As students enter the classroom, display a slideshow of student work from the Petchenik Children's World Map Competition. Stand at the door and individually greet students. Introduce yourself to students, get to know their names, and encourage them to get to know one another. Take pictures of each student and have each record his/her personal information (including a picture) into an address book.

Have each student write (and decorate, if desired) a name card and place it at his/her seat.

Assign four students to read from the Report of the Committee of Social Studies (1916) and provide each with a highlighted copy of their reading.

Who Am I Activity (15 minutes)

Place an index card on each student's back with tape. Each card will list one word related to the social studies discipline or topic. Word examples include: Western Hemisphere, Eastern Hemisphere, American History, World Geography, World History, Ancient Cultures, U.S. Government, Civics, Sociology, Psychology, Anthropology, Economics, World Cultures. Have students move around the classroom asking “yes” or “no” questions of their colleagues to determine their word. Once students have identified their words, they may remove their index cards from their backs and write their word on the board. Students continue helping others to identify the undetermined words until all words have been identified and written on the board.

Once all students have finished, begin a class discussion.

• What do all these words have to do with social studies methods?
• They are core disciplines historically making up the social studies.
• What are the benefits of using this activity type?
• It helps transition students from outside issues into the class topic.
• It helps students begin to think about the day’s topic.
• It is a good educational sponge activity/advance organizer to make precious use of the first few minutes of class.
• Why did I choose this activity for today?
• The activity models my philosophy of education.
• Having students physically engaged in an activity sets a tone for learning in a fun environment.
• “Play” is a more relaxed way to get to know one another.
• By asking students to access prior knowledge, it helps me assess prior knowledge.
• How would you modify this activity to work with elementary social studies students?
• Change the words to match the daily objectives.
• In lower grades, use pictures instead of words.

Opening (5 minutes)

• Personal introduction
• Daily objectives
• Daily outline

Lecture (15 minutes)

• Pass out and review course syllabus and outline.
• Pass out and review Reading Synopsis/Syntheses Grading Rubric (to all students) and Professional Meetings Grading Rubric (to graduate students only).
• Explain how students may access the readings.

Lecture: What are the social studies? (25 minutes) — see lecture slides; hear audio

Small Group Discussion (10 minutes)

• Break students into groups of four and have them discuss the following question:
• Does your understanding of the social studies discipline differ now as compared to before you came into this classroom? If so, how?
• Have all students return to the main group and ask each group to report on their main points of discussion.

Closing (5 minutes)

• Review daily objectives and outline
• Assign readings, reading synopses/syntheses (all), and professional meetings (graduate students only)
• The first reading review is due before the next session
• Remind students to acquire all required textbooks from the bookstore.
• Tell students they may visit Student Computing Resources, CEB 211, CEB 309a, or the instructor (during office hours or by phone, email, videoconference, or appointment) for technical assistance.