Social Studies Buddies

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Technology and Economics

Welcome back everyone! Today let's delve into the concept of Economics... What is Economics? Economics is "the study of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services in a society." If we said this to a student in elementary school, they would probably stare back at us with a blank face. So how to we teach the concept of economics to young students? We can start off by teaching students about wants and needs. Wants are thigs that we desire, but can live without. Needs are things that are essential to survive. By teaching them about wants and needs, we can then delve into how to be financially responsible. To add some creativity into the lesson, a fun way to teach economics could be to give the students fake money and cut out images of food, clothing, games, and toys. Each cut out will have a price, and the students will need to think about what wants and needs they can afford with their mo ney! After watching the video that uses Skype in the classroom, I ...

What is Civics???

Chapter 11 in the textbook discusses civics and how to teach civics in elementary school. To start off, let's ask ourselves, "what really is civics?" Civics is the study of rights and duties in citizenship, or things and activities that we as people must fulfill in society. To effectively teach civics in elementary school, we can first teach children about how our government works and the roles that we play as American citizens so that everybody has a part in society. As American citizens, we all have natural rights, or rights that come naturally to us as people. These rights are given to us by our government and in return for these rights, each person in society has to fulfill their duty. In a classroom setting, a teacher can give out jobs to each student in the class such as line leader, door holder, messenger, etc. to mimic how each person in society has a specific responsibility and role to play that aids us in functioning properly as a whole. These books are great st...

Let's Talk History

Chapter 12 discusses history and how to teach it in elementary school. To start off, let's ask ourselves, "what is history and why is it important?" History is all the events that have happened in past societies and it is so important to discuss because learning about the events that have happened in the past prevent us from making the same mistakes as we once did! History has shaped our society into what it is today and it helps us to understand all people in society. Teaching history at a young age is crucial for the development of children because some day, they will be the future of our society and making the decisions that shape our world. By teaching children the past events in history, they become aware as to what decisions they should and should not make, therefore setting a path to enable them to make the best possible decisions for people all around the world.

What's so important about Geography?

In Chapter 13, the author discusses geography and how to teach geography in elementary school. You may ask, "why is Geography important?" Geography is so important because it helps students answer questions such as: What is it? Where is it? Why is it there? and What is the significance of its location? Geography helps students understand connections between physical and human systems and how they interact on the Earth’s surface. I t also helps students practice critical thinking skills about the distribution and arrangements of people, places, and events around world. Geography captures the imagination of students through a focus on exploration and adventure! What are the 5 themes of Geography? Location Place Human/Environment Interaction Movement Regions These themes provide a useful way to organize the contents of geography for when you begin to teach it in the classroom! It is important for students to learn about geography to have them realize that different people, reli...

Treasure Hunt

Hi everyone and welcome back! Today I completed a word geography treasure hunt! I researched all about countries around the world, their populations, their borders, etc. It was so fun to find out more about the properties of the countries outside of the United States. Below I am attaching pictures of my treasure hunt:

4th Grade Exploration (Inquiry/Collaborative)

Good afternoon all! Today my group and I, the Social Studies Buddies, taught our second and final lesson to the 4th grade student at BDMS. This lesson was the inquiry and collaborative lesson type. We began by reintroducing ourselves and going over the class rules and expectations for the classroom to refresh the student's memories. In this lesson, we reviewed some of the material we taught last time in the direct lesson type by using Pear Deck questions such as a true and false question, an agree or disagree question, and an open ended question. For the individual assignment, the students brainstormed the necessities they needed if they were to take a journey like Lewis and Clark did. Then, the students split up into 5 groups with each student having a specific task, and compared their packing lists to a list that Lewis and Clark had. When they came across items they did not know, we Googled the definitions and found a picture of the item to gain a better understanding of what Lew...

4th Grade Exploration (Direct)

Welcome back everybody! Today the Social Studies Buddies taught our first Lewis and Clark lesson to the fourth grade class at BDMS! We completed a direct lesson plan with the students and taught them about Lewis and Clark's journey to the west. We began by introducing ourselves to the class and providing our expectations and class rules for the students to follow throughout the lesson. Next, we assessed student background knowledge by asking the students what explorers do, and to name any explorers they previously know of. We introduced who Lewis and Clark were, their purpose for their exploration, the Native American tribes they met along the way, and the journals they brought back with them filled with newly discovered plants, animals, and stories that made others dream about heading west. We took the time to evaluate how the students were understanding the information presented to them by using Pear Deck questions imbedded throughout the lesson and a Kahoot quiz to wrap up at th...

B-I-N-G-O

Hi everyone! Spring break is around the corner and that means it's midterm season! As a midterm project in Social Studies Methods, we completed a bingo project where we chose two forms of technology to show what we know from what we've learned so far in the class. I used Google Slides as a base to my presentation and also utilized FlipGrid as an auditory tool to elaborate about the information presented in my slides. I deeply enjoyed this activity because I recognized how far I've come and how much valuable information I learned from the beginning of the semester until now. I can't wait to see what else is in store for the rest of the semester and I am so excited to continue my fieldwork experience with the fourth grade students at BDMS! Here's a sneak peak into my bingo project: Click here to see the rest!

Goals, Characteristics, and Methods of SIM/CL (Ch. 6/7)

When it comes to the Social Interactive Model/Cooperative Learning Methods, it is important that students and teachers all work together in order to gain the most possible success in the classroom. In the classroom, students should: 1. Feel safe and secure in class 2. Experience academic and social success 3. Identify areas of personal talent and interest 4. Feel accepted by other children and adults 5. Contribute to the success of the class and view themselves as important Students do not always bring the necessary skills needed to be a productive member of the classroom, but they need to have the opportunities to acquire the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to be able to work well with one another. Group building activities can aid students in working cooperatively with each other; they build trust, a sense of responsibility, and provide experience in collaborative exercises. Teachers can facilitate groups in the classroom and observe the students' social and communicative skills...

PIGS oink

Social Interactive Model/Cooperative Learning P ositive Interdependence I ndividual Accountability G roup Processing S ocial Skills Hi everyone! This week in social studies methods, we discussed the importance of implementing Social Interactive Model/Cooperative Learning into the classroom. These elements (PIGS) allow for meaningful learning to students and a higher level order of thinking. It is unique because it uses a different goal, task, and reward structure to promote student learning. It emphasizes students working together to acquire a shared goal all while recognizing individual student work. To master the elements of these methods of teaching, we split up into groups to gather information about our topics. For example, I was in the Individual Accountability mastery group. Individual Accountability is a type of cooperative learning method where students learn together but are actively contributing their own work to the group as individuals. This type of learni...

Ice-breaking BDMS!

Hi everyone! I had so much fun in social studies methods today! I got the chance to meet with a BDMS fourth grade classroom and do an enjoyable ice breaker activity with the students to jumpstart our fieldwork program and experience for the "Westward Expansion" unit plan. My fieldwork group and I, the "Social Studies Buddies," created a Google Slideshow introducing ourselves to the students with our Bitmojis and pictures of ourselves so the students could feel more connected to who we are, since we complete this unit plan over zoom rather than in person. For our ice breaker activity, my group and I constructed a "This-or-That" activity where the students chose whether they would rather have this or that! For example, one of the choices on the activity was cheese or pepperoni pizza. The students wrote in the chat which one they would rather have. I enjoyed this activity because it enabled me to learn a little more about the students on a personal level that...

Black Excellence

Hi everyone! As Black History Month came to an end, I wanted to emphasize that it is extremely important to educate your students about events in Black History that are not always presented accurately in the base level curriculum in school. To begin, I wanted to shed light on the fact that President Joe Biden has nominated the first black women, Ketanji Brown Jackson, to be the next Supreme Court Justice. This is an accomplishment that America has yet seen! It is so important to recognize that people of all races, genders, religions, and sexualities need to be represented in America! Find further information about this accomplishment here on CNBC news. Next, I wanted to discuss the importance of Culturally Responsive Teaching. All too often, students of color lack representation in the classroom and this causes a disruption of learning for those children. Students can feel a lack of connection to their education when their culture isn't being actively represented. This is a ...

Lesson Planning

Pleasanton History Lesson Plan Reflection Hi all! After completing my lesson plan I gained some insight about how creating an engaging lesson plan is the most important part of the lesson you are about to teach! Standing in the front of a classroom and lecturing your students will not give them a drive to learn. Lesson plans need to be full of fun and captivating activities that allow students to want to constantly learn more about what you are teaching. My chosen lesson plan included a link to Google Maps so that I could gain a visual understanding of the Pleasanton area. This made be become more connected to what I was learning because I was able to actually see the region and it's beautiful territory! XP opportunity - Link to FlipGrid

Discovering New Lands

This week in Social Studies Methods, I discovered new lands in the Lewis and Clark Expedition . In this Google Slides activity, I listened, watched, read, and interacted with information presented to me to further my knowledge regarding the travels and discoveries of Lewis and Clark. Firstly, I learned that Thomas Jefferson sent Lewis and Clark to find the Northwest Passage and map the world of the west. However, they were unsuccessful in finding the Northwest Passage but contributed a wealth of information about the west. Secondly, I learned that Lewis and Clark brought back journals filled with details about Native American tribes, scientific notes about plants and animals never seen before, and stories that made other Americans dream about heading west. Next, I learned that Lewis, Clark, and T he Corps of Discovery faced dangerous conditions of new territories, physical labor, the mast of their boat breaking, bug issues, injuries, the rope of the boat breaking twice due t...

Digital Generation

In this week's Social Studies Methods class, we discussed all about the digital generation. We started off class by doing a fun activity on Google Slides where we created acrostics of our names on an "About Me" slide. My name is Lia, so for the letter "L," I put loving, for the letter "I," I put imaginative, and for the letter "A," I put adventurous! This was such a fun activity to begin the class! Find picture of my "About Me" slide below. Next, we began to discuss how technology will impact our futures as teachers. Coming from a Gen Z, I definitely believe that I am pretty up to date on the technology that is used today, but in the future we will have so much more different technology that I might not know about that my future students do. My group and I discussed teaching the digital generation; more specifically the 9 elements of digital citizenship and some characteristics of Gen Alpha. Find a link to the slideshow we created a...

The E's of Social StudiEs

EXPLORE This week in Method's of Social Studies, we got assigned to read chapters 1-3 in the textbook. I was very excited to find out some new information that will be helpful to me in my future teaching profession. What is and why teach Social Studies? What can make the concept of teaching social studies come "alive" and interesting for students? Social Studies is the "study of social relationships and the functioning of society" from the past to the present. In other words, Social Studies teaches us the facts of history from the past. It is critical to incorporate teaching Social Studies in school curriculum because students need to be educated about the events that took place long before they were alive. Our history is full of trial and error that made us the type of society we have today. To keep fulfilling societal standards, we must teach the future generations about the past so the same mistakes that happened back then don't reoccur. To make teaching...

Food for Thought

In this cartoon, I see an old-fashioned teacher who wants to connect with her students. Students these days are so in-tune with technology whereas teachers aren't. Instead of this teacher having her students do a writing assignment on paper, she should have them do it digitally so she can learn more about the advantages of using technology in the classroom all while having the students complete an assignment with something they are very familiar with.

First Social Studies Adventure

For my first completed week of learning methods of social studies, I thought I'd share a bit of what I have accomplished so far. This week we learned how to create digital classrooms on google slides. To make a slideshow look like a traditional classroom, I included a desk, a rug, a cup of pencils, a poster, a Bitmoji of myself with a cup of coffee, and a whiteboard. We included a link to our new blogs, a FlipGrid video introducing ourselves to the class with some information about ourselves included, and our Digital Me projects. For my Digital Me project, I used google drawing to share a story about myself. This application is useful for me in the future because I am able to create charts that are convenient for the learning of my future students. The most important thing I learned this week was to not forget to make all of my assignments creative and colorful! Having an assignment that is appealing to look at makes learning more fun and less boring. Adding Bitmojis to your assign...