If Canada was going to become a strong nation, the government had to get people to settle the West.
A railway would have to be built so that people and their belongings could get to the West. Immigrants would have to be attracted to settle the new land. From 1870 to 1896, the West’s population still did not grow very quickly. In 1885 the district of Alberta had a population of only 15, 500. Canada was still a strong part of the British Empire. The Canadian government wanted British people to come to Canada. However, not enough British people wanted to come to Canada.
The government had to look elsewhere for immigrants. It began to look in other parts of Europe like central and Eastern Europe. The government helped some of these people come to Canada by paying for transportation and granting large tracts of land. The government gave loans and promised certain religious groups they would never have to fight or go to war. The Hutterites and Mennonites are two groups that came because of this promise.
(Excerpt from The Search for a New Homeland: Polish and German Speaking Canadians, Palmer and Frideres, 1990, p. 5.
Students could examine the above example, as well as examples in their current reading material, and make notes about the passage using a graphic organizer such as the text summary frame that follows. They could then summarize the problem-solution passage in their own words.
Summarize a problem-solution text passage in three sentences, as follows:
Problem (a situation that people would like to change)
Action (what people do to try to solve the problem)
Results (what happens as a result of the action taken to try to solve the problem)
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An example of a pattern for writing a summary of a problem-solution passage follows:
| ________________________________________ Therefore ________________________________ As a result _______________________________ ________________________________________ |
Cause-Effect Text Pattern
In a cause-effect text pattern, one or more events or reasons are described that lead to a result, effect or consequence. This pattern describes the cause and effect relationship between one occurrence or action and another.
Signal words for the cause-effect text pattern include:
The following excerpt exemplifies the cause-effect text pattern:
In 1935, the unemployed began a protest in the camps of British Columbia. The single men were fed up and frustrated with the boring life in the camps. The government, they thought, had forgotten about them. They wanted real jobs that paid real wages, not just soap and three meals a day. A strike was organized. About 1800 men left the camps to demonstrate in Vancouver.
(Excerpt from My Country, Our History, Hux, A.D., Brandao, J.A. & Wong, M., 1995, p. 110)
A cause-effect text passage can be summarized by describing the relationship between the cause and effect. The summary should state what happened, what caused it to happen, the important factors that caused the effect, how the factors are interrelated and the result.
The following organizer can be used to assist students in their first experiences in summarizing a cause-effect text passage.
Sample Cause-Effect Summary Frame
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What happened?
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An example of a pattern for writing a summary of a cause-effect text passage follows:
__________________________________happened because __________________________________ and ______________________________________. The ways that these factors are related are _______________________________________________________________________. This resulted in _______________________________________. |
Compare-Contrast Text Pattern
The compare-contrast text pattern consists of a description of similarities and differences or a statement of pros and cons of two or more things such as events, places, cultures, concepts or viewpoints.
Signal words for the compare-contrast text pattern include:
Students could examine a teacher-selected example of a compare-contrast text pattern, then write a summary of the passage in their own words. The following organizer can be used to assist students in their first attempts at summarizing compare-contrast text.
An example of a pattern for writing a summary of a compare-contrast text passage follows:
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___________________ and _________________ are very similar with respect to _______________ ________________________________________ and _____________________________________ On the other hand, they are different because _______________________________________. |
Teaching students to recognize and use text format features helps them to comprehend their expository reading material. Some text format cues that should be explained to students include:
Because expository material differs in its use of text features and cues, it is helpful to review this information with students from time to time, or when a new resource is to be used.
A Venn diagram is an effective way to compare and contrast concepts. Using a Venn diagram increases students’ understanding of concepts under discussion as they classify the features, attributes or properties of each concept or topic. The following instructions suggest two quick ways of teaching the strategy before applying it to more abstract and complex concepts or topics.
Whole Class Instruction
Small Group Instruction
Viewing-to-learn and representing-to-learn are both possible through the selective and strategic use of visuals such as illustrations, pictures and photographs in the Social Studies classroom. Visuals add a dimension to learning experiences; visuals graphically depict what words cannot.
Students benefit by viewing visuals to gather information and ideas, and by producing visuals to represent their understanding and express their ideas in relationship to the concept being studied. When teachers encourage students to use visuals to complement their writing and speaking, they address a variety of learning styles and provide students with alternative ways to develop and express their understanding.
Students can enhance their learning experiences by viewing and creating some of the following visuals:
Some strategies for deriving the most meaning from visuals when viewing-to-learn include:
Blocking
Instruct students to divide a visual into three or four equal parts before beginning their analysis. Then, have them use a piece of paper to block out all parts except the one that they are analyzing. Instruct students to inspect the first part carefully, writing detailed descriptions of what they see and how they feel. Repeat this for all parts of the visual. Then, have students look at the whole visual and describe it in writing, as well as the feelings it evokes. Ask students to compare their descriptions of the part to their descriptions of the whole. Discuss what they learned from the visual about the concept or topic, what they learned about the process, and their abilities to “see” various elements in the part as opposed to the whole. Discuss what this means for what they view in the media (e.g., it is as important to wonder what a journalist, photographer or artist omits as it is to see what they include in the visual). This activity may be done independently, in pairs or in small groups, depending upon students’ experiences and the objectives.
Examining Depth Elements
Some visuals have three depth elements—foreground, middle ground and background. Have students record a written description of what they observe at each of the depths. Then, instruct them to explain the relationships and connections between what they found at each depth. Have them state, orally or in written form, what they learned from the visual (e.g., about the era, the people, the way of life). Finally, have them state the message that they believe the creator of the visual intended (remind them to note the time and location of the visual), and what message they received from the visual and what led them to this interpretation.
Scanning
Instruct students to do a left to right scanning of the visual, describing what they see and feel. Conclude by having them identify relationships, make connections and interpret what they see.
Finding the Focal Point
Students can explore a visual by identifying the focal point, or centre of interest, and then interpreting the visual using a procedure of analysis similar to the ones used in scanning and depth elements, explained above.
Creating Bulletin Board Displays and Murals
Instruct students to use magazine pictures and photographs to create visual displays that demonstrate their learning about a variety of concepts. Or, have them use a variety of media (e.g., paint, crayons) to illustrate a concept (e.g., culture, location).
Using Visuals in Oral and Written Reports
Oral presentations and written reports are enhanced by well-chosen visuals (e.g., overhead transparencies to illustrate ideas and information during an oral presentation). In a written report, a well-placed visual aids the reader’s understanding and demonstrates the writer’s knowledge.
This activity is a fast, effective way to get a large group of students to share ideas. It is useful as a discussion starter when a new concept or topic is introduced, and as a means of maximizing the opportunity for divergent views to be expressed. You will need six pieces of chart paper and six felt pens in different colours.
