Matt Lattimore

Social Studies Rationale

SoSt. 450

Social Studies definition

Social Studies is a part of the curriculum of both elementary and secondary schools. It teaches the students of not only history, but of current events that are happening in our world today. There are many different fields to the social sciences, and each one is unique in its own way. Social studies are not only teaching of the past but of the future. It is teaching young people of what they need to do to be a good citizen in our great country. It is teaching them the skills and attitudes that the students will need to survive in society. The students are learning that they do have a voice and a say in what happens in their community.

It teaches the students of our culture, and of cultures all around the world. It is making so our future leaders are well informed with the cultures of the world. Which is the biggest problem of people assuming and not knowing. Social studies makes the students think for themselves. A lot of what they learn is not just cut and dry. There are a lot of things where the students have to weigh the options and come to their own conclusion.

Social studies and the social sciences prepare the students for the world. It is a vast area and one that takes many years to comprehend. Since social studies have many areas like economics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, geography, political science, and history.

The education of social studies will provide the students will opportunities to:

Create effective citizens to be able to look at issues from local, state, national, and even global with a tolerance and open mindedness.

Developing student’s concept of self, to be used in to take active roles in a constantly changing community, nation, and world.

Teaching students to be well informed on issues dealing with not only their individual rights, but rights of others.

Apply knowledge to students to look at human behavior with different social science concepts and theories.

Develop students to think both independently and interdependently on issues effecting them from the local, state, national, and global levels.

Apply an understanding of the vast information, to look at issues from all angles of the social sciences.

Students will advocate the preservation of the worlds many cultures, evident by their knowledge of the cultures.

The first step in making the students informed of what it means to be a citizen.

The students must know the importance of being a citizen. They have to see what our four fathers went through to make it so that we can live the great country that we do. Then they can know to keep this country great, they must take in active role in their community and even on a larger scale in the state and national levels.

The students must be up to date on their facts so that they are informed citizens. There is nothing worst than having an uninformed citizen. Uninformed citizens can vote for the wrong candidate and make it so they get into office. They don’t know what they candidate really stands for, but just likes what clothes he wears is not a good citizen. It is one thing to vote, but it is a completely different thing to be an informed voter.

The next thing is you have to bring the whole process back to the students. Make them see how the system really works, and how it effects them. The best way for this is to find something in the community that really effects the students. Maybe some after school activity is being cut for budget reasons. You can have the students who it effects go before the school board and state their case.

Another good way to teach the students is by doing simulations with them. Do a simulation of the whole government process of how the potential law gets written and then voted on to become a law. Another way is to hold a mock vote during a presidential voting year. Let the student’s vote for which they want to be president. Also, use what you have in place in the school. Most schools have a student council, have the students come up with issues for the council to try and get changed in the school.

It all comes down to active and informed citizens will become responsible citizens. Which is what this country needs more of responsible citizens. We need to teach the students that they do have power and that their opinion does matter. A lot of the students just feel like it doesn’t matter what they think because no one listens anyway. We need to change in this in the students. We not only need to teach them, but we need to show them that they are not powerless, that when they speak people do listen to what they have to say. This is very important because these students of today are going to become either our uniformed citizens or our responsible citizen’s of tomorrow.

There are many ways to make a social studies program meaningful, challenging, integrative, value-based, and active for not only for the students but for the teacher. To make the social studies meaningful to the students so they can see where it will help them in other areas of their life that don’t pertain to school. If a student wants to change something in the community, they will learn what steps they need to take in a social studies classroom. They can than take what they learned and use it to make a change in their community. You also have to make the students see why it is worth doing and how it is connected to their real life. One of the things that you can do is a road trip across America as a project on the Internet and maybe some of the students are taking a family trip or already have taken a family trip. The students will be able to research some material that they can use on their trip.

To make the social studies program challenging, one would have to make the students think critically. There are so many things in history that happened that in the past have been taught that there is only one solution. You can take that present the students with all the evidence and make the students think about it and then have them come up with their own conclusion. Another way is when it motivates both students and teachers to learn. A student may pose a question or problem that the teacher doesn’t know the answer too. This will make the teacher go and learn about that topic further and in the long run make the teacher better prepared for the future and also make him or her a better teacher. You can also have the students do a simulation that would challenge them to think on their own. You can pose the question of problem to them and then make them research it and come up with their own conclusion again.

An integrative activity in social studies would cover many different fields. You can take the topic of supply and demand in economics. Here you are not only using economics, but you are using math along with it. Another example would be for the students to research a subject and write about it and then use it for their English class. The students will also be using computers and will have to type it so you can bring the area of computers into it. You can also use a variety of intelligence’s to make the activity integrative. You could have the students do an activity that requires them to create a physiographic map of the United States. Then ask them to pick one of the sites and have them make their own city in it. This way they are not only using Visual-Spatial, but also Logical-Mathematical. Find something that will make the students think in a couple of different ways.

To make an activity value-based one would associate differing values with the issue. I would have the students do a learning activity that would require them to research the land dispute between the Native Americans and the white settlers. This would make them look at the values that they hold and see if they are correct. Did we steal the land from the Native American’s? Who is at fault? Questions like this would make the students think about the values that are in society.

An active lesson in social studies would consist with the students constructing their own knowledge of the content based on their pre-existing knowledge. Here I would use the Internet and have them research the history between the United States and the Middle East. Have looked at the opposing views that caused the attacks of 9-11. They would have to see both sides of the story. It would require taking their pre-existing knowledge that they hold for the Middle East and see if it is the same as what they know now. The students will have a new viewpoint on the whole situation.

Professional literature would be a great aid in teaching the students about meaningful, challenging, integrative, value-based, and active. There are many great novels and articles that the students could read to help them learn social studies. Like David C. King said, " people, not events, make history"(Literature and Social Studies). The students need to learn this so that they are living history right now. They don’t have to be apart of some big event to be the history of it. The key is to make the students make the connection between what they are learn something new and how it is meaningful.

Also the students need to fill in the blanks with information. A lot of times books will just skim over some topics and so it misses some points that the students want to know about. This requires to do some work on their own to research the material and fill in the blanks for themselves.

One book that someone could use in class would be The Diary of Ann Frank. If a teacher was doing a topic on the holocaust it would definitely be a good book since it was written by a girl who about the same age as the students. This might help the students relate what then to make it more personal for them. Another book that was written is about a soldier in the Civil War called Red Badge of Courage. The main character is again about the same age as the students. All these would be really good for the students to try and help them relate the major event with something that is more meaningful to them. The last book that a teacher could use is called Letters Home. It is about soldiers of the Vietnam Conflict writing letters home to their families. The book does a really good job in breaking the book down into stages. From when they get into the service till the time when they are actually in Vietnam fighting. This book would be really good for the students since most of them will have relatives who were in the conflict.

There are so many out there that would be good incorporate into your classroom, but because of time constraints you are not allowed to. You would have to have a whole course on social literature alone just to use some of the material that is out there.

These are all just simple ideas that one could use to make the social studies meaningful, challenging, integrative, value-based, and active.

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