History-Social Science Reflection by Ashleigh Thoits

In order to teach history-social science in an elementary classroom, teachers need to be

knowledgeable of economic, social, and political problems. Educators need to know about
important historical events and be able to integrate the teaching of history with other humanities
and social science disciplines. It is important that teachers present history as an exciting series of
events in the past that helped shape the present so students can relate the importance of the
events to their lives. A helpful way for teachers to find different approaches of integrating
multiple subjects into the history-social science lesson is to collaborate with teachers from other
fields. This will give us great ideas and help us expand our content knowledge of not just historysocial science, but other subjects as well. Teachers also need to identify that history must reflect
the experiences of different racial, ethnic, religious and both sexes. In order to do this, they need
to be knowledgeable of every side of historical events and need to make sure that their students
have the best literature to incorporate a multicultural perspective of history-social science.
I have taken many classes to help prepare me to teach history-social science, but the
classes that have taught me the most helpful and interesting information would be world history,
geography, and especially LBS 375/ The California Experience. The world history and
geography classes taught me a lot about the history and culture of different people around the
world. The California Experience course taught me a lot of useful information such as how a lot
of teachers only present California history from one perspective, typically from the AngloSaxon view. My professor educated us on the multicultural perspective of historical events so we
do not deprive our future students by just teaching them one side of a story. She also helped us
by telling us some great multicultural history-social science books we can use for our students.
Field work in elementary school classrooms have also help prepare me by showing me
different ways to integrate other subjects into history-social science. I observed and assisted
elementary school students in their history lessons, which gave me a better understanding of

different ways the subject can be taught and more experience working with the students to see
how they learn. I feel prepared to teach students about past events through multicultural
perspectives and how to relate it to the present and their lives. Im also prepared to teach students
about the important people who made and make a difference and our nations history. The only
thing Im a little rusty on is remembering dates and the chronological order in which events have
taken place. Other than that I feel that I can effectively teach history-social science to my future
students and I plan to continue to further my knowledge of the subject as well as current events
to provide my students with an enriching education.
In this area of my portfolio, I plan on sharing the research I conducted on the Banning
House as well as my family time line. These work samples demonstrate my knowledge of the
subject by showing my knowledge of historical events and how these events can be presented in
a fun and engaging manner to students. My family tree is something I will want my students to
create a well so they can learn about their family history and important historical events as well
as how to present events in a chronological order.