Social Studies can be SPECtacular Anthony Fitzpatrick

Looking for SPECs in your classroom: State standards, textbook objectives, and writing outlines are almost always written in a form of SPEC or other helpful anagrams. So what is it?

SPEC Social – Having to do with people in groups, their living together, includes issues such as gender, economic status, and ethnicity. Political – Having to do with gaining, seeking, and organizing power, events related to the function of government: making laws, enforcing laws, and interpreting laws. Economic – Having to do with how people meet their basic material needs; the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services; includes such issues as domestic and international trade, monetary policies, and taxation. Cultural – Having to do with the technology, arts, and institutions of a given group of people at a given time. It is a tangible representation of interactions.

We need a formula! Other subject areas have formulas to help students “show their work” and have a path to figure our problems. History and Social Studies can be considered in the same way...

You don’t have to capitalize the C Often the most confusing theme is Culture as students may confuse it with Social. It’s quite acceptable to use SPE first until they get the SPEcial nuance that separates social and cultural.

Let’s Try It: – What do you know about George Washington

OK Let’s Take that content and begin to analyze it for its SPEC significance!!!

Now: Let’s take the list and use SPEC to categorize and organize our answers.

TOPIC

The result: Absent of an initial clear vision of an George Washington – armed with SPEC – students will be able to approach content with a plan in order to use what they know to formulate a response.

Grade Level Appropriateness Students of ALL ages and grade levels can begin to investigate SPEC in thoughtful and meaningful ways. The key is to engage the standards in different ways, scaffold the skill and then spiral it so keeps unlock deeper meaning.

Disclaimer Are you limited to SPEC? – ABSOLUTELY NOT! There are other themes appropriate to bring into your classroom (Geography, Religion as example) SPEC is just a wonderful starting point, and very versatile. There are ways to introduce the other themes while keeping SPEC as the foundation.

Get out your SPECtacles. Let’s examine some primary source documents for some SPECifics.

The New Colossus Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame, With conquering limbs astride from land to land; Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. "Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!

Common Core Reading History Standards: RH Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science. RH Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts. RH Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.

Your Turn: The Fall of the Roman Empire

Let’s move it past just the generation of ideas... Graphic Organizers. Scavenger Hunts. Extension into an interactive notebook. Make generalizations that will lead to... THE WRITING PROCESS!

Common Core Writing Expectations Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization, and analysis of relevant content. Introduce a topic clearly, previewing what is to follow; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories; include formatting (e.g., headings), graphics (e.g., charts, tables), and multimedia when useful to aiding comprehension. Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, definitions, concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples. Use appropriate and varied transitions to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts. Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic. Establish and maintain a formal style. Provide a concluding statement or section that follows from and supports the information or explanation presented.

SPECulate In need of a conclusion that doesn’t “tell me what you told me” – have the students take a calculated risk!

What is the goal? Have students providing a broad SPECtrum of analysis, thesis statements, and conclusions that show their content mastery and their historical thinking capabilities.