American Education System

Introduction

Activity 1: Quickwrite

▪ What do you think about the American educational system? If you are familiar with other countries’ educational systems, how do they compare to ours? What are some flaws in our system and what are some successes? What do you think is the future of education in America?

Thinking About the Topic

▪ Your group will be assigned one of the following questions.

– What do you know about the history of the American education system?

– What does the American education system look like in the present?

– What do you think the future of the American education system will look like?

– What would a utopian education system look like?

▪ As a table group, you will need to create a concept map around your groups assigned question.

Concept Mapping

▪ A concept map presents the relationships among a set of connected concepts and ideas. It is a tangible way to display how your mind  "sees" a particular topic. By constructing a concept map, you reflect on what you know and what you don't know.

▪ It is a visual representation of information.

▪ There is no right or wrong way to create a concept map as long as your information is thorough and logically represented.

Examples of Concept Maps

*your concept maps do not need to be this artistically advanced

Group Question Assignments

Groups 1 & 5• What do you know about the history of the American

education system?Groups 2 & 6• What does the American education system look like in the

present?Group 3 & 7• What do you think the future of the American education

system will look like?

Groups 4 & 8• What would a utopian education system look like?

Activity 2: Gallery Walk

▪ Clear your tables and place your finished concept maps on them.

▪ Walk around and look at the finished concept maps, fill out any information you find interesting on your “Gallery Walk Graphic Organizer” handout.

–You need to have at least 3 bullet points per box.

Changing Educational Paradigms

▪ Please look up this video on Youtube and watch it:

▪Changing educational paradigms with Sir Ken Robinson

▪ The response in activity 3 refers to this video

Activity 3: Writing a Response

▪ You just watched a video that discusses some potential issues with the American education system and is an excellent example of a unique concept map.

▪ Write a 4-5 sentence response to the ideas presented about the faults with our education system.

Due Now:

▪ Activity 1: Quickwrite

▪ Activity 2: Gallery Walk Handout

▪ Activity 3: Changing Paradigms Response