EU464 Social Studies Electronic Toolkit

Science for kids is a great interactive website for both teachers and students. This website provides different games, experiments, videos and even lesson plans and worksheets for teachers.

Diaries can be an effective tool to connect readers/students to the emotions, motivations and thoughts of the people who were living in the historical events that we are studying. The author of this article discusses four topics that are valuable for us to study as history teachers. 1) importance of historical perspective taking as an aspect of historical thinking and the obligation of educators to assist learners in developing their capacity to engage; 2) outline why and how teachers could assist learners in using diaries as evidence for reconstructing historical perspectives; 3)layout excerpts from three published diaries to demonstrate how these provide evidence of classed, gendered, ethnic/religious points of view within the time periods they were written; 4)provide some specific suggestions as to how teachers can use examples from these diaries to spark deeper probing of ideas and time periods.

If you link to this site you will find many letters written during the War. The link provides you with many lesson plans on the war and use the letters to help show the students the real side of being a soldier. I think students will find this very interesting and it provides us as first year teachers a great resource to first hand accounts of the great war.

In this article John Fielding, discusses how many of Canadian students learn history - through memorization and lecture - and how instead we need to engage students in history lessons through role play, field trips and storytelling. For many it is easy to identify how history should NOT be taught, but to make history memorable we need to make it come alive for the students. John also offers a list of strategies in teaching history which are not valuable, strategies which may be successful, and finally interesting and imaginative learning strategies, all with reasons why they are, or are not, effective.

John Fielding a retired history professor from Queens University wrote this short article to encourage History teachers to be passionate and creative in their teaching. Teachers need to get students involved in History and show them how it is relevant today. According to Professor Fielding "the most important element for a strategy to be effective is, however, that it must activate the historical imagination of the student." So as teachers we need to find ways to start their imagination and let them enjoy the past without always having to write a two page essay. Fielding suggest that teachers allow students to be creative allowing them to use historical fiction to demonstrate their understanding of the people and their times. Teachers should incorporate drama, role playing and storytelling help develop a historical imagination of the student. When you can capture the imagination of the student you can then develop a passion in the student for the things of the past.

In this article it talks about the Canadian Government investing money into heritage projects to promote history throughout the country. While reading this article I discovered that only 4 out of 10 provinces require high school students to take history. It is difficult to understand why all provinces do not require students to take history.

Youth Leading Global Change is the Movement of our Time.

The Montreal Gazette Newspaper published an article on November 11, entitled, "The Need for Remembrance Day Endures." This article recognizes the importance of veterans and their memories they bring from experiencing historical events in history. Ultimately, individuals who fought in World War I, World War 2, and the Korean War, lay the foundation of Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country. The fascinating stories of veterans' lives serve as the purest form of experience as it provides invaluable insight to historical events. While there is an array of documentation of veterans' experiences, it is more meaningful and engaging to have them orally share their stores. Although many will no longer be able to share their experiences with us, it becomes essential for parents and educators to continue honouring the individuals who sacrificed their lives for our country. A poppy can serve as a simple testament of respect as well as the desire for peace. As we continue to fight the war on terrorism, the desire for power and resources raise the possibilities for greater global violence and turmoil. By paying tribute to our war veterans, it becomes essential to teach students the importance of reflection by promoting peace and community within the classroom environment.

This article describes three authors from Laurier who have written a book entitled "Canadian Battlefields 1915-1918" which is a guide to and describes the battlefields of northern Europe. In addition to the book, the article describes the use of Google Earth images in better understanding the situation that soldiers were facing during the First World War. It is the author's opinion that by utilizing the technological images, "readers better understand what the Canadians were up against during their battles in the French countryside." I believe that this would not only be an interesting book regarding teaching of historical events, but also an interesting way to incorporate technology into history and to modernize history for students.

Some may say this game is outdated. Yes, it is. However, this game is a great interactive way to teach geography, along with different education areas such as math and science. The game involves a lot of strategic decision making in terms of geographical concepts. If Cross Country Canada was updated with today's technology and catered to our youth today, it would remain a fun and interactive way to learn about Canada and its geography, just like many of us did back in the 90s.

As a teacher, how can you teach your students to be Self-Regulated Learners? Such a task requires careful implementation and integration of many tools and teaching many skills in your classroom. This article will give you a bump start in your efforts, providing a framework and suggestions for promoting self-regulated learning skills for each step of the process. The article breaks self-regulated learning strategies into three phases: The Forethought Phase, The Performance Phase, and The Self-Reflective Phase. The Forethought Phase indicates that self-regulated learners will analyze the task, set goals, and developed strategies that will allow them to complete the goal effectively. An example of putting this in practice could include modeling how to set goals and asking your students to set goals for themselves before a task; this would help to promote self-regulated learning in your classroom. As a teacher, you could also model self-regulated learning strategies during The Performance Phase of a tasks by modeling self-observation and demonstrating various learning strategies. The Self Reflective Phase occurs after the tasks are completed; a self-regulated learner would evaluate one's performance and recognize strategies that could improve the outcome for next time. Asking students to complete a self-evaluation after they have completed a task will help them to become self-learners, especially if you consistently apply this strategy in the classroom. Helping all students develop self-regulatory habits before, during and after learning, is a worthwhile goal for elementary teachers because once these habits are internalized, they will serve students for life.

This article is a great follow up to the fantastic presentation on ESL students and ESL teaching we were given last week in class. It can be difficult to bridge the gap between you and a student who speaks a different language and/or comes from a different country and cultural background. This article provides you with a few practical tips and 'icebreakers' on how to overcome the language barriers. It is important to establish good rapport with your ESL students; many will not feel comfortable in your class if you cannot achieve good rapport and if your students are uncomfortable, they will probably be unable to produce their best work. Making this connection can be very difficult as many ESL students would rather distance themselves from their instructor and fellow students with whom they cannot connect with right away because of the language and cultural barrier. A good icebreaker to established rapport and gauge the level of your ESL student (s) is Two Truths and a Lie. This activity will tell you whether or not your ESL student (s) know basic English, and will open up conversations between you and your students, as well as between students, about some unexpected answers that hopefully also offer some cultural insights. Another good icebreaker that will challenge student assumptions about each other is Who Wrote This? Many students may be surprised at some of the answers, and this activity will open up the classroom to new discussions about ESL students' personal interests and how they are similar or connect with the rest of the class's interests. Establishing a good relationship with your ESL students and making them feel comfortable and safe in your classroom is half the battle; having good icebreakers will help achieve these tasks and will aid your efforts significantly in presenting yourself to your ESL students as a safe, caring teacher.

Do you keep hearing about how important creativity in the classroom is but have no idea how to teach such a skill? There seems to be an understanding that creativity is something that one is born with and not something that is taught. This article offers reasons why it is important to teach creativity in your classroom and offers examples on how you can accomplish this seemingly incredible task. Creativity is not a bestowed gift; if can be experienced and learned by students in a classroom setting. The article emphasizes that there is a desperate need for creative thinkers in the world; we are in the midst of a creativity crisis. A sustainable future depends on having creative thinkers think up innovative solutions to complex problems. Creativity is a set of skills that must be taught to the future generations. The article provides examples of teaching creativity in the classroom. For example, As part of their social studies report, high school students developed a strong sense of empathy when they worked with the art teacher to create masks representing the emotions embodied by people from significant historical events: Polish Jews during the Second World War; a mother and her children leaving Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine in 1847; and parents receiving news that their son or daughter has been killed in action in Afghanistan. Students' creativity cannot be constantly held back by the tight constraints of producing a specific product to exhibit their understanding in a specific way. Creativity should be further explored in our education system if it is a skill that future generations will need to deal with our future complex concerns; not pulled away from simply because it is a concept that many people have not quite figured out how to explain and teach in a school setting.

Want to save some time in your busy classroom? Wondering how to integrate different subjects effectively? This article demonstrates how to combine social studies and visual arts in an effective and meaningful way for students. Students demonstrate an understanding of both art and history curriculum expectations as they separate what they can observe from a piece of art from what they can infer from the same piece of art. The article offers tips on how to best present a piece of art. For example, you can enlarge a detail of a painting and describe the specific detail. Then return to the larger image and discuss how looking at only part of the picture can be misleading; just like in history how only looking at one part or perspective of the story can be misleading. Artworks are primary resources in the same way that letters, diaries, and other textual sources are. Historical context is extremely important to the "reading" of these resources. This is why combining visual arts and history can be a very useful and practical way of teaching these subjects. As well, Matching an image to a complementary excerpt can help students deepen their understanding of a person, event or concept and will help build up their skill at making connections; a skill that should be well developed in both inside and outside the classroom.

When President Bush enacted the, "No Child Left Behind Act", he created a large hindrance of learning for the subject area of history and other humanities. This act primarily focusses on the subject areas of math and literacy. With the recent election of President Obama, similar patterns have continued to exist concerning the area of history. President Obama's policy concerning education focusses on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Author, Chelsea Gibson, states, despite the continued emphasis of math and literacy and the support these subjects receive from the government, history and social studies will always teach our children important life lessons. This in turn will create responsible and informed critical leaners. Gibson states 4 reasons as to why the application of history in schools creates critical and informed lifelong learners: 1. History teaches analytical skills. History requires students to make connections and allows them to ask question. Gibson states, critical thinking is the foundation for history therefore, making critical learning an essential learning tool. 2. History is also integrated into other curriculum areas such as the Arts, psychology, philosophy, and modern languages. 3. History teaches and improves writing skills. 4. Finally, history makes students more aware of their heritage.

In the San Francisco Chronicle, "TeachWithMovies.com, Inc. Announces New Curriculum Materials to Teach Historical Fiction in Social Studies Classes" was published on October 31, 2011. This internet site has developed an innovative approach to assist social studies instructors by providing a list of films in education that suit specific expectations of the Ontario curriculum. The promotion of historical fiction films can provide enrichment to a classroom experience as it enables students to watch a combination of fact and fiction . If educators provide the tools to analyze historical fiction, students will be able to extract elements of historical accuracy from the film. Therefore, students can compare the film with the information taught from the text to establish their own ideas or beliefs. Ultimately, this allows the student to establish a deeper and meaningful connection to the content studied. This analysis of historical information is heavily entrenched in the Language Curriculum as well. Through the development of worksheets and lesson plans available on the website, instructors can choose from a list of films to engage their students in analyzing historical fiction. Discussion questions, project ideas, and links to further resources are also provided. This article highlights an alternative educational experience students can engage in to further develop their understanding of the material relayed in their textbooks.

Here are a couple engaging videos that clearly illustrate how reaching the 7 billionth person on the earth will have an impact on our students. Also showing who the typical earthling looks, and lives. A great video for grade 8 geography...

Here is the other video which works well with it... The World's Most Typical Person http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/10/28/141792664/find-your-spot-among-worlds-7-billion-and-meet-the-most-typical-person

Geography Today is about a better Tomorrow!

George Santayana coined the phrase, "Those who cannot remember history are condemned to repeat it." Author David Crabtee states, that the past greatly influences decisions and actions for the future. This article takes the perspectives and opinions of important authors and professors concerning the significance of teaching history in our classrooms. These authors discuss common misconceptions, benefits, considerations, limitations, and effects of teaching our students history. Having a curriculum that stresses the importance of history creates critical thinkers. Teaching history is an effective teaching and learning skill for both student and teachers. Crabtee helps us understand this through his example of Christopher Columbus. History helps students learn about different perspectives and opposing point of views. Stacia Deutch also lists several reasons as to why it is important to teach our children history such as, teaching our students good and bad decision making, learning from past examples, and a better understanding of people and culture. These authors also presented some limitations and considerations teachers can think about when teaching history. Professor John Fielding states that teachers need to engage students in learning history. Teachers need to teach history with the goal and focus of engaging their students. This can be done through: debates, role playing, artistic posters, and projects, the use of historical fiction.

Who will be # 7, 000, 000, 000? This article discusses different population trends. It is also an awakening for the world as the population increases so to will our energy, food prices and environmental stresses. Not to mention the amount of people who already undernourished. These reasons are very important and should be discussed in social studies classes' world wide. Our schools should be educating our children about demographics and the effects it has on the many social and environmental factors.

Recent years have seen a sharp decrease in social studies subject areas. Studies have shown that students are not properly informed or educated about our countries political system and its operations as we would hope them to be. Classroom time has been focused on literacy and numeracy. This negatively influences a student's critical thinking skills as future voters. Steve Goldberg stresses the importance of restoring social studies at the forefront of the curriculum in order to shape our students into responsible and civil citizens. This article does a great job of discussing how the discipline of social studies creates critical and informed thinkers. Social studies provide a platform for discussion concerning our country and the global world. Students are able to critically think outside the box and make sense of the world. They are taught basic skills that they can apply to their everyday lives such as, learning through a historical context and interpreting graphs and charts. Steve Goldberg states that these are numeracy and literacy skills that can be applied to the real world.