Bringing Social Studies Curriculum Design into the 21 st Century

1. Bringing Social Studies Curriculum Design into the 21st Century Leslie Long Philipsburg – Osceola Area School District

2. The 21st Century “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn. ” - Alvin Toffler Technological improvements recently have changed The way people interact … - through social media and Web 2.0 tools The way we produce, distribute and consume goods and information… - advances in engineering and design, materials, computational capacity and even the progress of artificial intelligence Preparing the young for a future that seems to change every time you click the refresh button is a huge challenge

3. The 21st Century • That challenge cannot be met by the same old curriculum design, instructional strategies and tools we’ve always used. • Tradition has its place, but so does change • Often teachers try to patch the worn spots of our classrooms with fancy 21st century buzzwords like “authentic” “inquiry” & “collaboration” • Those patches aren’t fixing the problem and they aren’t helping us meet the expectations laid out before us Rigor Higher Order Technology Media Literacy Engagement

4. New Expectations • Common Core Standards – Emphasis on the application of literacy skills to demonstrate understanding PA CCS 8.5 – Reading Informational Texts - Cite specific textual evidence - Determine central ideas & be able to summarize - Identify text structure - Identify, analyze and evaluate author’s point of view - Distinguish between fact, opinion and judgment - Exposure to complex texts

5. New Expectations PA CCS 8.6 - Writing - Argument – discipline specific - Introduce claim and counter-claim - Support claims with evidence and logical reasoning - Cohesion, clarity & style - Conclusion - Informative/Explanatory - Introduce topic clearly - Organize information into broad categories - Relevant facts, definitions & examples - Cohesion, clarity & style - Conclusion - Evidence of planning, editing, revising with peers & adults - Use of technology for creating & publishing - Conduct research using various sources - Use evidence for analysis & interpretation - Write over extended periods of time

6. New Expectations • CollegeBoard’s AP Historical Thinking Standards Skill 1: Crafting Historical Arguments from Historical Evidence - define and frame a question, craft a thesis, identify, analyze and use relevant historical evidence Skill 2: Chronological Reasoning - Historical causation - Patterns of continuity and change - Periodization Skill 3: Comparison & Contextualization - describe, compare and evaluate within and beyond specific time & place - connect historical developments to specific circumstances Skill 4: Historical Interpretation & Synthesis - describe, analyze, evaluate and create diverse interpretations of the past - ability to arrive at meaningful and persuasive understandings of the past

7. New Expectations • Partnership for 21st Century Skills • Interdisciplinary Themes • Global awareness • Financial, economic, business, entrepreneurial literacy • Civic literacy • Health literacy • Environmental literacy • Learning and Innovation Skills • Creativity & Innovation • Critical Thinking & Problem Solving • Communication & Collaboration • Information, Media & Technology Skills • Information literacy • Media literacy • Information, Communications & Technology literacy • Life and Career Skills • Flexibility & adaptability • Initiative & self direction • Social & Cross-Cultural Skills • Productivity & Accountability • Leadership & Responsibility

8. Curriculum Re-Design • To meet these new expectations we must Apply best practices to curriculum re-design projects • Framework - structure • Content – knowledge, understanding, skills • Instructional Strategies – facilitating learning • Tools – supporting learning • Assessments -checking for understanding

9. Framework “You’ve got to think about big things while you’re doing small things, so that all the small things go in the right direction.” (Alvin Toffler) • Backward Design Model • Identify Desired Results • Determine acceptable evidence • Plan learning experiences and instruction “All the methods and materials we use are shaped by a clear conception of the vision of desired results. That means that we must be able to state with clarity what the student should understand and be able to do as a result of any plan and irrespective of any constraints we face.” (Wiggins, McTighe, 2005, p. 14)

10. Content • The Knowledge, Understandings and Skills must be closely connected in all curriculum design because they are closely connected in the process of learning “Understandingis the ability to marshal skills and facts wisely and appropriately, through effective application, analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.” (Bloom, 1956)

11. Instructional Strategies • Classroom Instruction • that Works • (Marzano, et. Al., 2001) • Identifying similarities & differences • Summarizing & note-taking • Reinforcing effort & providing recognition • Homework & practice • Nonlinguistic representations • Cooperative learning • Setting objectives and providing feedback • Generating & testing hypotheses • Cues, questions and advance organizers Inquiry & Authentic Learning Opportunities provide students with the opportunity to learn and demonstrate understanding of the content “A curriculum that affirms that individuals are not just recorders of information, but also builders of knowledge. Students occupy the center of learning. Understanding requires more than simple introduction to information. Opportunities must be provided that help integrate new ideas with preexisting knowledge through guided inquiry” (Steeves, 2005, p. 2)

12. Tools • Using technology like computers and the internet aren’t just in line with needs of the 21st century workforce but their application in the classroom has been shown to have positive effects on student learning • Students take on a more active role • Increased motivation • Improved technical skill • Completion of more complex tasks • More collaboration with peers • Access to outside resources • Improved design skills and attention to audience *A Research Project Sponsored by the Office of Educational Research and ImprovementU.S. Department of EducationConducted by SRI International

13. Assessment Assessment FOR Learning • Using assessments to guide, as well as evaluate, instruction and learning means • Frequent monitoring of progress toward goals • Diverse assessment materials; quizzes, writing, surveys, oral communication • Analyzing examples and non-examples of student work with the students • Students play an active role in evaluating progress and sharing results with peers, family and teachers “When consistently carried out as a matter of routine within and across classrooms, this set of practices has been linked to achievement gains of one-half to two standard deviations on high-stakes tests, and the largest gains made are by low achievers.” (Stiggins, 2006, p. 4)

14. Flaws in Current Model The traditional middle level world history course does not meet the requirements of effective curriculum design for the needs of the 21st century. I argue that the problem lies in the way we organize the content. We teach knowledge and skills without an intentional conceptual structure and we fail to teach for long term retention The current comparative regional study of the Ancient Civilizations presents a march of facts and dates across time and place with few connections to over-arching concepts and opportunities for authentic learning and application of the skills necessary to compete in today’s economy

15. Current Curriculum Flaws • When NEWSWEEK recently asked 1,000 U.S. citizens to take America’s official citizenship test • 29% couldn’t name the vice president • 73% couldn’t correctly say why we fought the Cold War • 44% were unable to define the Bill of Rights • Cheltenham School District – PA • Middletown School District – CT NAEP 2010 Less than ¼ of 4th and 8th graders reached the proficient level in US history

16. Conceptual Curriculum • Students need to have a Conceptual Understanding of what makes a civilization a civilization before they can understand the unique features and discreet facts associated with various civilizations through time and space • Without this conceptual framework the facts fall out of their brains as soon as our classes are over “It would be impossible to over-estimate the educational importance of arriving at conceptions; that is, meanings that are general because applicable in a great variety of different instances in spite of their difference… they are known points of reference by which we get our bearings when we are plunged into the strange and unknown… Without this conceptualizing, nothing is gained that can be carried over to the better understanding of new experiences” (Dewey, 1933, p. 153)

17. Conceptual Curriculum “In order for a person to understand the applicability or inapplicability of an idea to a new situation and to broaden his learning thereby, he must have clearly in mind the general nature of the phenomenon with which he is dealing. School curriculum should be geared to the teaching of fundamental ideas” (Bruner, 1960, p. 18) “During the first decades of life, most learners construct “general” knowledge about the world. Later, they may build specialized knowledge. (Wiig, 1999, p.3)

18. Conceptual Curriculum Concept Mapping • Use visual tools and cognitive strategies • Provide students with explicit structures for organizing information and associations to form templates or schemata • Encourage students to look at a concept from multiple perspectives • Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation, Application • Flexibility & Transfer Knowledge Research Institute, 1999 The latest brain research supports repetition of concepts in new contexts and at various cognitive levels to build more neuronal pathways and increase myelination

19. Development of Civlization • Units are designed around in-depth investigations into characteristics shared by all civilizations • Curriculum spirals in conceptual complexity and skill application opportunities

20. Development of Civilization Knowledge & Concept example • In the first unit students learn knowledge about the physical characteristics of place and this knowledge develops into a conceptual understanding of how geography affects all factors of civilization as the year progresses Skill example • In the second unit students learn how to identify important information and take notes. In later units they apply these skills to research and investigations while learning new skills about source analysis and using information to draw conclusions

21. Curriculum Outline • Prezi

22. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns Standards Addressed PA CCS 8.5 – Reading Informational Texts - Cite specific textual evidence - Determine central ideas & be able to summarize PA CCS 8.6 - Writing - Argument – discipline specific - Introduce claim and counter-claim - Support claims with evidence and logical reasoning - Cohesion, clarity & style - Conclusion Historical Thinking Skill 1: Crafting Historical Arguments from Historical Evidence - Define and frame a question, craft a thesis, identify, analyze and use relevant historical evidence 21st Century Skills - Global awareness - Productivity & Accountability - Communication & Collaboration - Information literacy

23. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns • Knowledge • Nomads – population size, ancient and living groups (Early man, Hadza, Sami), technology, social stratification, geography, daily life • Agriculturalists – population size, ancient and modern settled groups (Mesopotamia, modern USA) technology, social stratification, geography, daily life • Understanding • Settlement patterns are shaped by geography and time. • Nomads and agriculturalists live differently and this results in different effects on individuals, societies and the environment • Skills • Identifying important information and taking notes • Crafting an argument • Using Microsoft programs • Using the class wiki

24. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns Instructional Strategies & Materials • Lesson 1: Comparison of various environments through pictures around the world and evaluating for human settlement by identifying advantages and disadvantages. Defining nomad vs agriculture as settlement patterns.

25. Essential Question • How does Geography affect the way people live? • Analyze geographic locations to understand the connection between geography and settlement patterns

26. Characteristics of Place • Land • The shape the land takes • Climate • Long term weather patterns • Natural Resources • Are there natural resources (water, food, energy)? Renewable or non-renewable • Time • When are we talking about?

27. How might those Characteristics shape human settlement patterns? • What are the characteristics of this place? • How do you think humans might live here?

28. How might those Characteristics shape human settlement patterns? • What are the characteristics of this place? • How do you think humans might live here?

29. Response to Geography Forager – Hunter/Gatherer Nomadic Settled Agricultural Pastoralist Herder Simple – grow enough for my family Modern Industrialized world Advanced – grow enough to sell or share with my community

30. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns • Lesson 2: Nomadic groups: the Hadza, read a NG article using SQ3R and Double Entry Journal. Video analysis of Sami people in Scandinavia. Prehistoric man notes from student textbook using outline note format

32. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns

33. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns • Lesson 3: Settled groups: Neolithic revolution and beginning of civilization notes. Comparison chart “My daily life/Hadza daily life” to highlight aspects of life among the modern settled. World population analysis and instruction in framing an argument. “Is there a population crisis?”

34. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns

35. Example Unit: Settlement Patterns • Summative Assessment

36. Final Project Historical Novel Analysis • Students choose a historical novel from a list of about 30 novels • They complete reading logs, engage in literature discussions and research the historical context of their fictional story This project incorporates all of the knowledge, understanding and skills learned throughout the course

50. Works Cited