I have not seen much Social Studies in my 3rd
grade class at Fairview. Social Studies
and Science are rotated in the weekly schedule. It takes place at the end of
the day after P.E. I have seen Social Studies twice so far. The content was mostly
on communities incorporating culture, citizens, and government. My CT tells the
students to get out their Social Studies books and bring it with them to the
book nook. All the students sit on the floor and have their books open, while
My CT reads to them out of the book and asks questions as going along. Students
engage in discussion and asking and answering questions. My CT also pulled out
the globe to discuss what community they live in. One student discussed and
pointed out on the globe that she came from Togo, a country in West Africa and
how the community/climate/culture is different there. Then they have a
worksheet to do after at their desks. Another time I saw them working on
content of geography and maps. Each
student had a page to read and right down facts they found, then they discussed
as a class. Then my CT introduced a
Social Studies project called, “Where I live.” Students have 6 different places
to cut out and color of where they live. Then they write a sentence of the location
they live in: planet Earth, the continent of North America, the country of
United States of America, the state of Illinois, McLean County, and the town of
Normal. My CT put the directions on the board and examples of maps to show the
different colors used to separate the countries and states.
I think that more Social Studies can be integrated into the
curriculum. I also think that it should not always just be taught straight out
of the textbook and using worksheets. I do think that it does help to spark
discussions. The students are more engaged when discussing topics than just
reading out of the book. But I think more learning can be done with hands-on
activities, than discussions and worksheets. I do like that my CT brings out
the globe for the students to interact with. I also like the “Where I live”
project so that students can break down all the locations that they live in
from largest to smallest.
This connects to what I’ve learned about social learning,
and how helpful it is for students to engage in discussion. It also connects to
what I’ve learned about the Social Studies content and how it relates to “part
of my country and world.” This helps me to know that students understand parts
of their world and where they live. I do think it is important though to do
more hands-on activities, than worksheets. Some students at lower levels can
have a hard time finding answers to the worksheets out of the textbook. I think
working in small groups and working on social studies content in a more
interactive way would be more helpful.
