Teach what both you and the students find interesting

Social studies can be considered boring by students because it has already happened in the past and does not effect their current life. Most of the people in history are already dead or the events happened hundreds of years ago, so why should the students care?
As an educator, you need to make the students feel passionate and excited about social studies however you can. This means getting to know the students and what they find interesting and incorporating it into your lessons. This may make more work for the teacher, but it is so important in helping with classroom engagement and learning.
Every student will have some aspect of history that they are interested in, and it is important to somehow incorporate it into the standards and curriculum set by the state and your school district. If you cannot teach the particular interest within the class, make sure to give student the access to different resources that can help them learn about this topic! This could be a video, a movie, a website, or a book in the classroom or school library. Fostering interest in social studies does not mean that the students have to be interested in what the teacher is teaching 24/7, but can have an interest in social studies as a whole.

Words of Wisdom: Creating Books

There are many different types of books that can be created in a social studies classroom:

1. Pop-up books: the students can create a classroom pop-up book with important vocabulary for each unit that is taught. Each student can pick one vocabulary term and create a fun and creative page. The students have to create clues so that others can guess what the term is, which makes them think about the definition in a different way then they normally would. When all of the pages are created by the students, the book can be binded together or glued to create a book for the class library. The students can look at this book whenever they want to and feel proud in what they have accomplished while learning vocabulary terms.

2.Flip books and flap books: folding paper is more exciting that a worksheet and can help the students feel creative while in social studies class. There are multiple ways for students can fold the paper and incorporate vocabulary terms. Let the students get creative and draw on the flaps to give them a visual way to remember the vocabulary terms.

3. ABC books: After completing a unit, the students can generate an alphabetical list of the most important words that they learned. Have students go back through their notes and worksheets and come up with the most important words. This can be done as an individual project, a group project, or a classroom project. Each vocabulary term needs to corrects to a letter in the alphabet and then create a page explaining what the term means. This can include a definition, a fun fact, a person, and/or a drawing. Let the student's get creative with it and then display the books in the classroom library.

What is Pear Deck and How Can You Use it to Engage Students?

Our professor taught us how to use a new technology base on the computer called Pear Deck. While I was not able to use it within the fieldwork classroom, I plan on utilizing it often within my own classroom. It is a great way to engage students instead of just doing a lecture. It also ensures that students are paying attention to the lesson as it requires action from them during the lesson!

One cool aspect of the slides is that you can ask students how they feel that day. This connects to social-emotional learning, and can help the teacher gage how the class is feeling that day. You can also use flashcards on the slide, which are interactive for the students. Students can even help illustrate the flashcards with the "Flashcard Factory" option. It also allows students to answer questions as the lesson is being taught, which helps collect data to see what the students were thinking of during the lesson and what knowledge they were learning.

Incorporating Theater into Social Studies

Students love interactive lessons, and what better way than to do a collaborative lesson incorporating drama and theater into an elementary classroom! The last group for fieldwork did this as an activity, and it was clear that this was a favorite of the students. Every student loved putting on costumes and in a group working together to follow the skit given to them. Each skit in some way incorporated to the topic that they were speaking on, and there was multiple settings such as a newscast, a classroom, and a conversation. The students really had fun with it, using props and actions to become the character. I feel that if the students had more time to work on their skit, it would have been very successful in teaching others the information!

Why is Vocabulary so Important in Social Studies?

Social Studies is a great subject in that it can also be a vessel for reading and writing. But, many people dislike social studies because of the memorization of vocabulary that is involved in it. However, by teaching and reteaching vocabulary, it gives students a chance to activate prior knowledge before a lesson, make connections with word meanings so that texts are easier to understand, and identify misconceptions that a student may have on a topic.

However, students do not need to learn vocabulary through simple memorization. There are multiple activities that a teacher can do within the classroom to make learning vocabulary more interesting and interactive.

1. Create a Word Map:

Word maps are graphic organizers that can help students learn vocabulary words in connection to subjects. Students can think about vocabulary in different ways, such as the definition, synonyms, antonyms, and subject connections.

2. Music for Memorization:

Students will always be able to remember a catchy tune, so utilizing technology and music to teach students vocabulary is great for our 21st century learners. Students will be able to remember vocabulary if it is sung in a song, and it is great if this song has a funny or interesting video to go with it. This is a great way to teach elementary students vocabulary. A few different programs such as Schoolhouse Rock and Flocabulary have premade music videos that connect to many different academic subjects.

3. Personalized Lists:

Student choice is always important in the classroom, so allowing students to choose what vocabulary terms go on a personalized list that they create. Different students will remember different vocabulary terms, so having each student have a list makes them in charge of their own learning. When students come across new words in readings and discussions, they can write down the word and then look it up later either during independent class time or as a homework assignment. The teacher can make a minimum limit on what words the student can include on their list to ensure that every student is using their personalized list.

Getting to Know You Activity for the First Day of Fieldwork

Today is the day that we were able to meet the students in our fieldwork classroom for the first time. To get to know the students, we created groups where each group had a different activity and the students were able to rotate and experience each activity.
My group decided to do a fun activity of "Getting to Know You Jenga" because it is an interactive game that students should be familiar with. It is an exciting game and the students always love trying to keep the tower standing.
For this activity, we took a traditional Jenga set and on each of the wooden blocks we laminated different getting to know you questions. Some of these questions include:
"What is one fun thing that you did this summer?"
"What is your favorite subject in school?"
"What is your favorite book?"
"What is your favorite movie?"
"If you could have any superpower what would it be and why?"

These questions all have the purpose of getting to know the interests of the student, which can help us when we later create activities during the lessons. We learned a lot of different things about our students as they were excited to play the game and share their life with us. The teacher candidates in our group also got involved in the game by pulling blocks and answering the questions on it. We wanted the students to know about us and get comfortable with us just like we were getting to know the students.
One thing that I learned about my fieldwork class is that they are all incredibly smart but are easily excited, so this is something that my group will take into consideration when we begin to teach the class.

What is Collaborative Learning and How Can Teachers Use It Within the Classroom?

Collaborative Learning is when learning and teaching takes place through the usage of groups. It is a unique method of teaching because it uses different goals, tasks and reward structures to promote student learning. But, there are a few different aspects to take into consideration when attempting to do a lesson with groups.
One important thing that the teacher needs to take into consideration when assigning groups is to pay attention to the developmental, cultural, and intellectual skills of the students. You do not want to "stack" a group.
Teachers also need to perform different actions while the students are working in groups, they cannot be set off independently. The teachers need to make sure that they are clarifying and establishing goals, present information, organize students into learning groups, assist teamwork and study, test the students on the materials, and provide recognition.

Artifact Bag in the Classroom

For my group's inquiry bag, we decided to utilize an activity that was introduced to us by our professor. We decided to use artifact bags within the classroom as a way to make our lesson fun, engaging, and interesting to the students.
Since our topic was "People Moving, People Changing", our group was tasked with teaching the students all about immigration, culture, and what it means to be an American citizen. We thought that a good way to integrate artifact bags was to call them "luggage bags". These bags belonged to immigrants that are moving to America. The students' task was to discover which country the luggage bag was from and which immigrant pen pal it was.
We explained the situation to the students using a video where a flight attendant asked the students for her help finding and giving back the missing luggage bags. Students had to act as detectives and use their observation senses (the four senses) to discover the objects that were in the bag.
The activity was incredibly successful, which was clearly seen through the student's excitement over discovering what objects were in the bag. We were able to find some really interesting objects too, such as an Irish wool hat and Russian nesting dolls. Each student was able to experience the different cultures of the countries around the world through these objects. The best part of the lesson was the closure when students were asked to bring one item up to the front of the classroom to share with the class. You could visibly see the pride and excitement the students had over learning about this cultural object.

Celebration of Learning Wrap-Up Event

This was our last class experience with our fieldwork students, so we decided to throw a "Celebration of Learning" party. We had the chance to take a break from all of the hard work that we as a class put in over the course of the semester and have fun. The activities that we completed during our celebration of learning day allowed us to connect with the students on a more personal level than before.

One of the activities that we did was "Walk the Carpet" on GoNoodle. I had learned about GoNoodle during a conference in Virginia at a session about behavior management and different tools you can use. This was the main tool discussed. GoNoodle has the purpose of giving the students a break from the classroom learning and an opportunity to get up and move. The game that we played in particular had students walking the red carpet trying to avoid objects that are in the way. Students can duck, jump, dodge left, dodge right, and strike a pose. These dances not only help a student take a break and mentally refocus but also improves their athleticism and gross motor abilities.

The next activity that we did was Heads Up, 7-Up, which is a game that I used to love when I was there age. The students and teachers were able to interact with us on a more personal and friendly level. We shared laughs as a group and overall improved our relationships with them. After playing some rounds, we ended our time in the classroom by giving the students certificates and globe stress balls as presents.
Overall, I loved my fieldwork experience at this elementary school. I felt like I was able to connect to a whole classroom of children which was a new experience for me as I usually work one-on-one or within a small group. I now feel more prepared to build relationships with my own students in the future!

How to Motivate Students to Love Social Studies

Some students have difficulty finding interest in Social Studies, mostly because they associate it with boring facts about the past and lots of reading and essays. They have a challenge with connecting to the subject and finding it interesting at all grade levels. But, students can easily be swayed into enjoying Social Studies by following the few tips below:

1. Bring A Historical Topic to Life: In this technology driven world where children are ahead of the adults in technology, students will have a great time seeing moments from history in video, audio, or photograph form. Students can assume the role of a critical viewer and comment on the different historical events, people, and opinions.

2. Give Students Control Over What They Learn: Choice is important for students, especially to keep them engaged. The best way to do this is to give the students options to explore on their own time.

3. Act Out Historical Events: Skits, talks, and plays are a great way to engage students and get them working collaboratively. Each student can be assigned a specific role within their groups so that there is shared responsibility.

4. Give Students an Experiential Experience: It is always important to immerse the students in what they are learning, and one way this can be accomplished is to give them experiences that they have to pretend to relive. They will understand the concept on a deeper level and be more motivated to learn.

5. Try a Controversial Topic: Controversial topics will always bring more communication and opinions in the classroom because students are usually knowledgeable in what is going on in the world around them. Creating a debate within the class will get all student's participating!

6. Intrigue Students with Music: Listening to music is always a fun way to liven up the classroom, so why not include music from the era in the background while you teach? Or do a close study of a song that gives the students insight on an important event happening during that time period.

A Stick Trick that I Learned

While observing the different groups, one technique really stood out to me. Within this class of third graders, there were some students who wanted to be called on all of the time and some students who never raised their hand. This is common in almost all classrooms, but the trick is to ensure that you are calling on all students equally. This can be hard when you have some excited students who are always trying to get your attention.

One group introduced a technique in order to make sure that all students were being called on. This involved pulling out a stick with the students name on it and having that student answer the question. Then, leave the stick with the students name out of the cup. Once every student has been called on, replace all of the sticks and start again. The best sticks would be Popsicle sticks, as the students name can easily fit. One fun activity for the beginning of the year could be to have the students decorate their sticks.

My only reservation with using this technique would be if the student who is called on generally does not know the answer. I would not want the students to ever be scared that they are called on, or be embarrassed that they do not know the answer. Therefore, I would actively plan on when I will use the name sticks and for what reason.

Unpacking the Luggage of Social Studies: My Reflection of My Fieldwork Experience

Recently, my class has gone into a local elementary school to teach 3 lesson plans (direct, inquiry, and collaborative) on a Social Studies topic. The lessons central focus was on the idea of immigration and people moving from place to place. After completing and executing all 3 lessons within a 3rd grade classroom, I have found my favorite to be inquiry and collaborative.

Even though a direct lesson plan does not allow for much creativity, teaching the information in this style is essential for the success of the other two lessons. For the direct instruction, we found it best to have the students only fill in one word from each power point slide into a premade packet that exactly follows the power point. Since they are only in third grade, most of their writing was done slowly and meticulously, with the children having to continuously go back and forth between the screen and their papers in order to spell the words correctly.

I had the most fun implementing the inquiry and collaborative lesson plans, which allowed the students to express themselves creatively and learn while completing or exploring fun projects. I believe that having the students actively interacting with the material and with each other is the best way to teach social studies. At the end of the unit, I found that the students remembered the information that was included in the inquiry and collaborative lesson plans the best. They enjoy having fun, exploring, and being able to be creative.

I usually dislike working in a group of partners, but this experience showed me how much fun it can be when you are working with competent peers. The other two people within my group were creative and we were able to all equally contribute to the creation of the three lesson plans.


As a teacher, I have learned that I work best when I do not try to script myself. Usually, if I try to heavily script myself in what I am going to say, I become flustered and forgetful. By just knowing the power point slides and the information I wanted to teach, I was able to speak naturally and with confidence.

How to teach a Direct Instruction in Social Studies

What is direct instruction?

Direct instruction is a teacher-directed teaching method, in which the teacher is presenting information and the students are learning. The teacher will stand in front of the classroom and present the information, usually in a form of a power point or google slides presentation. The teacher gives explicit, guided instructions to the students. The students are usually taking notes while the teacher is teaching.

The two core principles behind a direct instruction lesson is:

1. All students can learn when taught correctly, regardless of history and background.

2. All teachers can be successful, given effective materials and presentation techniques.

The 6 Components of a Direct Instruction Lesson:

1. Introduction/Review: Students need to know what they will be learning for the day. The best way to introduce new information is to try to connect it to something that the children would have heard of or will have knowledge/an opinion on. It is also important to review any information that was learned in the last class, especially if it important to understanding the concept for that days lesson.

2. Present the new material: Students need a lesson that is carefully organized so that the progression of information makes sense. New material should be presented either through a lecture, a demonstration, or both. The students should be given some kind of notes packet if they are young so that they can fill out their information quickly and efficiently.

3. Checks for Understanding: It is important to stop a few times while presenting new material in order to gauge what the students have learned so far and what needs to be covered again. 

4. Guided Practice: The teacher and the student are able to practice newly learned information together. The student attempts the skills or remembering the knowledge with the assistance of the teacher and other students. It is conducted and controlled by the teacher. The purpose of this step is to guide initial practice, correct mistakes, and reteach and provide sufficient practice so that the students can work independently.

5. Independent Practice: Students are now ready to apply the new learning material on their own. Independent practice gives students the repetition needed to remember new information or skills. Students have to now apply the learned information without assistance from the teacher or other students.

6. Evaluation/review: Teacher checks whether your students know everything before moving on to a new concept that builds upon what they have just learned. Student data should be collected, possibly through an exit ticket, so that it can be reviewed and decided on whether or not the lesson needs to be retaught.