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NHE 117: A Social Studies �Curriculum of Place

Professor Kesson

Week Five (October 11, 2022)

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Guest speaker: Matt Oppenheim

With a PhD in Transformative Learning and Change from the California Institute of Integral Studies, Matt sees our future in the elegant and intricate patterns of the rainforest. He is an Emeritus Fellow with the Society of Applied Anthropology. After teaching anthropology for twenty-three years, he is putting his effort into a book and project: Watershed Worlds: Ancient Paths for Planetary Survival and Resilience. He has conducted Prout research in New Zealand, Australia, Los Angeles, New Mexico and now in Asheville, NC. He was the founding Coordinator for Service Learning at California State University, Channel Islands and a service-learning trainer and coordinator for Los Angeles Unified School District and Albuquerque Public Schools. He served on the Native American Education Committee and was a Diversity Training Facilitator, and Coordinator for Parent, Family and Community Involvement in Albuquerque Public Schools. He uses Indigenous, collaborative, participatory and action research methods in his work. Publications include journal and magazine articles, book chapters, and fiction.

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Lesson planning�

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Social Studies Lesson Planning

Lessons should build knowledge and/or skill needed to attain the lesson objectives. (SWBAT)
What are the children interested in?
What is the range of the children’s level of knowledge and competence?
Consider using the KWL technique (What do we know? What do we want to know? Followed at the end of the lesson by What did we learn?
Lessons should include a range of learning modes (visual, musical, art, storytelling, writing, games, etc.)

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Building knowledge and skill

Teacher needs to emphasize connections between prior knowledge and new tasks (KWL charts can help with this)

Make connections between concepts and everyday life (examples: why do I need to learn about history?)

Scaffolding (assisting in small tasks until they can be done independently)

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��Consider orders of thinking in Lesson Objectives�

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Note that each level contains “learning skills” – these can show up in your Objectives (SWBAT).

Example: Students Will Be Able To compare and contrast two different forms of government.

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Sample lesson plan

From Curriculum Unit: My Family History

Lesson #1: Family Stories

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Breakout Groups – 10 minutes for each person. Keep time!

Your assignment was to begin filling out the Curriculum Unit Plan template – your preliminary thinking about your unit theme, aims, goals, content understandings, and essential questions. Share this with the group.

The group will brainstorm potential lessons that can build knowledge and skill towards your objectives. Don’t debate or edit – just get as many ideas out as you can.

Keep it simple, keep it focused.

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Assessment

Formative

Assesses progress & process
Can be informal
Flexible (oral, written, individual, group, brief, in-depth, etc.)
Based on discussion, games, quizzes, drafts, exit tickets, etc.
Helps student improve work (actionable feedback)
Helps teacher discover misconceptions, identify struggles, or learning gaps
What might need to be retaught

Summative

Assesses final work products (projects, papers, presentations, etc.)
More formal evaluation of what was learned
How well did student attain objectives?
Can use rubrics
Should promote a “growth mindset” – motivational beliefs, self-esteem
Should provide opportunities to improve
Results should improve teaching, as well as learning

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Storytelling/writing rubric

	Getting there	Met requirements	Exceeds expectations
Student was able to recall a story told by a family member.
Student was able to document the main elements of the story (people, place, time, action, dialogue).	Good start! Can you recall anything the storyteller said?
Student was able to write the story down using correct story elements (beginning, details, ending).
Student used correct conventions of capitalization and punctuation.		I can see your punctuation has improved a lot since your last writing assignment.
Student read story aloud using expression.			Wow, you made the story really funny with the details you used.

	Getting there	Met requirements	Exceeds expectations
Student was able to recall a story told by a family member.
Student was able to document the main elements of the story (people, place, time, action, dialogue).	Good start! Can you recall anything the storyteller said – the actual words they used?
Student was able to write the story down using correct story elements (beginning, details, ending).
Student used correct conventions of capitalization and punctuation.		I can see your punctuation has improved a lot since your last writing assignment.
Student read story aloud using expression.			Wow, you made the story really funny with the details you used.

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For next week – these will be shared with the class

Writing assignment: To pull together and synthesize what you have learned from the social studies course, write a “Rationale” for your curriculum unit topic.

A Curriculum Rationale is not the ”what” (your aims and objectives) but the “why.”

Based on your reading and the class presentations, present a justification for the curriculum choice you have made:

Why is this topic important for young people?
What makes the learning worthwhile?
What aspects of Neohumanism does it relate to?