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| Photo from: http://zhan.renren.com/tag?value=immigration |
SOCIAL STUDIES BOOK TALK
For the Book Talk in Social Studies for Junior Intermediate
students, our group did a summary of chapters one through three from the
"Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching and
Learning" textbook. These chapters emphasized the importance of taking a “child-centered”
or progressive approach to education through the ideologies of John Dewey. Not
only should students be engaged in their learning, but they should be responsible
for their own learning by making decisions the teacher can prompt in the
classroom. To increase engagement, teachers should not only create a classroom
that fosters safe, collective learning but also incorporates a variety of
current, applicable events. Using the “Expanding Horizons Model” students
should explore topics by starting with relatable information, and traveling
outward to gain a family, community, provincial, country and later a world perspective.
By using this approach, students are able to understand and contextualize the
new information at an increased rate which therefore, creates higher-order thinking
in the classroom. Something to consider that was also important in this chapter
was the concept of nationalism and diversity. The demographic of Canada is
ever-changing and as teacher, we must adapt to these changes. Topics that we
discuss should reflect the issues that our students could be exposed to from
various cultures around the world as our national make-up is highly composed of
these cultures. The biggest take away message from these chapters was to create
social studies curricula that reflect the needs of the students as well as the
events that are occurring in our lives every day. Content needs to be current, relatable
and enjoyable in order for students to gain a sufficient understanding.  |
| Photo from: Elementary Social Studies: A Practical Approach to Teaching & Learning by Wright and Hutchison |
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