Powerful and Meaningful Social Studies...What does this mean?

In order for teachers to be successful in teaching social studies to elementary school students, the lessons created must be meaningful and engaging. Teachers must create challenging and engaging activities that are relevant to the material that is being taught. Often times, social studies is associated with teacher lectures; however, I believe that there are more effective ways to teach the content to students.

Through the interactive PowerPoint presentation, I was able to clear up some misconceptions that I had regarding the definition of social studies. Initially, when I thought of social studies, I thought history. Though this is a part of social studies, it is not all of it. Social studies encompasses a wider range of topics. From the presentation, I was able to come up with a more formal definition for social studies. Social studies is a body of integrated knowledge, concepts, skills, generalizations, and theories in the social studies field, which includes history, economics, geography, citizenship, and more. I think that this definition is very important because it demonstrates how, as teachers, we are not simply teaching the content, rather we are teaching the underlying principles, concepts, and skills. By teaching the underlying principles, concepts, and skills, we are equipping students with knowledge that can be applied across various subject areas.

One particular part of the presentation that I found very interesting was the learning pyramid. The learning pyramid shows how much students learn when they complete different tasks. The retention rate is extremely low when students are just reading or listening to information. However, when students are experiencing the content and teaching others the material, about 95% of the information is retained. By allowing students to actively participate in the lesson, teachers will be able to create a meaningful social studies experience for their students.

Prior to class, we were also asked to read an article that explained the various approaches to instruction and the different models that can be used. In order to create a meaningful learning experience for your students, it is important to consider the various types of instructional models and strategies that can be used to benefit your students. For example, teachers should be providing direct instruction lessons to students so that they are taught explicitly the material that they are required to know. However, this should not be the only form of instruction taking place. Some other instructional strategies that can be implemented in the classroom include interactive instruction, experiential learning, and independent study. Students learn best by doing and teaching others. Taking part in interactive instruction and providing them with experiences, such as field trips, may help the students retain more information than if they were simply being lectured. Also, by providing various teaching methods to your class, you are able to cater to many different learners.