Chapter 7

      We focused our lesson around Social Studies. Being in the social studies method section of our Elementary Ed 422 course, we have discussed the benefits of activities being hands on and collaborative for students. Social studies, as well as learning in general, is so much more than just memorizing names, facts, dates, etc. For our lesson we chose the topic of presidents. Whole group discussions would allow students to express what they already know as well as the chance to learn from their peers. This would also provide time for questioning from both the teacher and the students. The goal of social studies is to help students become aware of their society and to become better citizens. We would take this opportunity to discuss elections and assess prior knowledge of this topic as well.  

        Students would then be in groups to collaborate and design a campaign brochure for their president. Students would have prior knowledge of some presidents from discussion as well as our other activity of doing research. They would come together as a team to present a brochure and make a poster about their president. This would allow the students to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of the concepts. We also discussed the idea of incorporating a timeline. This timeline could be used to visually see when the presidents were in office, but could also be used for students' personal lives. We could have each individual student make their own life timeline or see how everyone in the class fit on one timeline. This can make everything more relatable. 

      I found this journal article to be an interesting read dealing with social studies and the constructivist approach..."I believe the importance of technology lies in its ability to leverage constructivist approaches to the teaching of social studies"