Social Studies Buddies

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...

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...

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!

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...

 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...

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...

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 ...