February 20, 2024
In just
these past few weeks I have an entirely different outlook on social studies and
technology in the classroom. I work at the elementary level so I will focus more
on the skills and importance of that age group.
The believe the
purpose of elementary school social studies is to enable students to
understand, participate in, and make informed decisions about their world. Social
Studies prepares students to become compassionate, responsible and effective
citizens of their local and global communities. Lessons should be active and
engaging.
Social
studies content allows young learners to explain relationships with other
people, to institutions, and to the environment, and gives them knowledge and
understanding of the past. It provides them with skills for productive problem
solving and decision making as well as for assessing issues and making
thoughtful value judgments.
Elementary
social studies should include civic engagement, as well as knowledge from the
core content areas of civics, economics, geography, and history. Skills that
enhance critical thinking, socio-emotional development, prosocial skills,
interpersonal interactions, and information literacy are more meaningful and
useful when developed within the context of social studies. The use of
technology in elementary social studies also prepares students as active and
responsible citizens in the twenty-first century.
Simple
things like “let’s find out” magazines and doing research on the computer are
fine to start with teaching social studies with technology but digging deeper will
be so much more meaningful in the elementary classroom.
Jessika,
ReplyDeleteI also have a different outlook on social studies just from the few weeks we have had of this class. I used to think of it as learning about the wars and presidents. Now, I really view it as a way for students to become aware and connected to how the world has changed and got to where we are today!
Jessika,
ReplyDeleteI find that elementary social studies is more of an introduction to what social studies are and once they have a general sense of the topic, students are more willing to "dig deeper" into the topic. For example, I had a student who recently read "The Book Thief" over the summer at the summer camp I work at. She was in 4th grade at the time, and got invested in this book. If you haven't read it, it's about the book burnings in Germany during WWII and the Holocaust. One day, she paused, looked up at me and said, "I don't get it. How come this actually occurred?". These small introductions with reading opens the door to those bigger questions.