Elementary Social Studies Methods Tina C. Denning

Final ELED 424 – Elementary Social Studies Methods Tina C. Denning At the beginning of this term the beliefs statements were as follows: 1) Social Studies is a social relationship in a number of studies (history, geography, etc.). Noting a past of memorization of dates and names, and no relevance therefore, nothing was memorable or had any importance. 2) How I want to teach social studies? Taking information and making it fun so students can remember it longer and using groups not limiting ourselves to textbooks. 3) Dates are important and dates are not important. History has importance but not every date and in an age of instant information knowing how to find the needed information and correct information is vital. 4) Find Relevance†¦show more content†¦These 4 beliefs are more important now because of the short amount of time that was spent in a 4th grade classroom. Combining the two sets of beliefs will be shown in a new social studies belief statement. 1) Meaningful Relevance: In practicum the lesson was citizenship and the three branches of government. To make this meaningful to the students and then relevant was impressive. Mrs. Anderson asked the core of the lesson plan on the first three days to give the basics. This was relatively easy and the students made it easier by doing their â€Å"jobs† and learning. On day four, Mrs. Anderson walked the students through the process of how a bill becomes a law. She divided the students into the House of Representatives, Congress, and a President. She provided â€Å"bills† that lobbyist wanted to be a law. She guided them through a bill becoming a law and a vetoed bill. The students were 100% actively engaged and enjoying the lesson. She knew the students and how to divide them up and how to both engage them, keep them engaged and still teach a meaningful/relevant lesson. This is the top of the belief list because it is something that is also not limited to just social studies. Attempts were made to include this in practicum but it is something that will take some time. The engagement part may be easy but maintaining the energy takes more than just showing up with an activity but making it meaningful for the