Powerful Social Studies

1. Value-based

1.1. The teacher helped the students realize social diversity by having the students say hello in differnt languages. The students learn that just because it is a different language it still means the same thing.

1.2. The students also learned sensitivity to cultural similarities and differences by learning how various cultures celebrate holidays ,that even though we are all different, we are still the same.

2. Active

2.1. The teacher believes that the students need hands-on activities to experience and understand the concepts. She incorporates different activities into her classroom through using centers.

2.2. The teacher uses centers and action activies ie. acting out rotation and orbit of sun to understand day and night in different parts of the world. In the centers she has them making a symbol of the different celebrations. By the teacher using these activities it provides an opportunity for the students to relate prior knowledge to current experiences.

3. Meaningful

3.1. The teacher makes her classroom meaninful by ensuring that everything learned in the classroom is useful in and out of school. For example, by teaching the students about the seasons and the winter soltice is something they can relate to.

3.2. The teacher emphasises authentic activities and assessments by making food from the country whose holiday celebration was being discussed at the time. This helps the student to be able to relate to how other people celebrate their holidays making it more meaningful.

4. Challenging

4.1. The teacher creates a challenge for the students by using a variety of sources of information with different perspectives. She does this through discussion, books, activities, and sharing. One example is when she has them write about their favourite season.

4.2. The teacher makes it challenging by encouraging assertive but respectful participation in group discussions. She does this by asking the students open-ended questions to see how much the students know. She also adds challenge by incorporating other subjects into the activities.

5. Integrative

5.1. The teacher pulls in concepts from other subjects that make sense by crossing disciplinary boundaries. For example, talking about rotation and orbit of the sun into celebrating light in different parts of the world.

5.2. The teacher also links knowledge and skills by using Math sequencing to learn the order of the seasons when discussing Winter Soltice. The students have to use their knowledge to and skills to put the seasons in order and to finish off the page by drawing, colouring, or writing.