TE 401: Teaching Social Studies to Diverse Learners

Class 14December 4, 2008Geography, Economics, and Case Study Method

Agenda

Celebration Breakfast Reflections Finish Country PowerPoint Beatrice’s Goat Case Study Microteaching SIRS

Celebration and reflections

What were the teaching moments?

What did you learn about teaching?

A social studies moment

Reflection on TodaysMeet

Reminders

Class blog

Final Lesson Plan– Due by December 10 at 5pm– Include all five parts in one document– Email to bykereri@msu.edu

Your wiki – te401social.wikispaces.com

Finish Country PowerPoint

Please break into your country groups

Finish up your PowerPoint – 20 minutes

Post to te401social.wikispaces.org

Using a Picture Book In Social Studies

Beatrice’s Goat

Using Children’s Literature – especially picture books

Should be used to– Deepen cognitive and affective dimensions of the content

• Does it: – Match the social education goals of the lesson/unit?– Offer enough value that the time it is taking up is not wasted?– Appropriate length?– Enhance meaning?– Reflect authenticity and promote understanding of the concept?– Avoid misconceptions, shallow interpretations, stereotypes?

Should not be chosen just as an “add in” to your topic of the unit/lesson– Trivial information

Planning to use a picture book… Make sure as the teacher, you know the basic information about the book, and the history behind the topic of discussion

Information on Beatrice’s Goat

For age group 4-8 (though it can realistically be taught throughout various grade levels)– As the teacher you should be questioning if it is appropriate for

your children’s reading level and comprehension

Published by Heifer International– As a teacher you should question what this organization is and

what qualifies it to publish this story

True Story– http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/01/11/60minutes/main666

166.shtml– As the teacher you should be doing research behind stories that

are true- what happened to the person/people/groups portrayed in the book?

Planning con’t….

As the teacher learn more about the region, country, etc., to know if the picture book is portraying stereotypes, etc…– Use of resources such as:

• P-GLIE Library in the International Center Library• Area Studies Centers at universities

Geography

Geography: Location

Where is Uganda? – This is the setting for the story – Around 85% of Uganda’s population

is rural (March 2007)– Make sure your students do map

work to understand where the story is taking place and can compare it to where they live in perspective

World – Where are you? Where is Uganda?

Can anyone find Uganda?

Africa

Regions of Africa - East Africa

Uganda

Why in the world is geography important in this book? Geography:

– Allows children to see where in the world Beatrice is in comparison to where they live

– Also, if used correctly – geography can be used to show human-environment interaction• For example: they choose a goat for the villages

because of the grass and water found there - would a camel have worked there? Geography plays a role- it is more than just maps!

Economics

Just to get you thinking…

Complete the worksheet

After reading the story, while in your groups complete the starred portion of your worksheet and discuss the questions with your group

Economics Terms and Definitions

Needs: A need is something you have to have, something you can’t do without– Example - water

Wants: A want is something you would like to have – it is not absolutely necessary, but it would be a good thing to have– Example – car

Terms defined

Scarcity: not having sufficient resources to produce enough to fulfill unlimited subjective wants– Example – fossil fuels

Opportunity Cost: the cost of an alternative that must be foregone to in order to pursue a certain action, a choice between two options must be made– Example – costs of going to college (missing pay

from a job for 4-5 years) but hopes of making it up later in your career with a higher paying job

Economics Lesson w/ Beatrice’s Goat As a group – have each person write down

their own wants and needs

As a group – come up with the wants and needs of Beatrice

Then discuss the differences or similarities between the two

Economics Con’t.. In economics, many decisions have to be made – issues such as

scarcity, opportunity cost, etc., force us to make choices – where we live and what we do influence also influence our choices as do our wants and needs (like you just wrote down)

Beatrice and her family also have to make choices. In small (2-3 people) groups:

– List the costs (the things that Beatrice’s family had to give in order to have the goat)

– List the benefits (good things that Beatrice’s family received as a result of having the goat)

– You could do this in a t-chart lining up the cost with the eventual benefit

• For example: Goat producing milk (benefit); had to get water from the stream for the goat (cost)

Extension: Do you think Beatrice and her family have the same cost/benefits as people in the U.S.? Why or why not? What would influence this?

How else could Beatrice’s Goat be used for Social Studies?Don’t limit your thoughts to just how you would use this in lower elementary either….

Cultural UniversalsEconomics

Service LearningCurrent Events

What else?

Critiquing the use of Beatrice’s Goat

In pairs answer the following questions:

– What are some of the negative consequences you could foresee in using this picture book?

– What types of concepts, topics, etc., do you see as useful in this picture book?

– What topics/concepts have to be taught while using this book in order for a deep understanding of the many topics that could be addressed using this book? What order would you teach them in?