4) Social Studies teachers should possess the knowledge, capabilities, and dispositions to organize and provide
instruction at the appropriate school level for the study of Individual Development and Identity.
Describe and provide examples of how you have planned, organized and evaluated learning experiences for the
study of Individual Development and Identity. Critically evaluate the extent to which you feel you were successful
in addressing Individual Development and Identity as a social studies teacher. How will you continue to
incorporate this theme within your teaching?
Final Exam Question 4 Response
Throughout both my early field and student teaching experience I have
created various lessons on Individual Development and Identity. During my early
field experience I talked specifically about the rise of Napoleon Bonaparte and the
Enlightenment philosophers like Voltaire, Rousseau, Locke, and Montesquieu.
During my student teaching I also crafted several lesson around Individual
Development and Identity by creating a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa
Parks and their significant impact on the Civil Rights Movement. I also created a
lesson on representative Americans such as Bill Gates, Ray Kroc, Frank Lloyd
Wright, Martha Graham, Maya Angelou, Henry Gates Jr, Charles Drew, and J
Robert Oppenheimer.
During my early field internship I created two lessons that centered on
Individual Development and Identity. The first lesson was on the rise of Napoleon
Bonaparte where I talked about how Napoleon took over France as a dictator at the
end of the French Revolution and then tried to take over the world. I talked
essentially about his evolution as an individual over time and the identity that he
formed as Frances dictator. During the lesson I had the students complete a web
quest on essentially the background of Napoleon Bonaparte from his birth to his
death. The second lesson that I created during my early field internship was a
lesson on the Enlightenment philosophers where I had students analyze and
identify primary source quotes by the philosophers.
During my student teaching I created a lesson on both Martin Luther King
Jr. and Rosa Parks. Within the lesson I had students complete a sensory worksheet
that required students to basically be Martin Luther King Jr and Rosa Parks where
write down what each individual must have felt, saw, and heard during the Civil
Rights Movement. The second lesson that I did that ties into Individual
Development and Identity was a lesson on representative Americans where I
discussed Bill Gates impact on computer technology, Ray Kroc on franchising
(McDonalds), Frank Lloyd Wright on architecture, Maya Angelou on literature,
Martha Graham on dance, Henry Gates Jr on history, J Robert Oppenheimer on
Atomic bombs/science, and Charles Drew on blood transfusion/storage. Within
this lesson I had students draw each individual and had them discuss their
importance and the field that each respective individual impacted.
For each one of these lessons I had to first determine what I wanted the
students to understand about these individuals. I then began to think about their
influences and impact historically. After I came up with a final goal that I wanted
students to achieve I then created activities that centered around these goals. For
Individual Development and Identity primary source information is critical in order
to understand the individual. This also helps students to essentially see through the
perspective of the individual. I always try during a lesson on an Individual
Development and Identity to have students see through the perspective of the
individual through primary source information. For example, during the Civil
Rights lesson I wanted students to tell me what they thought Rosa Parks and
Martin Luther King saw during the Civil Rights Movement respectively during the
March on Washington and the Montgomery Bus Boycotts.
This is a theme that should be illustrated in every lesson to a certain extent.
This theme could be illustrated through primary source information and by sensory
activities like the Civil Rights activity. Students could also complete web quests,
create obituaries on individuals, and etc to illustrate Individual Development and
Identity.