TLT 412, Fall 2024 - Course record
Thursdays, 7:15-9:55 in Iacocca Hall room A-235
First class = Thur, 29 Aug; last class = Thur, 5 Dec; no class on 28 Nov (Thanksgiving) – voter registration deadline in Pennsylvania = Mon, 21 Oct; check your voter registration status at https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/Pages/voterregistrationstatus.aspx
1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15
Week 1 - Thursday, 29 Aug
Before classÂ
Buy a copy of the textbook (Maxim, 2017, Dynamic Social Studies for Constructivist Classrooms; currently in 11th edition, but earlier editions are fine). Amazon has it; Lehigh bookstore should as wellÂ
Cruise this wiki and the CourseSite.
Preview the syllabus. We will discuss it during class.
During class (ppt; whiteboard)
Introductions – and here are some classroom-appropriate ideas / suggestions and explanations of why this matters...
Looking at our toolbox: CourseSite, wiki, etc.
Reviewing syllabus
Assignments and grading
First step: Completing your first WTL entries
Questions thus far?
Conceptual work
What is social studies? Starter activity, drawing upon the work of Hilda Taba. We'll be using the following Google Docs...
Getting into our running JamBoard (linked in CourseSite), playing with organizing our teaching methods for social studies
Social studies as a set of disciplines vs. social studies as something bigger, more integrated
Why we need to push ourselves in this class: Take a brief visit to the teacher store
Closure
Review of what's where (wiki, CourseSite)
Any questions?
Stick around for portfolio work, if you wish
After class
Reading
(Borrow something from me! Read or skim it! Talk about it next week!)
Maxim, Ch. 1 (What is?)
Assignments
WTL for this week: What is the purpose of curriculum??
Update your profile in CourseSite to include your picture
Starting planning out your upcoming assignments: Original Instructional Materials product #1, who you'll interview for HTCE, etc.Â
Bookmark class websites on your computer (e.g., CourseSite, relevant wiki pages)Â
Before classÂ
Complete reading
Don't forget to do the WTL in CourseSite!
Do the CourseSite updating (it helps me remember names/faces!)
Think ahead on your assignments
During class (ppt)
Starting off with something fun: A scavenger hunt! About the built environment
(I'll have this printed out, but here's a handout; feel free to take it & adapt to your own teaching, if you wish)
(Feel free to email me your photos so I can share them; you can also join the Zoom URL from your device to show)
(And here's a fancier version of this activity, one that uses ArcGIS Online & the Field Maps app to do the activity: )
De-brief of the activity – how is this social studies? What kind of social studies? Â
Social studies as a set of related social science disciplines – makes it easy for us, largely irrelevant to students. Just make it interesting for students; don't tie yourself up in knots about serving the discipline
Among the big four, we are starting with GEOGRAPHY
Why start with geography?
What is geography, anyway?
A look at some geography standards
Wading into social studies methods
PDE
Five Themes
(National Geography Standards, if anyone wants to look at those, too: https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED375073.pdf)Â
C3 Framework
Time for another geography method: Sketchmaps
Purpose(s) of social studies
Discussion of OIM #1
...can we meet early next week??
After class
Reading
Maxim, ch. 8 (geography)
PDE geography standards (download these to a convenient folder; you'll need to refer to them)
C3 framework, geography section (again, download to a convenient spot...)
NCSS, 2009 (powerful and purposeful elementary social studies)
Assignments
Complete & bring in OIM #1; be prepared to show-and-tell!
Complete this Google Form for an in-class demo of a lesson called "Weaving the Globe" (form)
Complete WTL for week 2
Before classÂ
Complete Google Form on shoes/textile (link above)
Complete reading
Don't forget to do the WTL in CourseSite!
Complete & bring in OIM #1
During class (ppt)
Meet in lobby of Iaccoca at 6:30! We'll start from there
First thing tonight = scaffolded geocache. I will share starting materials here; if you want the full set, just ask
Handout with simple visual intro to lat/lon
List of coordinates for starting point, targets, and finish location
Decision-making scaffold, if anyone needs it
(If I were teaching this with elementary students: I'd actually start with this photoset to see locations along the Equator & Prime Meridian before going outside)Â
(Alternatively: Here's a webpage [StoryMap] with info about latitude & longitude. This was written for older folks, not elementary students, but it has the images I would use with elementary students. Note that it also has embedded images on the map.)
(Since this activity does lots work in Google Earth: I encourage you to download Google Earth onto your laptop – . It's WAY more powerful as a downloaded program than something that runs in your browser.)
(And if you want to get into 'real' geocaching, go here: )
Discussing geography standards – quick look at PDE vs. Five Themes
Quick look at JamBoard of methods – we have some updating to do!
Potentially useful framework for thinking about your instructional decision-making: TPACK
(Additional supporting example of how technology can intersect with content and pedagogy: )
Sharing OIM #1
More updating of JamBoard!
Closure
After class
Reading
Barton & Levstik, 1996 - skim to get the idea about how to build image set for HTCE assignment
Optional: If you liked the scaffolded geocache, save a copy of Hammond et al., 2014
Assignments
Prepare & turn in HTCE image set; see syllabus for details
WTL on school activities that relate to calendar events: Sept 11, Constitution Day, Hispanic Heritage Month, etc.
Before classÂ
Complete reading
Don't forget to do the WTL in CourseSite!
Complete & turn in HTCE prep assignment
During class (ppt)
Housekeeping; checking in on any calendar events that tie in with social studies content....
Conceptual work: More geography activities, working towards different stances
demo: Stack the Countries (see also Stack the States)
demo: What's in a (state) name? We'll run this on our JamBoard; I also have some other materials for a slightly different version linked from here: Computational thinking & social studies.
Discussion: Teacher stances – what do they think social studies is for? What does this look like in terms of geography education?
demo: Weaving the Globe – I'll be showing-and-telling, but feel free to download and play around with this Google Earth file as well. This is adapted from an old lesson that I found in a back issue of Social Education.
demo: ‘Transforming the Globe' (I also call it ‘mapping an orange’), borrowed from this lesson plan. If you want to go further with this idea, try this video: The Impossible Map (1947)Â
If you have a similar sense of humor to me, this will make you laugh every time: What your favorite map projection says about you (xkcd)Â
maps as tools for all three stances + maps that exclude as well as include
now you produce something: We'll work through the first few steps of the Whose Land? activity
Closure
After class
Reading: Gaudelli & Laverty, 2017
Assignments
WTL = complete & share your "Whose Land?" map & reflection
Complete & turn in your OIM #2
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