SED 156A (90174) SED 294A (92599) Instructional Patterns for Social Studies Tues. 3:50-6:15 Bres 026
SED 294B (90224) 156B (93744) Instructional Patterns for Social Studies Tues. 6:30-8:20 Bres 026
Alan Singer Office: 236 Hagedorn Ext. 35853 Office hours: Tu. 2-3; Th 2-3, 8:30-9:30
Email CATAJS@Hofstra.edu Web site: people.hofstra.edu/faculty/alan_j_singer
Bulletin: SED 156/ SED 294. Instructional Patterns for Social Studies. Examination of social studies education
including goals, state and national standards for history and the social sciences, scope and sequence in the New
York State middle school/secondary school social studies curricula, teaching strategies and methods, especially
promotion of reading, writing and literacy in the content area and inclusive practices, classroom environments,
problems and issues, and the assessment of teaching practice and student learning.
Goals and Objectives: This course is designed to prepare social studies teachers who can help their students
explore the questions: Who am I? Where do I come from? Where do I want to go? How do I get there? These are
questions that all of us think about, in different ways, and at different times, during our lives. These are questions
that the social studies help us to think about more clearly. The social studies also help us to explore and evaluate
possible answers. Our goal will be to find ways to help our students formulate these questions, examine them and
start to answer them. In the process, we will also be preparing them to become active participants in a multicultural
democratic society that is undergoing rapid technological change and is increasing integrated into a complex global
network. Special foci of this class will be designing activities, lessons, units and projects that integrate state and
national history and social studies standards into instruction and enhance the literacy of diverse learners through
the study of social studies.
A social studies methods course is a hands-on "how to" class. You will be learning by doing. We will use the
seventh/eight and eleventh grade United States history curricula to give structure to the class, but we will also
examine topics from the 9th and 10th grade global studies curricula and the 12th grade economics and government
courses. As we follow these curricula, we will explore teaching techniques and strategies for connecting with
students from diverse cultural backgrounds and with different performance histories in school. A good rule of
thumb in teaching is, "If you are bored, so are your students." We will try to find ways to make teaching and
learning social studies student-centered and exciting. The more you invest and participate in class, the more
stimulating and exciting it will be. You cannot pass the class if you do not attend. In addition to regular office
hours, I am available following class, via phone, and on the Hofstra e-mail network. Sign-up for your e-mail
account. Let's keep in touch!
Assessment of Student Performance: Assignments are due the dates assigned. The dates were selected to spread
out the work and to coordinate with class activities. If an assignment is handed in on time and it is not up to a
minimum level, you will be able to re-do and resubmit the work. There is no grade penalty for late assignments.
However, if your assignment is late you will not have the same ability to resubmit work and you will not receive a
final grade until all assignments have been submitted. Students are expected to attend all classes, complete all
assignments and participate in class activities and discussions. Poor performance in any of these areas will affect
final grades. Please note that some assignments are non-graded. Final grades will be based on performance in class
(25%), graded individual and group projects (50%), and the final examination (25%). Successful completion of
field placements, class presentations, and a passing grade of at least 80% on the final exam are minimum
requirements for passing this class and student teaching. You cannot receive an A in the class unless you score
a minimum grade of A- on the final exam. If you know in advance that you will be having a problem, please discuss
it with me.
Texts: Course pack (Bring to class every session. On internet at people.hofstra.edu/faculty/alan_j_singer). Zinn/Arnove, Voices
of a People’s History (Seven Stories Press, 2004); The Americans: The History of a People and a Nation, (McDougal, Littell);
Ultimate New Field Guide to Economics (New Press); Singer, Social Studies for Secondary Schools, Teaching to Learn,
Learning to Teach 2nd edition (LEA, 2003). Recommended NYC Bd. of Education, Grade 8 United States and New York
State History. Recommended Magazines: Social Education; OAH Magazine of History; Zillions- Consumer Reports for Kids;
Cobblestone, Calliope.
Participation/Observation: Remember, you are guests in schools and will be held to professional standards
at all times. That you see teachers doing some of these things does not excuse them. According to the Office
for Field Placement, unacceptable practices include:
1. eating in the classroom
2. bringing liters of water, cups of coffee or tea into the classroom.
3. talking on cell telephones (albeit stepping out of the classroom to
talk)
4. not adhering to the schedules arranged with cooperating
teachers; absences and frequent lateness
5. reading when you should be engaged in observing, assisting
teachers and interacting with students
6. wearing jeans, sneakers, t-shirts, or blouses that reveal the
midriff area
7. wearing clothing that exposes tattoos and body piercings
DISABILITIES: If you have any documented disability-related concerns that may have an impact upon your performance in this course, please meet with
me within the first two weeks of the current semester, so that we can work out the appropriate accommodations. Accommodations are provided on an
individualized, as-needed basis after the needs, circumstances and documentation have been evaluated by the appropriate office on campus. For more
information on services provided by Hofstra, and for submission of documentation of your disability, please contact: Ann Marie Ferro
(AnnMarie.R.Ferro@hofstra.edu ) in 101 Memorial Hall at 516-463-6770 (for physical and/or psychological disabilities) or Diane Herbert
(Diane.Herbert@hofstra.edu ) in 202 Roosevelt Hall at 516-463-5761 (for learning disabilities and/or ADHD). All disability-related information will be
kept confidential.
Assignment Schedule
Unit - Design an eleventh grade American History Unit (Singer, ch. 4) for an inclusive classroom including an introduction or
rationale that explains what is important to teach and why, major themes and identifies essential questions (see NCSS thematic
strands in Singer, p. 81-83); a 250 word discussion of how you address inclusion and literacy in your classroom; a 250 word
discussion of how you address each NCSS thematic strand in the unit; a lesson calendar; a minimum of three lessons per team
member (using the activity-based lesson plan format, Singer, p. 186-195) employing different teaching approaches, primary source
documents and lesson materials, a homework sheet, a test (with short answer, document-based and essay questions, Singer, Ch. 9),
and a project (Singer, ch. 8). Rationale and Lesson Calendar due 10/16. Unit package due 10/30. Revised Unit package due
11/27 . Team and Individual Letter Grade.










A) 9/18- Chapter Outline-Notes to a text chapter in outline form. Pass/Correct/Fail grade.
B) 9/25- Designing an Activity Sheet. Rewrite (adapt) a document from Voices of a People’s History as a middle school
activity sheet for an inclusive class with an AIM question for your overall “lesson,” clear instructions and a series of
content and analytical questions. MATERIAL MUST BE RETYPED OR DOWNLOADED. DO NOT CUT AND PASTE.
Pass/Correct/Fail grade.
C) 10/2 - Document Evaluation - a two page summary of a primary source document from Voices of a People’s History,
including an introductory paragraph that introduces the document in its historical context, paragraphs discussing the main
ideas of the document, and a conclusion placing the document in its historical context. Letter grade.
D) 10/2- Political Cartoon. Tree of Liberty political cartoon on 2’ x 3’ poster board. Use the image of a Tree of Liberty to
define the major themes and events in United States history. Include roots, trunk, branches, leaves and fruit. Make them
colorful. Will be presented in class. Pass/Fail grade.
E) 10/16. Multicultural Social Studies- Complete the Learning Activities- "Songs of Resistance and Struggle" and "Join the
Multicultural Debate (Singer, 130-133)." Letter grade.
F) 11/6- CST Document based essay. Pass/Correct/Fail grade.
G) 11/13- Current Events: The Campaign for President. It should be appropriate for high school students with grade level
reading skills. Include: min. of 10 articles (mix news articles, opinion articles, editorials and cartoons., local, state and
national) and article summaries; a brief essay (250 words) stating your views on the issues facing the country and how you
would address them in the classroom (250 words); a discussion of how you would teach about these issues and use them to
address NCSS Thematic Strands “Power, Authority, and Governance”; “Production, Distribution, and Consumption”; and
“Science, Technology, and Society” (250 words). Letter grade.
H) 11/27- Performance Art. Write a “rap,” poem, interpretive dance or song that explains main ideas about your
understanding of your teams unit. These will be performed in class. Pass/Fail grade.
I) 12/11- Participation/Observation Journal- You will be participating and observing in a secondary school social studies
classroom for twenty hours. Explain to the cooperating teachers that as part of this experience you should observe
classroom instruction, assist with individuals or groups of students, and teach a minilesson to a class. For your
participation/observation journal write either an anecdotal daily log of your overall experiences in the school or a series of
"observations/questions/evaluations" on lessons that you observed and activities you participated in. You should focus on
whether teachers were successful in engaging different groups of students in learning about social studies and the ways that
they did this. In a concluding paragraph, discuss your questions and concerns as you prepare to student teach. You must
also include a signed timesheet. Pass/Correct/Fail.
J) We will have a class designed final examination on December 18 in which you will have to demonstrate knowledge of
National Council for the Social Studies Thematic Strands and their application in the classroom.
Save the Dates: Monday, October 15, 2007: The Long Island Council for the Social Studies in Melville. Updates to follow.
Friday November 16, 2007 (10 to 2) and Saturday, November 17, 2007 (8:30-2): Middle School Immigration Museum and
Annual conference of the Hofstra Social Studies and English Educators in Hagedorn Hall. Attendance mandatory.
Course Outline and Reading Schedule
1. (9/4) Goals in Social Studies Education: Defining Social Studies; Achieving state and national standards;
Defining citizenship in democratic classrooms; Organzing inclusive classrooms; Using cooperative learning;
Reading and writing in the content area; Integrating current events.
2. (9/18) Junior and senior high school curricula: Choosing a text; Organizing a calendar; Integration of
Anthropology, Geography and Global Interactions (First Americans and Discovery). Americans: Ch. 1and 2.
Singer: Introduction and Chap 1. Zinn: 1.
3. (9/25) Document-based learning and literacy: Organizing a unit; Multiple persepectives on the past; Achieving
content, conceptual and skills goals in inclusive classrooms; Integration of Geography and Global Interactions
(Colonial life). Americans: Ch. 3. Zinn: 2/3. Grade 8- vii-xiv. Singer: Ch 2 and 4
4. (10/2) Tree of Liberty. Writing a Social Studies lesson plan: Developmental, Assessment-based and Inquiry
Approaches; Integration of Geography, Political Science and Global Interactions (Revolutionary America).
Americans: Ch. 6 Singer: ch 3 and 5; Zinn: 4.
5. (10/9) Reading, Writing and Literacy in the Social Studies: Written assignments; Differentiated texts; Using
questions and discussion to promote critical thinking; developmental lessons; Integration of Political Science
and Philosophy (Declaration of Independence). Americans: Ch. 7 and Focus, pg. 148-149. Zinn: 5; Singer: ch
3 and 6.
6. (10/16) Classroom Practice for Inclusive Classes: Motivations, Transitions and Applications; Role Play;
Integration of Political Science and Philosophy (Constitution). Americans:.. 8/12 Singer:. 6; Zinn, 6.
7. (10/23) Assessment of Learning in Inclusive Classrooms: Promoting Literacy, Assessing Learning and
achieving Standards within lessons; Constructing quizes and tests; Essays, multiple choice questions and
document-based questions; Standardized assessments; Integration of Geography and Political Science (New
Nation and Jacksonian America). Singer: 7. Zinn: 7/8.
8. (10/30) Main Ideas and Metaphors: Standards-based teaching; teaching with document-based questions; Using
graphs, charts, maps, cartoons and literature; Integration of Geography, Political Science, Global Interactions
and Economics (Slavery, Abolition, Civil War and Reconstruction). Americans: Chap. 13. Singer: 9. Zinn:
9/10.
9. (11/6) Promoting Literacy/ Differentiated Text (Great Irish Famine and Migration to the United States).
Americans: Ch.22/30. Zinn: 11/13
10. (11/13) Thematic Teaching - Domestic Concerns: Integrating current events topics; Including family and local
history; Project-based teaching; Integration of Political Science, Philosophy, Economics and Sociology (Civil
Rights, Great Society and Women’s Rights). Americans: pg. 719-724/746-748/755-759/763-768/773-777.
Zinn: 15/17.
11. (11/20) Review for NYS Content Specialty Test. Mid-term Election Results. Responsibilities of
Governments and Citizens: Examining contemporary social, economic and political issues; Preparing for
standardized assessments; Service learning; Integration of Geography, Political Science, Global Interactions,
Sociology and Economics.
12. (11/27) Unit Raps. Designing Final Exam.
13. (12/4) Opinions, Dialogues and Debates: Using family histories and guest speakers; Evaluating WWW and
video sources; Preparing for standardized assessments; Integration of Geography, Political Science,
Philosophy, Global Interactions, Sociology and Economics (Vietnam). Americans: Ch. 38; Zinn: 18,22,24
14. (12/11) Teaching Economics. Ultimate New Field Guide to Economics
15. (12/18) Final Exam.
2007-2008 New York State Teacher Certification Exam Dates: These are some recommendations for success on LAST and
ATS-W (Oct. 13) and CST (Dec 15). Remember that your goal is to pass, not to get everything right. (1) Get a good nights
sleep the night before. Get to the test site early so you don’t have to rush in at the last minute. (2) The last question is worth as
many points as the first question. Don’t get bogged down or stressed out when you don’t know some answers. Skip questions
you don’t know. Make sure you finish so you get to all of the easy questions. (3) Don’t leave blanks. At the end, go back and
fill in choices. (4) They are looking for competence not creativity. In your essays, get to the point immediately. Make sure you
answer the question. Be careful with spelling. If you do not know how to spell “automobile”, write “car”. Proof read carefully.
(5) Be sure to follow directions. For example, if an essay is only supposed to be 300 words long, THEY WILL NOT READ
LONGER ANSWERS NO MATTER HOW BRILLIANT YOU WRITE THEM.
Unit Rationale
Topic - The Post-World War II African American Struggle for Civil Rights and Equality in the United
States
Essential Question: Could the “promise” of the Declaration of Independence (“We hold these truths to be
self-evident that all men are created equal”) be achieved in the post-World War II United States?
What is important to know about the Civil Rights Movement and why?
With the Compromise of 1877, the post-Civil War Reconstruction of the United States was suspended.
The federal government ended the military occupation of the South and protection for the citizenship
rights of African Americans. The large majority of ex-slaves remained in the South as a largely agrarian
work force economically dependent on former slaveholders who remained in control of the land and
resumed control over local governments. During the next two decades, Southern states formalized the
“Jim Crow” system of racial segregation in public and private facilities and denied African Americans the
right to vote. The legality of this system was confirmed by the United States Supreme Court in the 1896
Plessy v. Ferguson decision that “separate” was “equal.” It was also given support by President Woodrow
Wilson's endorsement of racial segregation in the nation's capital.
African Americans challenged segregation in the courts, initially without much success, through
organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
Increasingly, African Americans fled the Jim Crow South and resettled in Northern and Western cities,
although they continued to face job and housing discrimination. During the nineteen-twenties, there was a
cultural flowering known as the Harlem Renaissance. The Great Depression, however, adversely affected
social mobility. One area where African Americans made some progress was as members of the organized
labor movement.
World War II placed new manpower demands on the nation. African American activists pressured the
federal government to enlist African Americans as workers in the defense industries and in the military,
although the armed forces remained racially segregated until 1948. An important symbolic change
following the war was the desegregation of Major League baseball in 1947. However, of greater social
import was continuing racial segregation in federal programs, especially those targeting veterans, and in
newly expanding suburban communities.
At the end of the war, African Americans and white allies launched major campaigns to mobilize
people in a struggle to end racial segregation and secure full citizenship rights for all Americans. The
campaigns were aided by pressure on the United States, as the leading western power during the Cold
War, to live up to its democratic promises, and by the attention television news coverage was able to focus
on Southern brutality and racism.
Ultimately two strategies bore fruit. The intensive twenty-year legal campaign to overturn segregation
by Thurgood Marshall and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
led to the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. the Topeka, Kansas Board of Education that “in the
field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities
are inherently unequal.” While opponents resisted implementation of the decree, the decision placed the
federal government on the side of desegregation. During the next decade, court decisions, Presidential
actions, and new federal laws gradually broke the legal system supporting Jim Crow.
The second strategy, mass organization and non-violent civil disobedience in defiance of segregation,
led to one of the most dynamic social movements in the history of the United States. It drew on
organizational networks and organizing experience in church and labor groups, and produced influential
national organizations such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Congress of Racial
Equality, and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. While a number of people played
important leadership roles, including Rosa Parks, E.D. Nixon, Medgar Evers, Hosea Williams, John
Lewis, Wyatt Walker, Ralph Abernathy, Fannie Lou Hamer, A. Philip Randolph, and Bayard Rustin, the
movement was most closely identified with Martin Luther King, Jr., whose words and actions stirred the
nation's consciousness. Some of its most dramatic organizing efforts were the Montgomery, Alabama Bus
Boycott, the campaign to desegregate public facilities in Birmingham, Alabama, the 1963 March on
Washington, and efforts to march from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, which led to passage of the 1965
Voting Rights Act.
The Civil Rights coalition, which never succeeded in transforming racial consciousness in the United
States, imploded after the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Most of its White supporters believed
its goal, the end of legal segregation in the United States, had been achieved. Meanwhile, many urban
Black communities, frustrated by ghettoization, deteriorating housing, high levels of unemployment, and
the failure of the Great Migration North to rid people of the burden of racism, exploded into violent
protest. New groups, ideologies, and leaders came into prominence, including Malcolm X, the Nation of
Islam, and the Black Panther Party. The break up of the Civil Rights coalition was instrumental in the
political shift in the late 1960s that propelled large numbers of Southern and suburban White voters into
the Republican Party and brought conservative, often racist, forces into power in the United States.
The United States changed enormously as a result of the Civil Rights movement. In 1960, less than
twenty percent of eligible Black voters were registered to vote in Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina and
Mississippi. In 1964, less than one percent of African American children in Arkansas, Alabama,
Louisiana, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Mississippi attended interracial schools. Equality
before the law created new opportunities and African Americans responded by becoming important
cultural, political and economic leaders. They are a visible presence in virtually every area of American
society. The struggle for civil rights for African Americans reinvigorated and redefined democracy in this
country. It helped to extend rights to women, ethnic and racial minorities and to gays and lesbians.
Yet despite significant gains, serious problems persist in the United States. School segregation
intensified during the 1990s. The life expectancy of African American men at the start of the 21st century
was approximately seven years less than the life expectancy for White men; twenty-four percent of the
Black population of the United States lived in poverty compared to ten percent of the White population;
and the average income for Black families was $18,000 per year less than the income for the average
White family. A study by the Justice Policy Institute found that there are more African American men in
jail or prison than in college. One in every three Black American men faces the possibility of
imprisonment during his lifetime.
The Civil Rights movement illustrates a number of major themes in the history of the United States.
They include:
The power of the idea, imbedded in the Declaration of Independence, that all people are equal and entitled
to basic legal and human rights.
Racism has been a powerful force throughout United States history.
People acting collectively can pressure political leaders to adopt progressive policies and successfully
struggle to improve their lives and the lives of others.
People of goodwill will join struggles to support the rights of others.
Citizens can change powerful institutions such as the government, churches, unions, and educational
systems.
Organizations that involve large numbers of people in long term struggle, not just prominent individuals,
are crucial to the success of social movements. The Civil Rights movement did not happen just because
Rosa Parks sat down and Martin Luther King stood up.
Media, and technology in general, by informing the public and expanding democratic interaction, can
support social change.
Principled national leaders, such as Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren, and Presidents Dwight
Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson, can have lasting impact on society if they are prepared to take political
risks.
Social movements are fragile coalitions representing conflicting interests and may lose steam or become
divided.
Change is neither linear nor gradual. After centuries of enslavement and racial segregation, the United
States changed in a relatively short period of time.
Change, once it starts, can go off in new and unanticipated directions. The struggle for African American
rights contributed to the struggle for rights for women, immigrants, gays and lesbians, and the anti-war
movement.
The United States remains an unequal society, in part because of its failure to resolve many of its internal
inconsistencies during the Civil Rights movement.
The official story is not necessarily the true story. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X, who are
honored today, were vilified by the press and investigated by the government during their lifetimes.
Unit Calendar and AIM Questions
What was life like for African Americans at the end of World War II?
How did African Americans respond to these conditions?
What were the responses of Southern whites and state and local governments?
How did the federal government respond to the Civil Rights movement?
What were the ideas and strategies of the Civil Rights movement?
What was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision for U.S. society?
Did the Civil Rights movement significantly change the laws of the U.S.?
Why did African-American communities explode?
Why did a new generation of African-American activists challenge the ideas
and strategies of the Civil Rights movement?
Who was Malcolm X and what did he teach?
Did the Civil Rights movement succeed?
Why does racial discrimination continue to be an issue in the United States?