Social Studies Methods

Social Studies Methods Task One

Megan Lincoln
Western Governors University

B.

Social Studies Methods

1.
On the last Friday of this unit we will attend Colonial Day field trip at the Oklahoma
State capital. The children will take notes about the trip to discuss later in the
classroom. Colonial day at the state capital will include period costumes and
portrayals of historical figures and events. This is an exciting ending to our six week
units journey. It meets the state standard by providing children with real life
reenactments of colonists self-government and culture from all three colonial
regions. Oklahoma Department of Education, Oklahoma Social Studies Standards
Grades 3-5: Content Standard 2: The student will compare and contrast the
developments of the New England Colonies, the Middle Colonies, and the Southern
Colonies based on economic opportunities, natural resources, settlement patterns,
culture, and institutions of self-government. (CCRIT 5, 6 and 7; CCW 9)
2.
This filed trip will also meet the language arts objective for note taking: This will
integrate Language Arts content into the SS unit according to standard: 2.
Interpreting Information - Analyze and evaluate information from a variety of
sources. c. Develop notes that include important information on a selected topic.
a.

Children will need organization and writing prerequisite skills to make the
connection between the Language Arts standard and the Social Studies
standard. They must have basic writing abilities as is expected for fifth
graders. It is also important for them to have the ability to organize their
thoughts about the experience.

3.
The field trip promotes research, analysis, and evaluation of real-world situations.
The reenactments make the historical real-world situations come alive. The children
will have the opportunity to participate in systematic inquiry in the subject of
colonial self-government and culture in order to discover the historical facts. The
children will analyze the aspects of the three colonial regions by studying the nature
of the essential features of self-government and the regions interactive
relationships. Finally the children will evaluate the significance of the contributions
of colonial settlers to modern day government policies and our current cultural
practices.
C.
On the first day of the unit, the children will be assigned a historical character. They
will do classroom activities which integrate art content area into the SS unit
according to the state standard: Standard 2: Visual Art History and Culture - The
student will recognize the development of visual art from an historical and cultural
perspective. Over the units six week span the children will research their

Social Studies Methods

character, and create artifact replicas (tools, clothing, jewelry, shelter, food, etc.)
that their character would have used.
Students will demonstrate their understanding of the concept of cultural artifacts
and replicas by producing at least four items to the specifications as presented in a
rubric. They must adequately describe with sufficient detail the item, its use, and
the group of people who would have possessed it.
The students and teacher will have access to the internet in order to research the
historical personalities. We will also have a plethora of art supplies for the children
to create two and three dimensional artistic replicas. For example: string beads,
paper, markers, shells, constriction paper, dowel rods, clay, paint, stones, feathers,
fabric, cardboard etc.
Students will need to have fifth grade level prerequisite skills of cutting, gluing,
drawing, describing, and researching.
If certain children struggle with fine motor skills I will provide larger items for them
to work with to increase their tactile ability without frustrating them.
Rubric total of 48 possible points
Item:
Artifact one

Description
3pts student
describes the item
in great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
item
0pts student did
not create or
describe the item

Use
3pts student
describes the
items use in great
detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
items use
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
items use
0pts student did
not create or
describe the items
use

Group of people
3pts student
describes the
group of people
who would have
used the item in
great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
group of people
who would have
used the item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
group of people
who would have
used the item
0pts student did
not create or
describe the group
of people who
would have used

Social Studies Methods

Artifact two

3pts student
describes the item
in great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
item
0pts student did
not create or
describe the item

3pts student
describes the
items use in great
detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
items use
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
items use
0pts student did
not create or
describe the items
use

Artifact three

3pts student
describes the item
in great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
item
0pts student did
not create or
describe the item

3pts student
describes the
items use in great
detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
items use
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
items use
0pts student did
not create or
describe the items
use

the item
3pts student
describes the
group of people
who would have
used the item in
great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
group of people
who would have
used the item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
group of people
who would have
used the item
0pts student did
not create or
describe the group
of people who
would have used
the item
3pts student
describes the
group of people
who would have
used the item in
great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
group of people
who would have
used the item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
group of people
who would have
used the item
0pts student did

Social Studies Methods

Artifact four

3pts student
describes the item
in great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
item
0pts student did
not create or
describe the item

3pts student
describes the
items use in great
detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
items use
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
items use
0pts student did
not create or
describe the items
use

not create or
describe the group
of people who
would have used
the item
3pts student
describes the
group of people
who would have
used the item in
great detail
2pts student gives
minimal
description of the
group of people
who would have
used the item
1pt student
created, but did
not describe the
group of people
who would have
used the item
0pts student did
not create or
describe the group
of people who
would have used
the item

The lessons interdisciplinary connections link social studies and visual arts by
having children create cultural artifacts. Theyll use art skills to make artifacts, and
well as research skills to discover the types of tools, clothing, jewelry, shelter, food,
etc. which lead them to an understanding of colonial culture.
1. This activity targets specific inclusion of, or accommodations for, diverse
learners by giving children who are ADHD something to do with their hands.
This keeps them moving as opposed to reading and rote memorization.
2. The assessment for this activity could help inform my instruction to support
social studies education for all students by highlighting students
weaknesses. If they have trouble understanding and describing a certain
aspect, we will review the concept again.

Social Studies Methods

3. This activity integrates an interdisciplinary learning experience that

effectively incorporates the concepts and methods of inquiry of social studies
by giving students an opportunity to research an actual historical figure.
They will use inquiry skills to discover the artifacts used in that time by that
person. They will evaluate the reasons individuals in that social class, gender
group, ethnicity, and etcetera would have made or purchased such items.
The lesson becomes an interdisciplinary experience when they actually
create replicas of the items. This allows us to integrate art standards into the
Social Studies unit.