TE 401: Teaching Social Studies
to Diverse Learners
Class 14
December 4, 2008
Geography, Economics,
and Case Study Method
Agenda
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Celebration Breakfast
Reflections
Finish Country PowerPoint
Beatrice’s Goat
Case Study Microteaching
SIRS
Celebration and reflections
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What were the teaching moments?
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What did you learn about teaching?
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A social studies moment
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Reflection on TodaysMeet
Reminders
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Class blog
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Final Lesson Plan
– Due by December 10 at 5pm
– Include all five parts in one document
– Email to bykereri@msu.edu
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Your wiki – te401social.wikispaces.com
Finish Country PowerPoint
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Please break into your country groups
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Finish up your PowerPoint – 20 minutes
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Post to te401social.wikispaces.org
Using a Picture Book In Social
Studies
Beatrice’s Goat
Using Children’s Literature –
especially picture books
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Should be used to
– Deepen cognitive and affective dimensions of the content
• Does it:
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Match the social education goals of the lesson/unit?
Offer enough value that the time it is taking up is not wasted?
Appropriate length?
Enhance meaning?
Reflect authenticity and promote understanding of the concept?
Avoid misconceptions, shallow interpretations, stereotypes?
Should not be chosen just as an “add in” to your
topic of the unit/lesson
– Trivial information
Planning to use a picture book…
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Make sure as the teacher, you know the basic information about the
book, and the history behind the topic of discussion
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Information on Beatrice’s Goat
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For age group 4-8 (though it can realistically be taught throughout
various grade levels)
– As the teacher you should be questioning if it is appropriate for your
children’s reading level and comprehension
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Published by Heifer International
– As a teacher you should question what this organization is and what
qualifies it to publish this story
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True Story
– http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/11/60minutes/main666166.shtml
– As the teacher you should be doing research behind stories that are truewhat happened to the person/people/groups portrayed in the book?
Planning con’t….
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As the teacher learn more about the region, country,
etc., to know if the picture book is portraying
stereotypes, etc…
– Use of resources such as:
• P-GLIE Library in the International Center Library
• Area Studies Centers at universities
Geography
Geography: Location
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Where is Uganda?
– This is the setting for the story
– Around 85% of Uganda’s population is
rural (March 2007)
– Make sure your students do map work to
understand where the story is taking place
and can compare it to where they live in
perspective
World – Where are you? Where is Uganda?
Can anyone find Uganda?
Africa
Regions of Africa - East Africa
Uganda
Why in the world is geography
important in this book?
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Geography:
– Allows children to see where in the world
Beatrice is in comparison to where they live
– Also, if used correctly – geography can be used
to show human-environment interaction
• For example: they choose a goat for the villages
because of the grass and water found there - would a
camel have worked there? Geography plays a role- it is
more than just maps!
Economics
Just to get you thinking…
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Complete the worksheet
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After reading the story, while in your groups
complete the starred portion of your
worksheet and discuss the questions with
your group
Economics Terms and Definitions
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Needs: A need is something you have to
have, something you can’t do without
– Example - water
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Wants: A want is something you would like
to have – it is not absolutely necessary, but
it would be a good thing to have
– Example – car
Terms defined
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Scarcity: not having sufficient resources to produce
enough to fulfill unlimited subjective wants
– Example – fossil fuels
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Opportunity Cost: the cost of an alternative that
must be foregone to in order to pursue a certain
action, a choice between two options must be made
– Example – costs of going to college (missing pay from a job
for 4-5 years) but hopes of making it up later in your career
with a higher paying job
Economics Lesson w/ Beatrice’s
Goat
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As a group – have each person write down their
own wants and needs
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As a group – come up with the wants and needs of
Beatrice
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Then discuss the differences or similarities between
the two
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Economics Con’t..
In economics, many decisions have to be made – issues such as scarcity,
opportunity cost, etc., force us to make choices – where we live and what
we do influence also influence our choices as do our wants and needs (like
you just wrote down)
Beatrice and her family also have to make choices.
In small (2-3 people) groups:
– List the costs (the things that Beatrice’s family had to give in order to have the
goat)
– List the benefits (good things that Beatrice’s family received as a result of having
the goat)
– You could do this in a t-chart lining up the cost with the eventual benefit
• For example: Goat producing milk (benefit); had to get water from the stream for the
goat (cost)
Extension: Do you think Beatrice
and her family have the same
cost/benefits as people in the
U.S.? Why or why not? What
would influence this?
How else could Beatrice’s Goat be
used for Social Studies?
Don’t limit your thoughts to just how you would use this in lower
elementary either….
Cultural Universals
Economics
Service Learning
Current Events
What else?
Critiquing the use of
Beatrice’s Goat
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In pairs answer the following questions:
– What are some of the negative consequences you
could foresee in using this picture book?
– What types of concepts, topics, etc., do you see as
useful in this picture book?
– What topics/concepts have to be taught while using
this book in order for a deep understanding of the
many topics that could be addressed using this book?
What order would you teach them in?