Social Studies Webquest / Reflection Essay
Running Head: Charting the Course: Social Studies WebQuest / Reflection Essay
Charting the Course: Web Quest/Reflection Essay
Patricia Hameed
Grand Canyon University
Professor Florence Elliott
EED-465
03/17/2013
Charting the Course
Education as preparation to teach social studies emphasis is on inquiry content common core standards, to encourage teachers use frameworks that move away from exclusive use of textbooks. An interview done by myself with Mrs. Johnsons a social studies teacher for grades 6-8 reiterated this fact. Mrs. D. Johnson of Collins Elementary school informed me that she determines her lesson plans for social studies based on a curriculum map set up by the local board of education, which is a pacing chart, that provides teachers with guidelines as to how much time to spend teaching a lesson based on standards, she and I both agreed that this is unrealistic. Mrs. Johnson stated that the best practices for learning experiences in social studies are; using differentiated instruction based on previous data, and implementation of PAR assessment which is done every 15 days. Chapin, 2013 informed us that the core state standards initiative aimed at fewer, transparent and elevated standards with 15% of the content maintained by each state, including English language arts, and reading reports along with standards for literacy in history and social studies for grades 6-12 because children need to engage in activities that show proficiency of language usage in content areas. Mrs. Johnson stated that she sometimes uses story ladders, and historical fiction which helps students to meet standards, and helps with the grouping system and instructional strategies and allows for peer tutoring. She explained that sometimes peer to peer tutoring is needed and encouraged because sometimes students can explain the subject better than the teacher. Lesson plan skills according to Mrs. Johnson are incorporated by following the script: pick out
Charting the Course: Web Quest/Reflection Essay
Patricia Hameed
Grand Canyon University
Professor Florence Elliott
EED-465
03/17/2013
Charting the Course
Education as preparation to teach social studies emphasis is on inquiry content common core standards, to encourage teachers use frameworks that move away from exclusive use of textbooks. An interview done by myself with Mrs. Johnsons a social studies teacher for grades 6-8 reiterated this fact. Mrs. D. Johnson of Collins Elementary school informed me that she determines her lesson plans for social studies based on a curriculum map set up by the local board of education, which is a pacing chart, that provides teachers with guidelines as to how much time to spend teaching a lesson based on standards, she and I both agreed that this is unrealistic. Mrs. Johnson stated that the best practices for learning experiences in social studies are; using differentiated instruction based on previous data, and implementation of PAR assessment which is done every 15 days. Chapin, 2013 informed us that the core state standards initiative aimed at fewer, transparent and elevated standards with 15% of the content maintained by each state, including English language arts, and reading reports along with standards for literacy in history and social studies for grades 6-12 because children need to engage in activities that show proficiency of language usage in content areas. Mrs. Johnson stated that she sometimes uses story ladders, and historical fiction which helps students to meet standards, and helps with the grouping system and instructional strategies and allows for peer tutoring. She explained that sometimes peer to peer tutoring is needed and encouraged because sometimes students can explain the subject better than the teacher. Lesson plan skills according to Mrs. Johnson are incorporated by following the script: pick out