social studies - Gtec Kids

Helping Students Define Primary Source Documents

The primary source document has recently received more and more attention in national and state standards for all education levels. And for the gifted student, the primary source document can stimulate and challenge a population of students who are sometimes bored by textbooks that regurgitate important sources in pedantic and watered-down language. Still, incorporating the primary source document into the curriculum can prove to be challenging for teachers charged with this task. For, you might ask, what “exactly” is a primary...

The Magnetic Debate

The Magnetic Debate is a discussion strategy in which participants are given an opportunity to influence others through persuasive speeches, sincere advice, and education so an informed decision can be made on a controversial issue. Teachers become coaches as they encourage students to take ownership of their own learning and make it come alive. The teacher may make the selection of the area of study or have the students select it. Yet, students will ultimately research the specific topic. ...

Stix Discussion

The Stix Discussion (Stix 1999) is a discussion strategy that has four distinct viewpoints as well as an inner circle and an outer circle that equally participate in a discussion. This strategy is a modification of the inner-outer circle or fishbowl discussion. The students in the inner circle and the outer circle will change roles, so everyone gets an equal chance to participate. This strategy is appropriate for middle school through college-level classrooms.This strategy takes discussions to a more...

Role-Play in the Classroom with Delicious

Delicious (del.icio.us) is an online social bookmarking platform that stores and categorizes photos, videos, and articles that teachers can use to motivate and engage students. It is part of social media because teachers can see each other’s folders called “stacks” of information and share each other’s postings of links on the web. These links are usually of high quality because teachers have invested time in surfing the internet to make meaningful selections.Many teachers have used Delicious to share great links with...

Heaping Pennies to Teach Group Cohesion

This experiment portrays the idea that group cohesion is stronger than the individual members who form the group.Essential Question: What is group cohesion? What is a team? Guiding Questions: For what reasons do people form groups (substitute teams for groups if you choose)? Generate a list of platforms used where people make connections to form groups. Describe in detail how groups are formed and made. Explain specifically what the group accomplishes. Describe the type of energy needed to fuel the existence of the group. In what...

Imagery Walk

The Imagery Walk is an exercise that allows students to visually bring content alive by utilizing their imaginations. It is based on meditative practices but allows for scenes in English Language Arts, historical periods in Social Studies, geometrical designs in mathematics, and procedures in science to be recreated. By implementing this strategy, students are more able to move the content from short-term to long-term memory, because they personally create and interact with the content area. Using a soft, gentle, soothing, and...

Enlivening Social Studies to Meet the Test

Andi Stix was interviewed by Donna Green from the New York Times on why Social Studies instruction needs improvement.Coming soon from the same people who brought New York students new tests in reading and math – a new test for social studies. The tests are mandated by the Board of Regents and are aimed at raising academic standards. For fifth-graders, the test is to be given this year, although there is talk of delaying it a year; for eighth-graders,...

Using Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature in the Middle School American Studies

Talk to middle school teachers about the challenges of teaching today, and you are likely to be barraged with a long list of factors that make their jobs difficult. Class size, lack of materials, poor attendance– the list of problems facing today’s teachers sometimes seems endless. We often hear middle school teachers from all subject areas complain that, “It is so difficult to motivate students today.” Another complaint, often made by teachers is, “My students read on so many different...

Differentiating the Curriculum- How We Established a Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature Bookroom for the Social Studies Department

Recently, the District #2 Office in New York City mandated that all children at the middle school level should read 25 books per year. While the burden of this mandate fell most heavily on the shoulders of the Language Arts department, we at Robert Wagner Middle School in Manhattan began to discuss ways the social studies department could help to increase literacy, a goal important to all subject areas. As we talked, we agreed that it was misguided to assume that the language...

How to Address a Political Cartoon for Clearer Interpretation

A Letter to the Editor: Social Education on Political CartoonsI applaud Ray Heitzmann’s article , which discusses the use of political cartoons in the classroom. I am always in search of good sources and am glad to find a detailed list included in the article.According to Dr. Heitzmann, teachers often find that their students have trouble deciphering political cartoons. In preparation for the new state document-based essay questions, I have devised an easy-to-use format for students to follow:Read the question on...

Helping Students Define Primary Source Documents

The Magnetic Debate

Stix Discussion

Role-Play in the Classroom with Delicious

Heaping Pennies to Teach Group Cohesion

Imagery Walk

Enlivening Social Studies to Meet the Test

Using Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature in the Middle School American Studies

Differentiating the Curriculum- How We Established a Multi-Level, Young Adult Literature Bookroom for the Social Studies Department

How to Address a Political Cartoon for Clearer Interpretation

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