Social Studies: Definitions and Rationale

Keys to an Exemplary Social Studies Program

The TeacherThe CurriculumThe Students

THE TEACHERDemonstrates both scholarship and

expertise in the curriculumParticipates in all aspects of the

development of the curriculum, including setting goals and objectives, implementation, evaluation, and revision

Uses sound instructional theory and practice

THE STUDENTSCritically examine significant content,

issues, and events from a variety of perspectives

Participate actively in their school community and world

Engage in focused systematic observations and comprehensive decisions

Understand democratic principles and participate in the democratic process

THE CURRICULUMIs guided by thoughtfully selected as well as

clearly stated and defined goals and objectives

Is based on sound scholarship from the content areas relative to the social studies

Sets high expectations for students and uses a variety of systematic and valid measures to assess student performance

Relates appropriately to the age, maturity, interests, and needs of the students for whom it is designed

SOUTH DAKOTA SOCIAL STUDIES CONTENT STANDARDS

K-8 Standards

ESSENTIALS ACTIVITY

SIOUX FALLS - KINDERGARTENSOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM

Kindergarten Essentials GuideQuarter 1: CivicsQuarter 2: GeographyQuarter 3: EconomicsQuarter 4: History

SIOUX FALLS – 1st GRADESOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE

1st Grade Essentials GuideQuarter 1: ChangesQuarter 2: GeographyQuarter 3: Family EconomicsQuarter 4: American Symbols

SIOUX FALLS – 2nd GRADESOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE

Second Grade Essentials GuideQuarter 1: CommunitiesQuarter 2: HistoryQuarter 3: Global Relationships

Quarter 4: Economics

SIOUX FALLS – 3rd GRADESOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE

Third Grade Essentials GuideQuarter 1: CivicsQuarter 2: HistoryQuarter 3: GeographyQuarter 4: Economics

SIOUX FALLS – 4th GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE

Fourth Grade Essentials GuideQuarter 1: Civics, Geography, and Economics

Quarter 2: Regions of the USAQuarter 3: South DakotaQuarter 4: South Dakota

SIOUX FALLS – 5th GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES ESSENTIAL GUIDE

Fifth Grade Essentials GuideQuarter 1: Early CulturesQuarter 2: Exploration and Colonies

Quarter 3: American RevolutionQuarter 4: Westward Expansion and Civil War

Social Studies AdventureThe social studies textbook your students have is a tool, one of many, Don’t let it take over the life space of the curriculum. The textbook provides a certain structure of scope and sequence, but remember it is only one tool in your toolkit of many tools.

John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform.

Dewey made a strong case for the importance of education not only as a place to gain content knowledge, but also as a place to learn how to live.

John Dewey wrote long ago that children have four natural instincts that they bring to school. They are:

John Dewey 1. Young people love to talk – Your classroom should be a place of conversation.

Language and intellect co-develop, They support one another. As students work together on projects, they will talk about what they are doing. This is powerful learning.

2. Young people love to construct – Kids understood constructivism long before it became the rage in educational psychology. They learn by building things, by using their hands in connection with head and heart. Your classroom needs to become a construction zone.

3. Young people love to inquire - Children bring the gift of curiosity to school. Our task as teachers is to enhance, not dampen, that instinct, Social studies is about people. Learning about different people involves families, communities, food, clothing, shelter, traditions, habits, aspirations, and play.

4. Young people love to express themselves - Each child is an individual who is in the process of becoming who they are, a process of self-discovery, an adventure in life. One of the happiest tasks of a teacher is to get to know his or her students as individuals, to support their interests, their talents, and their dreams. Every child is talented if only we will recognize that.

Ellis, A.K.(2010) Teaching and Learning Elementary Social Studies

SOCIAL STUDIES SUPPORTS AT LEAST 5 CRITICIAL AREAS OF LEARNING

Citizenship – Social studies provides a forum for children to learn about and practice democracy.

Discovery – Social Studies is designed to help children explain their world. It provides insights to one’s history, culture, and landscape.

Self Concept – Social Studies can help children along the road to positive self-development. Unless the lives of the children you come in contact with daily are touched by you in a positive way, w=they will be hard pressed to learn anything meaningful about the lives of others.

Knowledge – Social Studies should help children acquire a foundational understanding of history, geography, biography, and the social sciences.

Understanding of Others – Social studies ought to promote in children a genuine sense of the social fabric. From the day they enter school, children need to be supported and guided in their attempts to cooperate, share and contribute. Teachers need to promote a sense of the importance of others in their classrooms.

SOCIAL STUDIES CURRICULUM PATTERNS

Social Studies is the study of human beings. It deals directly with the basic needs of human beings: food, clothing, shelter, belonging, security, and dreams.

Social Studies like other subjects of the curriculum is designed to be taught in increments, or in a developmental sequence:

Simple to the complex Familiar to the remote Known to the unknown

This progression of study from self to the world is known as the widening horizons or expanding environments curriculum.

SPIRAL CURRICULUMIntegrated with the idea of widening horizons

is the spiral curriculum. The spiral curriculum introduces concepts

and skills at simple levels, to be pursued at deeper levels in later grades.

The key to the spiral curriculum is to identify and teach real social science concepts in a developmentally appropriate way.

EXPANDING ENVIRONMENT CURRICULUM

K = Awareness of Self in a Social Setting

1st = Understanding School and Family

2nd = The Neighborhood

3rd = The Community

4th = The Region

5th = The United States & Its Close Neighbors - Canada& Mexico

6th = The Eastern Hemisphere

7th = A Global View - the world as a home of many different people

8th = The United States - history and economic development