1 Concept Attainment Democracy Lesson 5th Grade Level Becky Dougherty Catherine Li Valerie Mighetto Karen Nelson

2 Introduction  The Concept Attainment model is an instructional method that teaches students concepts by using pattern recognition and categorizing skills.  By learning this skill students are able to deductively apply the concept in new situations

3 Instructor preparation 1. Identify a significant concept to the students. 2. Convey the characteristics of the concept to the students. 3. Present the students with positive and negative examples to illustrate the concept. 4. Ask the students to define the concept. 5. Coach the students to articulate the reasoning skills they used. 6. Ask the students for examples of the concept to demonstrate their new knowledge.

4 Context  Elementary school  5th grade students  Social Studies focusing on American government

5 Concept  Democracy

6 + Ted’s class will vote to decide who will be on student council. Every student in his class gets to vote. Those students with most votes will be on student council.

7 - Bill is the leader of a group of boys. He is the boss. No one dares to question his decisions. He has two friends who are “bodyguards” and they enforce his decisions.

8 + In Ms. Hansen’s class, the students worked together to come up with class rules.

9 - In Mr. Hansen’s class, he made all the rules, and he decided that all students with blue eyes must sit on the floor.

10 + The mayor and officials of a city were elected by the citizens of that city.

11 - The mayor of a city is assigned by the governor of the state.

12 + The citizens of the city vote to make decisions about city planning. For example, the citizens of Davis were able to vote whether or not they wanted a Target store in their town.

13 - The city officials made the decision to paint all the houses in this city pink without asking the opinion of the people living in that city.

14 + In the USA, every citizen, in good standing, regardless of race or ethnicity has the right to vote.

15 - In ancient Egypt, Pharaoh was the supreme ruler, and his word was law.

16 + In the USA, people elect a new president every four years.

17 - In ancient Egypt, when the old Pharaoh died, his son became the new Pharaoh and so on.

18 The students begin to understand the concept  The exemplars become more complex in the second part of the lesson.  Additional exemplars will test and confirm the concept hypothesis

19 Margaret Thatcher was elected to serve as British Prime Minister. +

20 Under the Taliban rule in Afghanistan, girls and women could not attend school. -

21 Salvador is class president. He was nominated by his best friend, but the majority of the class voted for him. +

22 People can express their political views through newspapers, television, and other public media. For example, you can say “I strongly oppose the recent action taken by Bush government....” +

23 The news is controlled by the government. People are not allowed to discuss their own ideas or views in newspapers, television, or any other public way. -

24 In 1960, many people of the Christian faith in China were put in jail because of their religion. -

25 The American colonies were ruled by England. -

26 The people of ancient Athens developed a system of government that elected officials by lot and decisions were made by majority rules. +

27 The county supervisors defeated the proposal to build a new stadium downtown. +

28 After the Civil War, the 15th Amendment guaranteed African American men the right to vote, but American women were not granted the same right until

29 Assessment and evaluation  Ask the students to define the concept of democracy  Have the students develop their own exemplars.  Can they articulate the reasoning skills that they used to learn the concept?  Ask the students to suggest other concepts that can be identified with this method.

30 Concept and rule Concept: Democracy Rule: Democracy means “rule by the people”

31 Critical attributes  People have the right to vote  All people are considered equal  There is respect for individual rights and freedoms

32 References 1.Pritchard, P. D., Florence Fay (1994). "Teaching Thinking Across the Curriculum with the Concept Attainment Model." Todd Twyman, Jennifer McCleery., Gerald Tindal (2006). "Using Concepts to Frame History Content." The Journal of Experiment Education 74(4): Johnson, J., Carlson, Susan (1992). "Developing conceptual thinking: The concept attainment model." Clearing House 66(2):