Session 2: Social Studies and the Arts Combined

READING

Read through documents 1 and 2 below (reading # 3 is optional). Then, answer the questions below and do the Final Project Component.

New York State Department of Education – Social Studies Learning Standards and Core Curriculum: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/ssrg.html

1)    The STANDARDS: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/socstand/home.html The standards set expectations for what students will learn in the key areas of Social Studies: Standards 1 US + NYS & 2 World History - Standard 3 Geography - Standard 4 Economics - and Standard 5 Government and Politics.

Each standard is further defined by 2 - 4 Key Ideas. These are further illustrated with Performance Indicators, descriptions of the things students will be able to do as they address and satisfy the standard.

2) SS Resource Guide with Core Curriculum:

a. OVEVIEW (18 pages) http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/ssovervi.pdf (gives philosophy and framework of instructional approaches for teaching Social Studies)

b. Grade K-6 Standards are found on (PDF reader) Pages 1 – 17 (marked 19 – 34 at bottom of page) http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/sscore1.pdf

3) OPTIONAL Item, but of interest– Here’s a 4th grade curriculum guide for talented and gifted that offers arts activities. This is a multidisciplinary unit, with a very strong Social Studies dimension. It is part of the New York City curriculum, which is aligned with the NYS curriculum. http://schools.nycenet.edu/offices/teachlearn/Immigration_4_final.pdf

There is a great deal of material to cover in the above documents. Please read through them quickly (skim) and then return to them for specifics as you do this assignment.  

Assignment to Turn In:

Part One –ReflectionsANSWER the following focus questions below*:

Skim read through the above documents. Familiarize yourself with their content and the ways they are organized.

1) How would you explain the relationship between the standards and the curriculum?

2) Give an example(s) of places in the documents where you see confluences between Social Studies and the Arts. In other words which S.S. subjects and themes do you feel would be implemented well with arts activities - give a brief explanation. Be specific about what you find in these documents as well as locations (page numbers)

3) Please share any other ‘Ah Ha’s’ you had while reading through the documents – examples of how your understanding of what this subject is and how it may best be taught was influenced or changed by this reading of the NY State Education Department documents that frame Social Studies learning .

Number your responses – the above should be 200 – 300 words.

* How to respond and submit your response:

Compose your answers in a word processing document and save the document for your own records. Then copy and paste your response in to the appropriate answer in our class Discussion Board area. See the section on how to use the Discussion Board if you are unfamiliar with it: http://sites.google.com/site/touromgura/about-the-course/using-the-discussion-board

Part Two – Final Project Installment #1

Have you read through the entire Final Project Folder in the Course Information Area? If not, PLEASE do so before beginning your project!

Preparation: Before you begin, prepare a fresh Final Project Template for yourself by:1) Highlighting the Final Project template in our Course Information Area (Final Project Folder - “Final Project Planning Info. & TEMPLATE”) 2) Copying it using the “Copy” function of your computer (right click the mouse and then left click to select “Copy”, 3) Pasting the template into a fresh word processing file (i.e. MS Word) using the “Paste” function.

TEMPLATE: Fill your name in at top and “Save” this file with your name and the words Final Project. You will develop and submit your project using this document.

You will be turning in the same document 6 times; each time it should be more complete and refined than the last. It would be wise for you to save each version as a separate

file, renaming it each time (i.e. FinalProject.JoeSmith.Version1, FinalProject.JoeSmith.Version2, etc.)

Final Project INSTALLMENT #1: Identify a theme for an instructional unit that you will plan for a class of students. This theme should be well represented in the NYS Social Studies Learning Standards and Core Curriculum. You will also describe the type of class the unit will be implemented with (i.e. grade level, Regular or Special Ed., approximate # of students, etc.).

Using the Final Project Template that you prepared for your Final Project (see “template” above), fill in the following items. You will expand, refine, and change these things as often as you need to, as you develop the unit during the course. Fill in sections: A – 1, 2, and 3.

Also, take an initial stab at filling in A - 9 (description).

NOTE: you will have to identify a product for the students to create that is a good match for the things you want them to learn. It should also offer them good opportunity to express themselves and communicate what they’ve learned (Social Studies content and skills). The general Project-based Learning model has the students researching, gathering information directly, interpreting, reflecting, etc. (the content and skills learning) in order to create the product! Some common products for these projects are: posters, post cards, illustrated magazine articles, slideshows, books, flip books, comic books, trading cards, etc. Quite likely you will want to refine or change your choice of product further along in the course, but for now you need to choose one as a starting point. You may want to do a little web research to get ideas. We will be reviewing samples and examples as we go along in the course.