Social studies instruction takes
place by quarter in the 3rd grade classroom at LeRoy. It alternates
each quarter with science, and the last quarter is both subjects (called the
content). Social studies (alternated with science) is integrated with the
writing workshop from 10:00 to 11:00. Some of it may also take place towards
the end of the day. They don’t use any textbooks, but focus on other resources
for their units. They did an explorers unit, focusing on the early explorers in
the 1400s. This included the Vikings, Vasco de Gama, Christopher Columbus,
Marco Polo, John Cabot, and Amerigo Vespucci. In the lesson I got to see at the
beginning of the unit, my CT activated the students’ prior knowledge of what
they learned about reasons to explore. She held a short discussion with the
students and wrote down on the white board what the students remembered
(helping them with cues). This included updating maps, claim land, trade,
Northwest Passage, religion, food, etc. She then played a video on the Vikings,
Eirik the Red, and Leif Erikson. At the end of the video was a short quiz going
over the main parts to learn from the video. She had the students try to answer
each question, and they talked as a class which was the correct one. Most of
them were able to answer the questions correctly. Then I was planning to do a
lesson on Vasco da Gama, but this unfortunately fell through, as I wasn’t able
to do it because I was very sick. L
The 3rd grade teachers at LeRoy collaborate very well with each
other for their lessons and units. They plan together and teach the same
topics. I was able to take part in this planning with the other girls (Danielle
and Becky) in the other 3rd grade classrooms. We had a world map cut
out that would be used to show the routes that the explorers traveled and
different colored string for each explorer to use for the routes. But now I am
planning to teach a social studies lesson on an inventor (goes along with
science unit now on simple machines). Anyways, at the end of this explorers
unit, my CT had the students take a quiz. It was a matching quiz of the 6
different explorers and the students had to match the explorer to the
description. My CT said she reviewed with the students and repeatedly noted key
words for each explorer for the students to remember. She also let them study with
a partner or in a group with the worksheets they already had filled out before
they took the quiz. When the students completed the quiz, my CT and I saw that
some of the students were getting the answers correct, while others weren’t. My
CT had thought most of them would have done better, as she went over the
material plenty of times, but it takes into consideration who was paying
attention and listening more.
I think that it is great that they
include social studies and science in their curriculum, and it can be
integrated into the writing workshop. I wonder how well and effective it actually
works by having social studies and science alternated by quarters. Also, there
are only specific units and topics covered, which I think it is more beneficial
to have an expanded learning of topics in social studies. We learned in TCH
277, how to map out a year of social studies curriculum with the Illinois
Social Studies Standards +Plus, and this is something I would like to use in my
future teaching. But through what I have observed at this site, I think these
standards/topics could be integrated within the units and throughout the year.
I also like how well the teachers collaborate with each other, and this goes
along with what we have learned about grade-level teams. I think this is a very
important aspect, and I’m glad I get to partake in planning lessons with the
other teachers and my classmates. My CT also shows good instruction in
activating prior knowledge and helping the students learn and remember the
content. The only thing I would say is making the lessons/activities more
engaging or hands-on. This may have helped the students more on their quiz, as
some seemed to have trouble on the quiz. I wasn’t there to see how my CT
prepared them for the quiz, but it seemed like from what she said that she
tried her best. I think that maybe another way to have assessed the students
would be to have them write about one thing they learned about each explorer,
or matching pictures of the explorers and their names with pictures of the
significance of what they did/where they traveled with a description underneath.
This helps me to see how critical it is in having the students engaged and
listening in my lessons, and determining how the students should be assessed. Also, as opposed to my past clinical in a 3rd
grade class at Fairview where they used the textbook more often and worksheets,
this site does not use textbooks. As we have learned, learning straight out of
the textbook is not the best appropriate practice. A textbook may be useful,
but should not be solely relied on. I think it’s good that LeRoy does not rely
on textbooks. But I believe it is also important to consider what is taught and
how it is taught. I will definitely be taking this into consideration, and
making my lessons as engaging as possible.
Laura,
ReplyDeleteThanks for including such detail in your post here. I especially liked hearing about the explorers unit and the team planning that went into it. How awesome that you gals at your site are seeing and participating in such collaborative planning and teaching. This can make all of the difference!
What do you think about the quarter structure for SS and science? How does this affect kids? If you had your choice, would you structure these subjects like this? What benefits does it offer? What downsides?
:)Kira