San Diego State University
Teaching Social Studies in Elementary Schools
TE 910B
Course Syllabus
Fall 2013
Thursdays 1:00 – 3:40 P. M.
3 Units
Carver Elementary
Dr. André J. Branch
Office: BAM 211A
Phone: 656-7835
The College of Education’s conceptual framework focuses on developing effective, evidence-based
practice among candidates for initial certification, refining effective practice among working professionals
pursuing advanced certification and degrees, and identifying effective practice through faculty research.
Vision
The College produces effective professionals, new knowledge, and partnerships with the field of practice
that make a difference in the lives of the clients we serve.
Mission
The College prepares effective professionals (LEARN) for a variety of societal service delivery and
leadership roles across a range of settings including schools, post secondary institutions, social service
agencies, and vocational rehabilitation organizations. The College contributes to the knowledge base in
both educational theory and practice through professional inquiry and scholarship (DISCOVER). The
College engages in strategic partnerships with the field of practice to improve client outcomes, to increase
institutional effectiveness, and to promote social justice (ENGAGE).
Course Introduction
Social studies is the one area of the curriculum specifically designed to prepare students
to be active participants in a democratic and multicultural world. This aim is too broad
to be accomplished in any single course. However, this course can serve as a catalyst to
your thinking as new teachers about what active citizenship means, requires, and how
it can be promoted in your classrooms. A specific goal of this course is to address the
need for social studies teachers to have high expectations for every student, and
develop a goal framework for approaching the teaching of Social Studies that will
engage learners in meaningful ways, to ensure that each child is successful as a learner
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and world citizen. There will be a particular emphasis on exploring different cultures
and examining history and social issues from multiple perspectives. This class will also
ask you to continue questioning your own assumptions of schooling, students and
teachers in this increasingly diverse society within the context of teaching social studies,
so that together we may find ways to successfully teach all children.
Student Learning Outcomes
At the end of this course, the student teachers should be able to:
Develop, implement, assess and reflect upon an original Social Studies unit
Write effective lesson plans for K-6 learners based on the California Social Studies
Standards
Design lesson plans that differentiate instruction for exceptional learners
Articulate a professional position about two pertinent and recent issues related to
Social Studies Education
Articulate a philosophy of social studies education
Conduct cultural context research about their student teaching
Teacher Performance Expectations
The following components of the Teacher Performance Expectations are addressed in
this course through class activities, discussions, group work, individual assignments,
reflective activities,and curriculum development assignments.
Category A: Making Subject Matter Comprehensible to Students
TPE 1 – Specific Pedagogical Skills for Subject Matter Instruction
Category B: Assessing Student Learning
TPE 2 – Monitoring Student Learning During Instruction
TPE 3 – Interpretation and Use of Assessments
Category C: Engaging and Supporting Students in Learning
TPE 4 – Making Content Accessible
TPE 5 – Student Engagement
TPE 6: Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices
TPE 6A: Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Grades K-3
TPE 7: Teaching English Learners
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Category D: Planning Instruction and Designing Learning Experiences
TPE 8 - Learning about Students
TPE 9 - Instructional Planning
Common Core aligned TPE (Teacher Performance Expectation) #1 for
social science
Multiple Subject candidates demonstrate the ability to teach the state-adopted academic
content standards for students in history-social science. They enable students to learn
and use basic analytic thinking skills in history and social science while attaining the stateadopted academic content standards for students.
They use timelines and maps to give students a sense of temporal and spatial scale.
Candidates teach students how social science concepts and themes provide insights
into historical periods and cultures.
They help students understand events and periods from multiple perspectives by
using simulations, case studies, cultural artifacts, works of art and
literature, cooperative projects, and student research activities.
Candidates teach students to independently read and comprehend instructional
materials that include increasingly complex subject-relevant texts and
graphic/media representations presented in diverse formats.
Candidates also teach students to write opinion/persuasive and expository text in
the content area.
They provide students the opportunity to use and evaluate strengths and limitations
of media and technology as integral tools in the classroom.
Contacting Me
I will be delighted to meet with you to help you succeed in this course. Please see me at
our Cherry Point Classroom to make appointments to see me.
Office Hours:
By appointment
Office:
BAM 211A
Telephone:
(619) 656-7835 (H)
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E-mail:
abranch@mail.sdsu.edu
Mailbox:
You may leave written messages in envelopes for me in the
School of Teacher Education office (EBA 255). You may
leave assignments only if you have made prior
arrangements with me to leave assignments.
Texts
There are two required print texts for this course:
Grant, S.G. & Vansledright, B. (2006). Elementary Social Studies: Constructing a
Powerful Approach to Teaching and Learning Social Studies in Elementary Social
Studies (2nd ed.). Boston, Houghton Mifflin.
Bigelow, B., Harvey, B., Karp, S., & Miller, L. (2005). Rethinking Our Classrooms:
Teaching for Equity and Justice, Volume 2. Milwaukee, Rethinking Schools.
The internet as “text”: There are three required documents you can retrieve from the
internet.
NCSS-National Council for the Social Studies: www.socialstudies.org
California Teaching Standards for Social Studies, Grades K-6:
www.cde.ca.gov
Common Core Standards: http://www.corestandards.org/ELALiteracy/RL/introduction-for-k-5
Occasionally, I may provide you with additional articles or other reading materials for
our professional growth and learning pleasure.
Assignments
Position Paper – 10 Points:
These papers should be no more than 3 pages in length, double-spaced, typed or
computer generated and edited. Use these position papers as an opportunity to
develop your philosophy of social studies education, and to provide evidence for
your reasoning. Simply agreeing or disagreeing with an author is not what we mean
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by “position” here. What new ideas, thoughts, or convictions do you have as a
result of what the author has said? You may agree or disagree with what this
author shares and claims, but you must go beyond agreement or disagreement. As
teachers, we must be strong writers. We teach writing and are judged every day on
our literacy skills by a very unforgiving public audience. Please let me know how I
can help you succeed in this course by helping you with your writing. Position
Paper - Due: 10 October 2013
Pedagogcial Strategies – 8 Points
Using assigned readings, students will participate in a scavenger hunt of pedagogical
strategies for use in teaching social studies. Students will in turn use these pedagogical
strategies in the lesson plans that they create for their ESA (embedded signature
assessment) and CAT. Pedagogcial Strategies – Due 17 October 2013
Ethnic Identity Exploration Lesson Plan – 10 Points
“Culture” and “Individual Development and Identity” are two of the ten themes of
The National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. As these themes are directly
related to the critical process of ethnic identity development, students will
demonstrate that they can design lessons that promote ethnic identity development
through the social studies curriculum. Using the Dimensions of Ethnic Identity
Exploration, students will create at least one lesson plan that teaches a social studies
concept while providing students with an opportunity to explore their ethnicities.
Students will both teach and conduct research on the effectiveness of their lesson.
Ethnic Identity Exploration Lesson Plan – Due 24 October 2013
Ethnic Identity Exploration Lesson Plan Research Questionaire – 10 Points
The Ethnic Identity Exploration Research Questionaire gives students the
opportunity to ask and answer questions about the effectiveness of their lesson.
Using the questionnaire, students will investigate the effectiveness of their lesson
plan to teach the chosen social studies concept and the effectiveness of the lesson
plan in using the chosen dimension of ethnic identity exploration to promote ethnic
identity development. Lesson Plan Research Due – 21 November 2013
Social Studies Unit - 52 Points
This Unit can be integrated with other subject areas. This Unit is your Embedded
Signature Assessment (ESA) for this course and also acts as your Social Studies
CAT for the Credential Program.
The Embedded Signature Assessment will include:
1. Investigation of cultural context of placement and backgrounds of students
and discussion of how this will be used in planning unit. (This investigation
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2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
will help you answer no. 4 of the CAT Context for Learning; the information
you gather will also help you design your ethnic identity development lesson
plan).
Pre-assessment of student knowledge. This pre-assessment will include 5
anonymous and representative samples of student work (10 points). This
pre-assessment information will help you answer question #2 for the CAT.
Pre-assessment reflections. Responses should describe your analysis of preassessments and their usefulness in planning the unit (4 points).
Unit Outline—including Big Idea and supporting pieces (8 points).
3 lesson plans following format discussed in class (24 points).
Unit plan Reflective questions (CAT Planning Commentary) (4 points)
The unit will be ordered and organized according to the guidelines provided
in class (2 points). Social Studies Unit – Due 1 December 2013.
Professionalism – 10 Points
You are expected to participate actively in informal presentations, in-class activities
and discussions. Active participation in our classroom activities and learning
community is required and professional behavior is expected at all times. In this
course, professionalism means that you are physically present, with an open mind,
and that you demonstrate a willingness to learn. To engage fully with the important
issues at hand, to learn from each other and to build new knowledge, we need to be
here each day our class meets. Two points will be deducted for every unexcused
absence. Every combination of three tardy arrivals or early departures will be
considered an absence.
Grading
There are a total of 100 points designed into this course. Grading will be based on the
quality of the completed following assignments/requirements.
Professionalism (Showing up and actively participating) – 10 pts.
Position Paper – 10 pts.
Ethnic Identity Exploration Lesson Plan – 10 pts.
Research Questionaire – 10 Pts.
Social Studies Unit – 52 pts.
Scavanger Hunt to be done in week seven – 8 Pts.
For a grade of “A,” students will earn at least 93 points
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For a grade of “B,” students will earn at least 85 points
For a grade of “C,” students will earn at least 76 points
For a grade of “D,” students will earn at least 65 points
Your grades are important and are private matters. If you initiate conversations with
me about your grades minutes before class, during class, or right after class, when
students are standing nearby for various reasons, I may not be able to keep your
grades private or give you accurate information about your individual grades. Please
call me or make an appointment to see me to discuss questions or concerns about
your individual grades.
Class Policies
Students With Disabilities
If you have or think that you may have a disability, please immediately contact SDSU
Student Disability Services (SDS) at http://www.sa.sdsu.edu/sds/index.html. Once
you have established a formal dialog with SDS, please contact me so that we can all
work together to provide effective accommodations for your specific needs.
Assignments
All assignments are to be typed or computer generated (using 12 point font), using
double-spacing, unless otherwise instructed by the professor. This is 12 point font.
This is not.
And this is not.
All assignments are to be double-spaced. Assignments that are not double-spaced will
receive a two-point deduction.
Students may turn in assignments early, but not late. In the rare event that assignments
are accepted late, those assignments will receive a one-point reduction for each day the
assignment is late. You are welcome to discuss extenuating circumstances with me
privately.
What constitutes academic misconduct? Section 41301 of Title V of the California Code
of Regulations defines academic misconduct as “cheating or plagiarism in connection
with an academic program at a campus.” Examples of cheating include copying others’
work during an exam, falsifying data or records for an exercise, etc. Note that while you
can use your course materials (e.g., handouts, notes, etc.), you may not collaborate with
other EDUCATION 451 students or receive assistance from other individuals during
quizzes or exams. Examples of plagiarism include copying other students’ answers or,
when working in collaborative groups, not stating answers in your own words based
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on your own understanding. More information is available from the SDSU Center for
Student Rights and Responsibilities (http://csrr.sdsu.edu/index.html).
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Tentative Schedule of Reading Assignments And Learning Activities
The following is a tentative schedule of reading assignments and learning activities. We
may do more or less each class session depending on how well students grasp the
concepts being introduced. **Important Note: Additional or Alternative Readings may
be assigned along the way based upon our needs as developing teachers of Social
Studies.
Dates
Tentative topics
Authors to read/
Assignments Due
Week One
29 Aug. 2013
Introductions; Conceptualizations of
Social Studies
Rethinking – Pgs. 6-10
Week Two
5 Sept. 2013
Connecting King’s Letter to Our Lives as
Teachers
Letter From the
Birmingham Jail
Week Three
12 Sept. 2013
Creating Curriculum Boards
Content Standards
for K-3; National
Standards for the SS
Ten Themes
Week Four
19 Sept. 2013
Students knowledge of SS; Constructivism;
Subject matters for SS and teaching it thru
BIG IDEAS
G & V – Preface;
Intro. Chps. 1 & 2;
Bb – Zinn; Tenorio;
Pace; O’Connor,
Heafner, & Groce;
Zinn (910B Reader)
Week Five
26 Sept. 2013
Subject of SS; Primary Sources
Dimensions of Ethnic Identity Exploration
G & V – Chs. 3
Bb – Seif; Norby
Bb – Branch #1
Week Six
3 Oct. 2013
Demonstrating an Instructional Unit with
Big Ideas; Social Studies Classrooms: Powerful,
Engaging, Multicultural and Democratic
G & V – Ch. 4;
Rethinking – pgs. 45;
56; 57-62; 101-104;
105-106
Week Seven
10 Oct. 2013
Building that Big Ideas Unit; Guest lecture
by Linda Salem, Education Librarian,
“Surfing for Curriculum Resources for
Teaching Social Studies”; Pedagogies,
Curriculum Materials and Assessments for
G & V – Chs. 5-6;
Rethinking–pgs. 6369; 70-71; 214-218;
219-224; 140-143;
Bb – Elbow; Ray
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Teaching Powerful Social Studies; Creating
Position Paper Due
Classroom Community: Important Collaborative
Partners
Week Eight
17 Oct. 2013
Choosing a Goal Framework for Teaching
Social Studies; Using Primary Sources and
Historical Fiction
G & V – Chs. 7
Rethinking – pgs.
138-139; 181-185;
160-162; 167; Bb –
Levstik & Barton
Pedagogical
Strategies due
Week Nine
24 Oct. 2013
BIG IDEA UNIT WORKSHOP: Building BIG
IDEAS and Unit Overviews; Starting At
The Finish Line—Backwards Planning As A
Model for Curriculum Development
G & V – Chs. 8
Lesson Plan Taught
Big Idea and
Standards due
Week Ten
31 Oct. 2013
Teaching Controversial Issues in Social Studies
BIG IDEA UNIT WORKSHOP CONTINUED
Rethinking - 107111; 119-125; 149154; 168-176
Enduring Understandings and
Essential
Questions due
Week Eleven
7 Nov. 2013
Being a Reflective Social Studies Teacher;
Constructing Powerful Multicultural
Approaches to Teaching Social Studies
G&V–9
Branch #2
Assessments due
Week Twelve
14 Nov. 2013
Culture and Identity—National Standards
Themes of the Social Studies Revisited
Curriculum
Resources due
Week Thirteen Field Trip – Old Town State Park
21 Nov. 2013
CAT DUE 1 DEC. 2013
Week Fourteen Presentations of Salient Pieces of our Social
Bb – Branch #2
Learning Activities
and timeline due
Lesson Plan
Research due
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5 Dec. 2013
Studies Units