Over the past week and a half, our class has been mainly focusing on making our unit plans. This process started at the very beginning of the semester with teaching us how to recognize and then create concepts of our own. Then we moved forward to generalizations and relating multiple concepts to generalizations. Wow this was challenging, but it has slowly developed and taken our learning and teaching to a whole new level. The best part about learning how to teach concepts is that it doesn't just effect teaching social studies, but it can impact how we teach all subjects. Concept based teaching is a good way of incorporating different subjects together and making a teacher's instruction well rounded.
For my unit plan, my two concepts are leadership and change. The overarching generalization is what makes sense with all the strands of social studies and the standards chosen. Then, each strand and standard has its own generalization that relates to the big theme. This type of teaching requires out of the box thinking and challenges the teacher to find how all of these subjects come together. It is difficult when we first started out, but now that I see what this looks like, it has become easier for me. Not easy, but easier.
I found a link that directed me to a a website with many different unit plan ideas with objectives and activities. These are typically for older students, but it got me thinking about what was doable for elementary school students too. Accidents are the leading cause in deaths for children in elementary school. This means these things could have been prevented. In order to teach about how to be safe from accidents such as bike accidents, car accidents, or simple careless mistakes, children could be given the task of completing a scavenger hunt. At each station, this scavenger hunt can include facts and teachings of how to lookout for these kinds of things and how to best prepare for if these events happen. And relating all of this to social studies, standard 3.C&G.2 is understanding how citizens participate in their communities. I'm already creating this is my head to do for my classroom!
From talking about my unit plan in motion right now and researching a little about future plans for my classroom, I get very excited about concept based teaching and showing my kids that learning can be fun and enriching!
References:
http://marylandlearninglinks.org/11190
Much love,
Brittany Kertesz
Britt,
ReplyDeleteone thing I loved about this blog post was what you said about teaching about safety with a scavenger hunt. Interactive and engaging learning is always the way to go. This shows that you are taking what we're doing in class, and already thinking about how you can apply it in your future classroom, which is awesome! There's probably a website with elementary aged unit plans somewhere in cyberspace!
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteWhat specific connections were you able to make in and outside of class? How are you connecting CBI to your teaching practices and your future classroom? What about the NCTCS?
Remember - your blog posts cannot be a re-cap of what is happening in class. You need to be sure you are taking your reflections to the next level. (In other words...make sure you are starting to answer the "so what?" question.
JP
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI love that you said CBI unit planning and the process of creating generalizations has become easier, not easy. Yes! One thing I got out of the site that you shared was the practicality and connection to the real world of each activity. Concept-based instruction allows us to produce engaging, complex, and exciting learning experiences and performance tasks. This is more rewarding for us as teachers, and for the students!
Brittany,
ReplyDeleteI really loved your idea about teaching with a scavenger hunt. Engaging and interactive learning is more meaningful for students and for the teachers. I loved that you said you are excited about concept based teaching and showing your students that learning can be enriching! Thanks for sharing this resource with the class! Great post!