Course Prefix/Number: SSE 4113
Course Title: Social Studies for Elementary Teachers
Course Credit Hours: 3 sh
Instructor Name and Contact Information: Julia M. Stone, Adjunct Instructor, Division of
Teacher Education; Building 85/Room 113; Phone: (850) 497-3224; Email: jstone@uwf.edu
Co-teaching with Rusty Gremillion, Email: rgremillion@uwf.edu
Prerequisites or Co-Requisites: EDE 4200
Course Description: Instructional methods and materials for teaching a contemporary
program in social studies in the elementary school. Includes citizenship education and multicultural understandings; current trends and models teaching social studies.
An on-line seminar, instructional methods and materials for teaching a contemporary program in
social studies for the elementary school. Includes citizenship education and multicultural
understandings; current trends and models of teaching social studies.
Purpose of Course: The Professional Education Unit has a conceptual framework that
emphasizes the training of the empowered person and professional taking action. This course
involves learning activities that permit the pre-professional teacher to examine what he/she
does to take an active role in the instructional process. This course, by virtue of its subject
matter and through its activities, assignments and expectations, will assist the pre-professional
teacher with his/her development as a (1) critical thinker, (2) lifelong learner, (3)
counselor/mentor, (4) decision maker, (5) problem solver, and (6) ethical/moral professional,
thereby enabling him/her to fully develop the characteristics of an empowered person and
professional taking action.
Goals: The State of Florida has responded to national and state initiatives in education reform
and accountability by creating legislative policies relative to the preparation of teachers.
Florida's Accomplished Practices, Sunshine State Standards, and Curriculum Frameworks
outline the knowledge, skills, dispositions, and knowledge-base that teachers and students
require to be successful in Florida's educational system.
- To prepare students to meet the following accomplished practices mandated by the
State of Florida: #1 ,2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, and 13.
(www.firn.edu.bin00026/acco-prc.htm)
- To prepare students to use appropriate Sunshine State Standards in teaching
students http://www.firn.edu/doe/curric/prek12/frame2.htm
- To prepare students to meet the following ESOL competencies mandated by the
State of Florida: #2, 6, 7, 12, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20.
- To implement the following principles for best practice in undergraduate education:
(a) Encourage Student-Faculty Contact, (b) Encourage Cooperation between Students,
(c) Encourage Active Learning, (d) Give Prompt Feedback, (e) Emphasize Time on Task,
(f) Communicate High Expectations, (g) Respect Diverse Talents and Ways of Learning
Student Learning Outcomes: Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1.
Understand techniques, skills and strategies based on the Constructivist approach,
which make the social studies, come alive for students in the elementary school
classroom.
2.
Become familiar with and create lesson plans integrating the following social studies
standards presently being used in the nation and Florida’s school systems: Sunshine
State Standards, ESOL, NCSS Standards and the Connections, Challenges, and
Choices curriculum.
3.
Promote the idea of the teacher as a facilitator in the classroom, putting children in
charge of their learning.
4.
Understand how to create performance-based work for the students that require them to
do what social scientists do. This results in meaningful and motivating work for
elementary students.
5.
Gain conceptual understanding that the idea “less is more” which means that the teacher
is responsible for separating the relevant content from the inconsequential and trivial.
6.
Become familiar with the principals of authentic or performance-based assessment.
7.
Gain experience in the creative process of planning and implementing instruction.
8.
Appreciate the diversity in our culture and to make a personal commitment to foster this
acceptance in children through the modeling and the planned learning experiences.
9.
Become familiar with the wide variety of resources available to an elementary school
social studies teacher, including technological sources such as the Internet.
.
Required Text: Social Studies for the Elementary and Middle School Classrooms.
Materials Required: We will complete a few projects. We will be creative as we are limited to
on-line experiences. With careful and innovative planning, you can do these projects
inexpensively. These projects will be things you can use again and again in future in-field
experiences.
Relevant Websites and Tutorials:
STEPS: (www.uwf.edu~coe) http://143.99.86.98/pacee/steps
Best Practices: http://www.coe.wayne.edu/TSC/best.html
Journals: http://www.accesseric.org/
Chronicle of Higher Education: http://chronicle.merit.edu/
Ask Eric: http://ericir.syr.edu/
NEA: http://www.nea.org
US Department of Education: http://www.ed.gov/
UWF Library: http://library.uwf.edu/
Beginning Teachers’ website: http://college.hmco.com
Grading / Evaluation:
Assignments
Participation in class
Online Assignments
Final Points Earned
Value
25 pts
75pts
out of 100 pts
Earned Points
__________
__________
__________
Course Requirements:
1.
2.
3.
4.
All written assignments and projects are due on time. A deduction of 10% will be
taken for each class date the assignment is late. College level writing is expected
and deductions will be made from work for things like typos, misspellings, grammatical
errors, lack of organization, etc. The use of Standard English or “school English” is also
expected during any oral presentation. Points will be deducted for grammatical errors.
The instructor will use various assessment methods to judge your on-line class
participation and contributions to group work.
The majority of this course work will be authentic assessment of you as a social studies
teacher. This means that you will do a lot of planning, creating, making, sharing, and
teaching.
The classroom will be a friendly learning environment which means you will participate in
various activities, receive coaching from your peers and instructor, work in cooperative
groups, use instructor feedback from previous performances, and engage in reflective
teaching.
Grading Scale
A
AB+
B
B-
95-100
90-94
87-89
84-86
80-83
C
CD+
D
F
C+
77-79
74-76
70-73
67-69
64-66
0-63
Special Technology Utilized by Students:
Each UWF Student is expected to:
• activate a UWF ArgoNet email account
• access email two to three times weekly
• have basic word processing knowledge
A Syllabus icon next to a course represents a link to a syllabus.
Icon indicates that the course utilizes the University's course management system.
Special software required. Software is either: included with textbook, downloaded from
Internet, available for checkout from the library or purchased.
Expectations for Academic Conduct/Plagiarism Policy: As members of the University of
West Florida, we commit ourselves to honesty. As we strive for excellence in performance,
integrity—personal and institutional—is our most precious asset. Honesty in our academic work
is vital, and we will not knowingly act in ways which erode that integrity. Accordingly, we pledge
not to cheat, nor to tolerate cheating, nor to plagiarize the work of others. We pledge to share
community resources in ways that are responsible and that comply with established policies of
fairness. Cooperation and competition are means to high achievement and are encouraged.
Indeed, cooperation is expected unless our directive is to individual performance. We will
compete constructively and professionally for the purpose of stimulating high performance
standards. Finally, we accept adherence to this set of expectations for academic conduct as a
condition of membership in the UWF academic community.
The Student Code of Conduct sets forth the rules, regulations and expected behavior of
students enrolled at the University of West Florida. Violations of any rules, regulations, or
behavioral expectations may result in a charge of violating the Student Code of Conduct. It is
the student’s responsibility to read the Student Code of Conduct and conduct himself/herself
accordingly. You may access the current Student Code of Conduct at
http://www.uwf.edu/judicialaffairs.
Assistance: Students with special needs who require specific examination-related or other
course-related accommodations should contact Barbara Fitzpatrick, Director of Disabled
Student Services (DSS), dss@uwf.edu, (850) 474-2387. DSS will provide the student with a
letter for the instructor that will specify any recommended accommodations.