Curriculum and Inquiry Lesson - Social Studies Methods

Social Studies Objectives

Objectives:

Include inquiry techniques when planning social studies lessons.
Differentiate between standards, goals, and objectives.
Define behavioral objectives using Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor levels.
Write behavioral objectives for social studies curricula.

Materials:

Computer with lecture slides
Two computers for student use (both with high-speed Internet access)
Digital Camera
Texts of Bloom's taxonomic theories
Mad Libs Activity Worksheet (1 per 3 students)
Textbook Review Grading Rubric (1 per student)
Set of textbook adjunct materials
Extra computers with Internet access

One linked to http://mueller.usd259.org/Archived/titanic_web_quest.htm
One with access to unitedstreaming
One with access to Cosmeo

Headphones (2 sets)
Posters of Titanic newspaper stories (include text from these newspaper if the text is illegible)

Magnifying glasses (2)
Collection of trade books on the topic of The Titanic
Facts about the Titanic tragedy (printed on cards)
Tape
Copies of "Actual Voices of Survivors from the Titanic" (6 copies, each with highlighted reader parts)
Blank index cards (7)
Photographic release form

Procedures:

As students enter the room, have students view pictures of the Titanic sailing and at the bottom of the ocean. Play music from the Titanic movie.

Have students who have not signed the photographic release form or added their personal information to the class roster do so before class.

Spotlight Lesson: Inquiring About the Titanic (30 minutes)

Ask students to hypothesize the cause of the Titanic tragedy. Pose additional questions to engage students in deeper inquiry while one student writes responses on the board. Additional questions may include:

How could a ship coined as "unsinkable" sink?
How could a ship with a skilled captain allow the ship to hit an iceberg?
Why did so many people die given that they had lifeboats aboard the ship?

Explain that students will be separated into groups to gather evidence to support or refute their hypotheses.

Group One: Engage in a webquest (http://mueller.usd259.org/Archived/titanic_web_quest.htm) (3 students)
Group Two: Review newspapers using magnifying glasses (2 students per poster)
Group Three: Review trade books on the Titanic tragedy (6 students)
Group Four: Experience reader's theatre by reviewing "Actual Voices of Survivors from the Titanic" (3-6 students)
Group Five: Use unitedstreaming to review Titanic video documentaries (3 students)
Group Six: Use Cosmeo to review Titanic video documentaries and textual commentaries (3 students)

Instruct each group to write additional hypotheses on their cards as they engage in their review of the evidence.

Allow students 10 minutes for researching. At the end of this period, have each group read their hypotheses aloud. As they present their hypotheses, have one student add these to the hypotheses already listed on the board.

Provide random students with facts about the Titanic tragedy. Have students read their assigned cards. After all cards are read, have students complete the following sentence:

"Based on the evidence presented, we believe the Titanic tragedy was due to..."

Explain students have just completed an inquiry exercise, a common instructional method used in social studies education. Present them with the critical attributes of inquiry lessons:

Engage student interest in a problem for study and form hypotheses
Record hypotheses
Gather evidence using multiple media formats (e.g., reading, Internet searches, audio or video reports)
Organize and interpret information to draw conclusions
Publicize conclusions

Transition to the remainder of this lesson by noting that everything teachers do in their classrooms is focused on helping students learn and retain content knowledge. Inquiry lessons are one means of reaching this goal. Some content is best taught using this method, and other content may be better taught using other methods. It is critical that teachers identify events of instruction that match the curricular content they are delivering. This lesson introduces matching activities with content.

Opening (5 minutes)

Review daily objectives
Review daily outline

Lecture: Standards, Curriculum, and Objectives (10 minutes) - see lecture slides; hear audio

Differentiate between standards, curriculum, goals, and objectives.
Define behavioral objectives using Bloom's taxonomy of cognitive, affective, and psychomotor levels and provide examples of each taxonomic level using social studies curriculum and instructional techniques.
Explain that we will practice a process of creating behavioral objectives.

Mad Libs: Writing Behavioral Objectives (25 minutes)

Provide every four students with a behavioral objectives activities worksheet. Have them work in groups to complete the worksheets.

Step One

Have students brainstorm action or behavior words or phrases appropriate for use in elementary classrooms (e.g., organize, construct a model, mime, draw a diagram).

Step Two

Students will choose one of the curricular topics they read about in the NCSS Standards and identify three individual teachable concepts related to the topic. For instance, if they want to teach students about the U.S. Legislature, they will need to teach students about the bodies existing within the U.S. legislative structure, the U.S. legislative election process, and how a bill becomes a law.

Step Three

Students mix and match the terms from the previous two sections to develop three separate objectives using the following structure:

"The students will (write in behavioral process) (article connecting the two statements) (content objective)."

Call all students together and ask them to read their behavioral objectives. Explain that curriculum guides contain behavioral objectives, but those objectives often lack the creativity necessary to motivate children to learn.

Closing (5 minutes)

Review daily objectives and outline.
Assign readings and remind students to complete their reading synopses/syntheses.

Assign Textbook Evaluation using Textbook Review Form.

Show students examples of textbook adjunct materials.

Absence Expectations:

Read this lesson plan.
Write a set of hypotheses of why you feel the Titanic tragedy occurred. Then, review the materials below. As you review the materials, list additional hypotheses. Once you finish reviewing the materials, read "Facts about the Titanic Tragedy," and then write a final concluding statement: "The Titantic tragedy occurred because..."

Read "Actual Voices of Survivors from the Titanic."
Webquest: http://mueller.usd259.org/Archived/titanic_web_quest.htm
Procure an account with unitedstreaming using this form. Then, review one video on the Titanic existing within the unitedstreaming collections.
Review four newspaper articles from the Titanic.

Review the slides and audio from the lecture.
Complete the Mad Libs Activity.
Turn in your hypotheses and concluding sentence for the Titanic activity and your completed Mad Libs Activity sheet.