~Social Studies Final Reflection~

My Final Reflection
It is hard to believe our time in this semester has come and has gone.
One of the things I enjoyed about this semester is the social studies class.
The reason I enjoyed it so much was because each week would be different- no two classes were the same and Dr. Meier had us on our toes from the beginning and involved the class in every activity.
Social studies has been pushed to the curb, but what we have found out is, it can still be incorporated into our day of teaching.
Social studies is important to teach because it includes history, geography, political science, etc. It is important to start teaching social studies at an early age. Students can be involved in simple tasks like leading the line, cleaning the room and pushing the chairs under the desk. This allows students to have a role in their classroom and will also help students develop their critical voices.
The importance of having a democratic, student-centered environment is so the children can take a part in helping "create" the rules and procedures. This shows the students they are important and their ideas matter. Our "block" class participated in the "rule making" process at the beginning of the semester and I definitely want to incorporate this idea into my classroom. We had a lot of great ideas and we were able to share these with the whole class. It also lets the teacher know that the students are helping and willing to honor the rules set.
If social studies are sidelined in my classroom (due to a greater authority) I will use the ideas we gave in our round table sharing time. I can incorporate social studies into reading and language arts, for example, reading about the Native Americans and then writing a script for a play to act out for other classes.
I think letting the children learn about their individual knapsacks can incorporate a great discussion on different cultures and the students diversity. This is important for all students to learn about and what better way then having the students share themselves.
Some great resources to teach social studies are found on our blogs. The Internet is a great tool with so many teachers sharing ideas they have tried that work. Also the activities we did in class are definitely ones we will not forget. I have enjoyed doing the skit, learning about taxation with M&M’s, using boxes to make a city, climbing Mount Everest, peeling an orange to compare flat maps with round maps, using the FQR to really learn about a topic or reading, doing the booktalk, acting out in the living museum, making our own classroom rules, and of course geocaching. (I know there are many more activities we did, but this is just a start for us to see how easy it is to do social studies in the classroom at any age.)
How can we integrate social studies with other classes are just about as simple. I taught on landforms and I incorporated music and movement, art using clay, reading a story that included landforms, and using technology to create a PowerPoint lesson and game show for review. This is just one example of many integrating social studies with other classes. I also learned about how to use the curriculum standards for social studies using NCSS and TN State Standards.
The biggest key to learning social studies for me this semester was all the hands on activities, being involved in-group work, getting up and participating in the learning process. Students will enjoy learning and the more we know, the better we can teach. This will be a learning process for me as I prepare to teach social studies to my class, but I will do it.
Dr. Meier, thanks for making social studies fun and enjoyable, and I was learning in the process!! I want to use the methods I learned in class and pass on to my students so they will also enjoy social studies while learning!!

Book talk

WOW~ it was great to hear all the books on social studies. I wrote down so many to try and find to add them to my classroom library.
I love the idea of integrating social studies and language arts and this is a great way to do it. Students can enjoy sharing about their own books and then letting us wonder what will happen next. This would hopefully encourage the other students to read more books. I am looking forward to some free time soon and I want to read some of the books you all suggested because the cliff hangers were great and I'm too impatient to wait, so thanks for sharing.

Turkey Day :)

Happy Thanksgiving Day to all my Block Friends.Hope you enjoy your long break from school andspecial times with your family and friends!!

Story Path

This was another fun, interesting way to learn about social studies. I asked my mentor teacher if she had ever heard of story path and she had not but wanted me to give her some details on it. I think this is a great way to let the kids open up about a social studies topic. I really enjoyed creating my climber and look forward to hearing more about the critical elements from the sherpas and the other climbers.

Battle of New Orleans song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50_iRIcxsz0
Here is the "better" version of the song I tried to sing in class on Monday. Check it out!!

Did I actually say I wanted to climb
this mountain?? What was I thinking!!!  I was thinking that it would be a hike up a mountain, boy was I wrong!!
I didn't realize ALL the preparations that has to be done
before the climb and then the worst part is only getting to enjoy the TOP for such a short time, if you even make it!! I enjoyed learning about what goes into the climb of the world's tallest mountain. I never thought it would cost so much or take so long to prepare for!! Looking forward to learning more about Mount Everest and yes I have changed my mind. I do not want to climb this mountain, even if I had enough money
do it. I will just enjoy other people's
adventure stories to this beautiful, but
deadly mountain!!

More geocaching

Here are 2 pictures of a geocache we found on Tues. This cache is actually a rock cave, not a box or container. I wish we could've gone inside (just a little) but it was blocked off :(
Still having fun "treasure hunting"

Geocashing part 2

Well we got the handheld GPS, so we were able to go out on Sat and here are some of the pict. Don't want to give away too much with the location, but we were able to find 2 of the 3 we were looking for. Plan to go back out on Tues, :)

Geocaching!!

Funny story about geocaching. I came home (excited) and told my family about "treasure hunting" and explained the details. So we looked online near my area and found many caches right around us. My husband was VERY skeptical (kinda reminded me of Dr Meier's father) asking questions, saying who would want to go and do that? The more we talked about it, the more excited we became.
(my children and I)
My kids are on fall break from today till next Wed and I told them we would go "hunting" maybe this weekend. Well I didn't realize that my phone was not able to receive latitude and longitude, so I was disappointed :( 
My husband (secretively) said he did the research on it, got our family a username, and was going tonight to buy a handheld GPS so the family could go geocaching this weekend. Excitement again.
(I knew he would like it, but took awhile to admit that something he had not heard of, was really OK)
Anyway, I will take some pictures if we "find" one this weekend and post so you can see our excitement too.
We have a park within 5 miles of where we live with about 20 geocaches in it!! We plan to be geocaching as a family at that park till next year!!

Doesn't this snack look yummy??
It is made with colby cheese, apples, strawberries and swiss rolls.

Geography

There are so many ideas for teaching geography. I will be teaching about landforms this week and have come up with some great ideas for the students to remember the landforms of the world.
With the help of the internet, geography ideas are just a click away. There is no need to sit and read a textbook for lessons when we can get so many ideas and activities from teachers all around the world. (thanks to the WWW)
I love researching different lesson plan ideas because that means that I am trying to improve the students learning of a subject. I can be looking a one website and it take me to 3-4 others that are jam-packed with great, useable lesson plans.
We have stayed busy in Dr. Meier's class and I love the thought of always doing something new and different to learn about an area of social studies!!!

Blocksborough

Here is a small version of our town, Blocksborough.
Everybody did a good job on their buildings.

New link about social studies

I found a great link that is geared toward
elementary education using social studies
intergrated with other subjects. I have spent an hour just looking at all the teacher lesson plans. It is amazing what is available online for us to use to make social studies more interesting.
So here is the link...ENJOY
http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp?lnkid=TNav:SA:home&ESP=SA/ib//acq/main_tnav_SA///nav/txtl////

~Critical Voice~

After reading the articles on having a critical voice, I realized that I needed to understand what a critical voice is?

The article says "to develop a critical voice, a teacher has to take time to analyze directives, mandates, and messages from whatever the source and then use that anaylsis to SPEAK UP about issues willingly and strongly to the power sources."

WOW-that's some pretty strong words!!

Every teacher will teach different and provide learning to the students in their class. If I don't know what my beliefs are, how can I stand up for my students. I have to be grounded to provide my students with an opportunity to learn.

I want to have an administraiton that is very supportive of my teaching, but as we have read in articles/journals that sometimes is not the case and then we have to see how far we will go for our students!!

"A teacher without the ability to think critically or to translate that thinking into a critical voice does a disservice to teaching, to learning, to students and to our democracy."



Social Studies :)

Last week and today in my placement class, the 3rd graders were working on learning the continents, oceans, directions, (NSEW) equator, Northern and Southern Hemisphere, longitude, and latitude lines. Wow~ this seems like alot of stuff, but they did it in a fun way. They were able to draw a picture of all the above mentioned in the world on a big posterboard, color it in, and label it, and then of course display it. The teacher had a world quiz that she did through her smartboard where the children came up and answered the questions and then they got to choose the next person to answer. The questions asked were- Find the Pacific Ocean, Where is the Northern Hemisphere, Point to Africa and so on. They were all participating and learning at the same time!! Fun way to do social studies, with out the book!!!

3rd grade~ Here I come!!

Well I went to my placement grade today with a GREAT teacher and she is going to be so helpful, I'm thankful for that. She let me grade their reading tests and help with math and even social studies. She said I could do whatever, whenever, so I feel great that she is willing to give the class to me. She only has 17 students, but some of them are like having 2 each, so it is a harder class, but I'm glad I get to be there to watch her deal with the behavior issues!! (It will only help me in the future)
Now onto some more of the dreaded "H" word.
Looking forward to Pizza on Monday with my good buddies :)

PLACEMENT

Well I'm excited because we (the last few in the class) received our placements at Blountville Elem. I'm already very happy because I know my mentor teacher. My oldest son had her many years ago and she was wonderful then. Kinda nervous too because that's when all the assignments are going to be due, when we are in our classrooms!!Glad we have helpful professors (some anyway)

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/

Hopefully this web address will open because it has some great social studies info and lesson ideas.
Also I like the interactive kind of learning (ex. parliament and the colonies, (taking our m&m's)
So I was thinking alot about Ron Clark's ideas and The Presidents Rap Song kept coming to my mind. I couldn't find a good version of it on you tube except the one from the actual movie, The Ron Clark Story, but he definitely has good ideas to brighten up a lesson.
Have a great weekend bloggers =)

Another day

Well I am excited to be getting my placement soon!!! I know some of you have already received your placements and have been to the schools..how exciting!!
I hope everyone gets a chance to blog about their schools, mentors, and just the overwhelming feelings we all will have in our new classrooms :)
See you all tom in class.

Happy Patriot's Day to you all!!

I was able to go to my younger 2 sons school yesterday for a Celebration for Patriot's Day. The younger children released red, white, and blue balloons, while the older students sang patriotic songs and waved flags. The principal talked about 9-11 and about being a Patriot. I think it would be great for all schools to participate in some kind of celebration honoring our country and the heroes that died for us.

My son Caleb is holding the "A"

A picture book read aloud is a perfect opportunity for teachers to make reading fun for children. Read on for ideas to liven things up in the classroom.

A picture book read aloud presented by a teacher to a classroom full of students has plenty of opportunities for amusement. Encourage young readers to become lifelong readers by taking the time to try out some of these read aloud ideas. When reading is fun, children pay attention in school!

Use Props for Making Reading Fun

Puppets that resemble the main characters in a story are fun to use with a picture book read aloud. Puppetry helps story characters “come to life” for children. Puppets can be bought from educational supply stores or can be made by hand using supplies found in popular craft stores.


Read With Gusto During the Picture Book Read Aloud

Young children often enjoy hearing the same picture book read aloud over and over again. Make the 100th reading as exciting as the first time by using a dramatic voice. Reading with a high pitched, low pitched, or accented voice is a sure-fire way to keep the story interesting. Be fearless when teaching and go for the gusto!
Dress the Part

Playing dress up doesn’t have to be reserved only for preschoolers on a playdate. If the picture book has a main character that really is quite a character, play up on that! Rummage for old clothes around the house, at thrift stores, or garage sales in order to look the part. A read aloud that is performed by a life-sized book character look-alike is a definite way to make reading fun for children.
If the picture book is a familiar one, older students may want to dress up as well. Putting on a class play is a fun extension activity that teaches students cooperation and public speaking skills.

Read in a Sing-Song Voice

It is not uncommon for a young child to grow attached to a particular picture book. Using rhythms from popular children’s songs to liven up that 100th reading of The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a fun read aloud idea (especially for teachers who have grown weary of this award-winning picture book). Be spunky and have fun singing the words; children appreciate enthusiasm!


Read more at Suite101: Picture Book Read Aloud – Making Reading Fun for Children http://www.suite101.com/content/picture-book-read-aloudmaking-reading-fun-for-children-a274556#ixzz0z5Lbf9gZ

I have been reading homework for the last couple of hours, and I am still playing around with my blog. I'm still trying to figure out about pictures and slide shows, but there is so much information that can be used in a blog, it is GREAT! Hope you all have a productive Thurs. I am off to a golf match at Warriors with my oldest son Joshua.

Sept 9, 2010

Well I have actually set up my blog, so we will see where it goes from here. Very excited about this semester, kinda nervous with all the "due dates."
It's hard to believe my school adventure is coming to an end. I have been in school since 2006. What will it be like to NOT buy books-WOW!!
Here is a website I want to share.
http://www.kids-cooking-activities.com/
This can be used with classroom activities as well as in your home!