Teaching Elementary School Social Studies
Taught by Christy Keeler, Ph.D.

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Lesson Plan:
Technology Resources for the Social Studies Classroom

Objectives:

Students will
  • Utilize technological resources to identify teaching materials for use in social studies classrooms.
  • Locate webquests, virtual field trips, and other web-based resources useful in teaching elementary school social studies.
  • Evaluate electronic resources for their usefulness in elementary-level social studies classrooms.
Materials:
Procedures:

Provide each student with a computer.

Sponge Activity: Preparing Technology (5 minutes)

Direct students to sit in groups of five and have them elect a team leader who is technically savvy. Next, have all students turn on their computers, go online using Firefox, and open today’s online lesson plan.

Opening (5 minutes)

Announce daily objectives and outline.

WebQuest: Keeler ES Goes One-to-One… Assistance Needed (50 minutes)

Have students open WebQuest: Keeler ES Goes One-to-One… Assistance Needed. Explain to students that the principal at Keeler Elementary School heard about the incredible strengths of the students currently enrolled in ICE 458/CIE 658 at UNLV and requested their assistance.

Have students use a popcorn reading strategy to read through the principal letter and "Task" pages of the webquest. Through this reading, students will learn that Keeler ES is moving to a one-to-one laptop initiative next year. In preparation for the change, she hopes to gather lists of excellent resources for each subject area. The faculty can then review these lists over the summer as they do long-range and unit planning. Unfortunately, there is little time for this task given that the school is currently completing the second year of a grant project relating to math and science. Furthermore, few of the teachers at Keeler ES are social studies specialists.

Tell  students that we “will rise to the task” of helping the principal by giving up our valuable instructional time today to assist the school. Explain and provide examples of primary technology resource-types we should to include: webquests, virtual field trips, and general resources (e.g., digital books, games, webcam sites) using the "Examples" page as a prompt.

Each group will record their findings on UNLV's Social Studies Delicious website using given tags. Explain social bookmarking, tag identifiers, and the process of posting and tagging new sites.

Have team leaders assign group members resource types and begin directing their searching and recording processes. Allow 45 minutes for students to work. Circulate, ensuring sites match the lesson expectations and students are correctly using the technology to find and record sites. Assist as needed.  As students complete their postings, have them review each others' entries to ensure accuracy.

Class Discussion: Online Social Studies Resources (10 minutes)

Call all students together and ask:
  • What sites did you find that you really liked and how could you use them in your classrooms?
  • Could you use the sites you identified if you did not have one-to-one computer access for your students?
  • How can you use social bookmarking in your social studies classroom?
Closing (5 minutes)
  • Review daily objectives and outline.

Absence Requirements
  1. Review this lesson plan and the associated lecture slides. Then, procure a copy of the lecture notes from a classmate.
  2. Compete the webquest on your own (email your instructor for the password). Print out and turn in the Delicious page showing your entries.
  3. Answer the following questions in bulleted format:
    • What sites did you find that you really liked and how could you use them in your classrooms?
    • Could you use the sites you identified if you did not have one-to-one computer access for your students?
    • How can you use social bookmarking in your classroom?

E-Mail: Christy Keeler
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