Conceptual Teaching in Social Studies

Would you rather your students… be able to list all of the compromises made at the Constitutional Convention OR be able to explain the role of compromise and conflict throughout history using examples from the Constitutional Convention?

Would you rather your students… be able to tell you the populations, natural resources, and climates found in Latin America OR be able to explain the impact of population, natural resources, and climate on Latin America’s role in the contemporary world? Concepts include: Global connections People, places, and environment Production, distribution, and consumption

Comparison Topic Based Facts and activities center around specific topic . Objectives drive instruction. Focus learning and thinking about specific facts. Instructional activities use a variety of discrete skills. Concept Based Use of facts and activities are focused by conceptual lens. Essential questions, drawn from concepts, drive instruction. Facts are learned to understand transferable concepts and ideas. Instructional activities call on complex performances using a variety of skills.

Points to consider Both models value foundation of specific fact-based knowledge and skills Difference is in culminating focal point of instruction Topic-based: learning specific facts about a given topic Concept-based: learning conceptual understandings drawn from the facts Learning about the relationship between things rather than JUST FACTS.

Enduring Understandings

Enduring Understandings Conceptual understandings drawn from and supported by critical content (Erickson, 71) Basis of conceptual teaching Provide scaffolding Standards provide specificity to concepts This is essence of what students should take from the unit/course

Enduring Understandings Units will have multiple EUs Intended to be broad Apply to many situations Apply to different units Apply to different courses/grade levels Written in present tense References theme and is easily tied to specific knowledge from the unit.

Enduring Understanding Example Students will understand that movement of ideas, people, goods, and culture have both positive and negative impacts on the development of societies. Students will understand that distribution of power in government is a result of existing documents and laws combined with contemporary values and beliefs. Can be generalized widely across social studies!

What do standards have in common? Look at standards for common THEMES or CONCEPTS What do we mean when we say “history repeats itself?” Think cause and effect relationships What causes wars? Why do people create governments? How does location impact a society? What’s important about technological innovations?

Frameworks: Unit 1 First unit is key!!! MUST teach the themes to the student Relate themes to ideas/experiences students already have EVERY LESSON should got back to one of those themes Every element in a course is tied to a theme

Unit 1 Review of the Enduring Understandings and unit connecting themes for the course Focus on helping students see the relationship of EU’s to their own lives Make the EU’s relevant to students Have them give examples from personal experience Socratic like discussion Develop examples from : Historical events Current events Course related topics

Unit 1 Brain learning Previous knowledge Organizing structure New knowledge builds upon previous knowledge Organized according to some structure Previous knowledge Students experience What they already know about topic Organizing structure Enduring Understandings New knowledge Standards and elements

Unit 1 Goal: student understanding of EU’s before starting the course Provide schema for course material Up front students know where the course is going Start with the end in mind (Covey) Acceleration (Max Thompson, Learning Focused Schools How Students Learn History in the Classroom National Research Council Course ceases to be set of units with info to be memorized for a test

“If you study to remember, you will forget, but, If you study to understand, you will remember” - Unknown “It is possible to store the mind with a million facts and still be entirely uneducated.” - Alec Bourne