Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box lesson plan

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 232-242
Author(s):  
Margaret Angel Bestwick
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Role Play ◽  
Role Playing ◽  
Individual Development ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
National Council ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Her Family ◽  
The Social

Purpose Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box (McPhail, 2015) is a tranquil biography primarily focusing on the childhood of Beatrix Potter. This lesson plan, based in the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) C3 Framework, allows second-grade learners to explore the life of Beatrix Potter through this biography and to make connections to his or her own life. Learners move through four stages of inquiry in the C3 Framework. They examine the dust jacket and dual-image book cover for clues about the life of Beatrix Potter. Next, they engage in a read-aloud of the biography during which learners construct knowledge about the life of Beatrix Potter. Learners then create puppets and role play the life of Ms Potter. The lesson concludes with learners making comparisons between their own and Ms Potter’s life. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This is a lesson plan that is intended for second grade students. The duration of the lesson is approximately 90 minutes in length. The lesson utilizes the Whole Book Approach (WBA). The WBA is “an intentional, inquiry-based approach to reading aloud that puts art and design [and children’s responses to them] at the center of the storytime experience” (Lambert et al., 2015, p. 81). During the lesson, the teacher utilizes the WBA through asking open-ended questions as she/he reads aloud. The students and the teacher co-construct meaning through a dialogue about the text and images within the text. The lesson also includes the Role-Playing Characters to Understand Them Better (adapted) approach. This fiction reading strategy is adapted for informational text, a biography, for this lesson. Rather than role-playing a character, students role-play real people: Beatrix Potter & her family, and themselves. Serravallo (2015) writes about this strategy, “Sometimes the best way to get to know our characters is to stand in their shoes-to do what they do, say what they say, and act how they act. With a partner[…] Using puppets or props, act out the scene. Try to talk in the voice of the character, and move the puppet just like the character would. When you finish creating the scene, stop and talk about what you think about the characters” (p. 172). Students will create paper puppets and role-play events from Beatrix Potter’s life as depicted in the biography. Students use a puppet of themselves to talk with Beatrix about how the student's life is similar to and different from Beatrix’s life. McPhail, D. (2015), Beatrix Potter and Her Paint Box, New York, Henry Holt and Co.; National Council for the Social Studies Notable Trade Book for Young People (2016); JLG Category – Genre: Nonfiction, Lexile Level: AD790L, Elementary Grades K-2, ISBN: 9780805091700 (Junior Library Guild, 2016); the duration of the lesson is approximately 90 minutes: second grade. Findings Little Beatrix Potter loved art. At an early age, she received her mother’s paint box. Beatrix Potter spent hours painting things she loved, like the animals she kept as pets. Her family traveled from their home in London to spend Summers in the country. She loved it there. She spent her time painting her surroundings. When she was older she learned of a young boy who was ill, and confined to bed. So, she wrote him a story and drew illustrations for the story. This story was later published as her first book, The Tale of Peter Rabbit. Beatrix Potter went on to publish many other animal tales that became popular across the world and beloved for generations. Originality/value This lesson plan is aligned with the NCSS theme number 10, individual development and identity.

iCurator

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 310-324
Author(s):  
Andrea Watson-Canning
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Visual Literacy ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Constructivist Learning ◽  
The Internet ◽  
National Council ◽  
Historical Understanding ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide secondary social studies practitioners with a research-based adaptable lesson plan aligned with the National Council for the Social Studies Thematic Strands and its C3 Framework incorporating the digitized collection of the National Gallery of Art and Visual Thinking Strategies to foster historical understanding through a student-driven process of online gallery curation. Design/methodology/approach The author describes the connections between constructivist learning and technology integration in the classroom, linking technological, visual, and social studies literacy. The internet mediates student experience. It is both text-based and image-saturated; therefore, it is important for students to develop fluency with the written word and visual literacy. To remain technologically relevant, teachers must harness the potential of the internet to aid students with the development of their analytic and evaluative skills. The paper outlines an adaptable method for incorporating technology and art into social studies classroom practice in order to build visual literacy, historical understanding, and skills in evidence-based research. Findings The National Council for the Social Studies has outlined various analytic, communicative, and evaluative skills that students should acquire for social studies literacy. This paper provides insight as to how utilizing digitized collections of artwork has the potential to engage students in active, constructivist learning in order to acquire social studies literacy. Originality/value The paper is of value to secondary practitioners who wish to incorporate visual art, technology, and constructivist learning techniques in their classrooms.

An analysis of the presentation of Sikhism in social studies textbooks

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-253
Author(s):  
Sean Colbert-Lewis ◽  
Drinda E. Benge
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Critical Pedagogy ◽  
Middle Grades ◽  
National Council ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Religious Literacy ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Studies Textbooks

Purpose The increase of Islamophobia-inspired hate crimes toward Sikh Americans led the Sikh Coalition of America and the National Council for the Social Studies to request social studies educators to conduct a content analysis on the presentation of Sikhism in social studies textbooks. The Sikh Coalition hopes to use the findings of such research to encourage more appropriate inclusion about the religion in textbooks by the leading publishing companies and as a legitimate social studies subject of instruction in the state standards for all 50 states. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach The incorporation of critical pedagogy, as a tool of critical multiculturalism, serves as the theoretical design of this study. Content analysis serves as the method of research for this study. The authors also employed an online survey to determine the scope of religious literacy of the pre-service teachers with regard to Sikhism before the conducting of content analysis of social studies textbooks for the presentation of Sikhism. Findings The current presentation of Sikhism in social studies textbooks has the potential to help fuel the Islamophobia that Sikh Americans now face. The authors found that the pre-service teachers possess little religious literacy regarding Sikhism. Furthermore, from the content analyses, the authors found that a total of 21 out of the sample of 32 textbooks (5 elementary, 11 middle grades and 16 high school) mention Sikhism. Eight textbooks include a mention of the origins of Sikhism. Nine textbooks misidentify the religion as a blending of Hinduism and Islam. Nine textbooks mention the religion in relation to the assassination of Indira Gandhi. Research limitations/implications The originality of this research led the authors to find that the very limited and inaccurate information we found present in the most-used textbooks for elementary, middle grades and high school social studies made the employing of inferential statistics like correlation difficult. Also, the authors found from the literature that research addressing Islamophobia in the classroom has centered on the role of licensed teachers only. The research gives a model to how pre-service teachers may address Islamophobia in the classroom and also gain religious literacy regarding Sikhism. Practical implications The rise of Islamophobia-inspired violence toward students of South Asian descent has led to the call to address this matter. The research introduces a method to how social studies education professors may help engage their pre-service teachers in proactively addressing Islamophobia. Social studies professors have a responsibility to help promote social justice through critical pedagogy that explores the religious literacy of their pre-service teachers beyond Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. Social implications The Sikh Coalition, by telephone, has formally acknowledged to the authors that the textbook research has been the most extensive they have received since making their joint request with the National Council for the Social Studies. They have used the research to successfully convince the state education boards of Texas and recently Tennessee to adopt the inclusion of Sikhism in social studies content. More Americans, at a young age, need to learn about Sikh culture, so they are less likely to develop prejudicial ideas about Sikh Americans and commit violent acts of religious-based discrimination. Originality/value The research is extremely rare. To date, no one else in the country has conducted research on the presentation of Sikhism in textbooks to the extent that the authors have. The authors hope that the research will encourage more dialogue and further research. The authors hope that the research will help prevent further acts of religious-based violence toward followers of the world’s sixth largest religion.

Elementary classroom libraries and social studies trade books

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Tracey S. Hodges ◽  
Katherine Landau Wright ◽  
Julianne M. Coleman ◽  
Holly Hilboldt Swain ◽  
Claire Schweiker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Elementary Classroom ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
National Council ◽  
Trade Books ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Classroom Libraries ◽  
K 12

Purpose Standards and policy changes in K-12 education have created the unintended consequence of reducing instructional time spent on social studies content. This limited time devoted to social studies presumably has led to more integrated social studies and literacy instruction. The purpose of this paper is to document the types of high-quality social studies children’s books found in classroom libraries across five states. Design/methodology/approach In the present mixed methods study, the researchers utilized a database of 60 classroom libraries across five states to identify which high-quality trade books, defined by the National Council for the Social Studies, were present. The researchers document trends in both frequencies of books and social studies content across decades, classrooms, grade levels and states from 1972 to 2015. Findings The findings indicate that National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Trade Books for Young People texts are largely missing from the elementary classroom libraries the researchers sampled. Of the 5,544 unique titles included on the NCSS lists from 1972 to 2015, 453 were located in the US classroom libraries database, representing 8.17 percent of books found on the notable lists. Originality/value Before teachers can take steps toward integrating social studies and literacy, they need easy access to high-quality social studies texts. Many high-quality trade books are recommended each year for exposing students to social studies content; however, the researchers found limited numbers of these books in classroom libraries. The researchers recommend the lists be circulated to a wider audience to inform more teachers about these texts.

NCSS notable trade book lesson plan Before She Was Harriet

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-360
Author(s):  
Daneell D. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Trade Book ◽  
National Council ◽  
Teacher Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Historical Figure

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to allow students to explore the accomplishments of Harriet Tubman at various stages of her life through a guided research investigation. Students will be able to identify Harriet Tubman as a human hero by creating biographical story boards to display first in the classroom and later moved to a local cultural museum. The lesson plan is based on the trade book Before She Was Harriet. This short biography of Harriet Tubman is written in a free verse style to introduce young readers to the several roles she held throughout her impressive life span. Design/methodology/approach Social constructivist principles are integrated throughout the lesson; that is, meaningful interactions with peers and the teacher influence student learning. Students participate in a scaffolded research project with the support of teacher modeling and graphic organizers. They expand their knowledge by creating an original interdisciplinary project, a story board biography. Throughout all phases of the learning experience, students engage in critical thinking and challenging activities that include drawing connections among ideas, evaluating group work, arguing positions and applying research skills. Additionally, a variety of resources, including technology, are incorporated to promote active student engagement. Findings This is a National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Tradebook Lesson Plan. Originality/value Young learners need the opportunity to engage in scaffolded research activities in a social studies classroom. This innovative instructional plan provides PreK-3 teachers a guide to introducing students to Harriet Tubman by reading aloud Before She Was Harriet, a 2018 Notable Trade book, and allowing students to gather a deep understanding of this historical figure through guided research over the course of two to three sessions.

A study of elementary teacher’s perspectives on professional development for social studies

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Perrotta
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Native American ◽  
Elementary Teachers ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
National Council ◽  
Colleges Of Education ◽  
Case Study Methodology ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Studies Instruction

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to ascertain perspectives from pre-service and in-service elementary teachers about challenges they face when teaching social studies, and how their participation in a content-based professional development opportunity can support their preparedness for social studies instruction. Five speakers who were experts in topics such as Native American history, historical preservation, women's history and the Constitution were featured at this workshop.Design/methodology/approachCase study methodology with both descriptive and explanatory data collection and analysis methods, which were inclusive of surveys and focus group sessions, was implemented. The National Council for the Social Studies (2017) Powerful and Authentic Social Studies framework was applied in order to examine whether elementary in-service and pre-service teachers participation in this content-focused professional development impacted their preparedness to teach social studies.FindingsMajor findings show that content-specific professional development can support pre-service and in-service elementary teachers' preparation to teach social studies through analysis of historical topics and contemporary issues, as well as mitigate challenges with regard to limited time dedicated to social studies instruction.Originality/valueIn light of the Senate's debate on passing the Educating for Democracy Act concerning funding for civics and history education, the originality of this study highlights the continued need for scholarship on how partnerships between colleges of education, school districts and local educational agencies to provide content-focused professional development can support elementary teachers' ambitious social studies instruction, which can foster greater understandings of historical content and civic participation in democratic society.

Rubber ducks to ecological citizenship: a review of practitioner-oriented research on ecological issues in the social studies

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 261-275
Author(s):  
R. Zackary Seitz
Keyword(s):  
Social Studies ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ecological Citizenship ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
The Social ◽  
One Year ◽  
Climate Crisis ◽  
Water Issues ◽  
Oriented Research

PurposeThe world is facing unprecedented potential disaster with the impending climate crisis. Research within social studies education surrounding the integration of ecological issues, while still on the fringes, has seen a recent surge. This is a review of practitioner-oriented research published in the last ten years on teaching these issues in social studies classes.Design/methodology/approachThis study reviews practitioner-oriented articles on teaching ecological issues in social studies classes. The author searched databases and did a manual review using specific search terms. The author’s first level of analysis was to analyze the year of publication, whether the article was (co) written by a practicing teacher and whether the article featured a lesson plan/resources. The author then analyzed the content/focus of each article.FindingsIn total, ten articles were (co)written by a practicing teacher, 23 articles included lesson plans and the article themes could fall into one of six themes (water issues, pollution, climate change, climate activism, sustainability and economic growth and ecological citizenship/ethics).Research limitations/implicationsThe author was unable to review one year of articles from the Ohio Social Studies Review due to the COVID-19 pandemic and only having remote institutional access to library materials.Originality/valueIn reviewing the practitioner-oriented articles, the author hopes to not only strengthen the curricular justifications for teaching these issues in social studies classes but also show what research has been done and provide critiques and show what could be done in the future.

So tall within: sojourner truth’s long walk to freedom

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-55
Author(s):  
Sari Brodey ◽  
La Wanda Tidd ◽  
Stephanie Serriere
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
English Language ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
National Council ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sojourner Truth ◽  
The Social ◽  
In The Beginning

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to support teachers in utilizing the 2019 National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Notable Tradebook, “Sojourner Truth’s Long Walk to Freedom” (Schmidt, 2018). The authors found this book to be useful, beautiful and well-written but with several complex and dense literary aspects. Thus, this lesson offers supports for students in decoding similes and metaphors within “juicy sentences” (Fenner and Snyder, 2017, p. 131). These tools are especially important for English language learners’ (ELLs) unlocking the meaning of a book. Through this lesson, learners are supported in understanding Schmidt’s “So Tall Within” retelling the life of an extraordinary citizen, Sojourner Truth, who worked for the enforcement of emancipation promised in the 13th amendment. Design/methodology/approach In this lesson, students learn to recognize similes and metaphors in texts as a tool to decode a text’s meaning. In the beginning of the lesson, students listen to a rap about Sojourner Truth’s life to initially recognize in-text similes and metaphors. Then, students apply this new skill to unlock the meaning of metaphors and similes in the “So Tall Within” book to better understand the author’s message about Sojourner’s life. Last, students each make an illustrated and written postcard to Sojourner Truth called “Walking Tall Postcards” with their given metaphor or simile and add reflections on how they do or can “walk tall.” Finally, students chronologically re-construct the postcard statements and create a class book called, “Postcards of Walking Tall.” Findings Students, especially ELLs, must be given supports to unlock the meaning of dense texts (Fenner and Snyder, 2017). To promote equity in the classroom, the lesson was created to make this text more understandable for all learners. Originality/value Like many NCSS Tradebooks that are beautiful in illustrations and lyrical prose, this book requires supports for young learners to decode and understand. This lesson plan scaffolds students’ understanding, especially ELLs’ understanding, of simile and metaphor as a tool to unlock a text’s meaning toward increased historical understanding of Sojourner’s life. Understanding the legacy of Sojourner Truth is evermore important to teach today – she was a woman empowered with knowledge of the law to recognize human rights violations and act on behalf of others.

Supporting quality social studies instruction: the social studies practices continuum

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Erickson ◽  
Kerry A. Dunne ◽  
Christopher C. Martell
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Inservice Teachers ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Instructional Coaches ◽  
College Career ◽  
The Social ◽  
Improving Instruction

PurposeThis article presents the social studies practices continuum, which is a tool that supports social studies teachers in implementing inquiry-based practices in their classrooms. It was designed by the authors based on similar instruments found in science education and informed by the College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Framework for Social Studies Standards.Design/methodology/approachThe article describes the instrument's creation and describes its use with preservice teachers in teacher preparation programs, inservice teachers during district-based professional development.FindingsThe continuum has been used as a reflective tool for teachers and curriculum developers, and as a tool for instructional coaches and administrators to improve teaching practices.Originality/valueThis article offers a new tool for teachers and supervisors to use in improving instruction.

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