Department of Early Childhood Elementary and Middle Level Education ELE 3340 SOCIAL STUDIES FOR ELEMENTARY SCHOOL CHILDREN UNIT THEME Educator as Creator of Effective Educational Environments Integrating diverse students subjects strategies societies and technologies Summer 2008 Linda Loy Phone 581 7862 O 217 536 5269 H Office 2208 Buzzard Building Office Hours T TR 11 1 00 Wed 11 1 00 E Mail lwloy eiu edu and jhl effingham net Catalog Description ELE 3340 Social Studies for the Elementary School Children 30 3 Planning and organizing for instruction material selection and evaluation in social studies Field based activities will be provided in Elementary Education 4000 Prerequisites Elementary Education 3000 and concurrent enrollment in Elementary Education 3290 Elementary Education 4000 and Elementary Education 4880 or permission of department chair University Teacher Education requirements apply and department requirements for enrollment must be met Course Purpose The primary purpose of social studies is to help young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse democratic society in an interdependent world NCSS Expectations of Excellence p vii ELE 3340 is structured to assist in preparing preservice teachers to teach social studies in elementary and middle schools Course goals include helping preservice teachers to develop a confidence in their teaching abilities b knowledge of social studies content and sequences and c the ability to select and utilize developmentally and age appropriate materials and techniques ELE 3340 is essential in helping preservice teachers acquire knowledge interactive and informational processing skills attitudes and commitments necessary for effective teaching of the social studies in elementary and middle schools Texts Welton David A Children and their World Strategies for teaching social studies 8th Edition Boston Houghton Mifflin Company 2004 National Council for the Social Studies Expectations of excellence Curriculum standards for the social studies Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice Hall Inc 1994 Supplemental Materials Live Text account Learning Model Social Systems This model is constructed to take advantage of the collective energy people generate when working together by building learning communities Learning is viewed as an interaction between the student and critical aspects of the school and home environment and focuses on the whole ecosystem not just the learner The model is designed to lead students to define problems explore various perspectives of the problems and study together to master information ideas and skills The teacher organizes the group process and disciplines it helps the students find and organize information and ensures a vigorous level of activity and discourse Joyce B Weil M 1992 Models of teaching 4th ed Boston Allyn and Bacon Dispositions Teacher candidates in the department of EC ELE MLE will exhibit professional ethical practices effective communication sensitivity to diversity and the ability to provide varied teaching practices evidenced in a supportive and encouraging atmosphere for learning Standards related to ELE 3340 Illinois Professional Teaching Standards IPTS http www isbe state il us profprep PDFs ipts pdf Language Arts Standards for all Illinois Teachers LASIT http www isbe net profprep CASCDvr pdfs 24110 corelangarts std pdf Technology Standards for all Illinois Teachers TSIT http www isbe net profprep CASCDvr pdfs 24120 coretechnology pdf ISTE NETS standards for all teachers and for pre service teachers prior to student teaching http cnets iste org teachers t profile pro html SPA Standards Alignment Special Professional Association Standards based on ACEI Association for Childhood Education International program standards for elementary teacher preparation http www acei org Synopsis htm and http www acei org ncateindex htm NAEYC National Association for the Education of Young Children NAEYC http www naeyc org accreditation next era asp ELE3340 Outcomes Students will Demonstrate commitment to continuing enhancement of knowledge bases in the Social Studies and in best practice pedagogy Search evaluate and apply appropriate resources including primary sources Develop conceptually connected themed curriculum Ground pedagogy in democratic beliefs and values NCSS Utilize inquiry and critical thinking in curriculum development Place emphasis on reasoned and informed decision making for the common good in a diverse and interdependent world according to the NCSS definition of competent citizenship the goal of the Social Studies Course Requirements and Demonstrated Competencies Course Requirements Demonstrated Competencies Aligned Standards Participation Performance includes discussion volunteer input engagement with others and cooperative learning situations that relate to social issues and social concerns Focus is on critical citizenship education that results in constructive social action ACEI 5 3 IPTS 7 9 10 ISTE 1 LASIT 2 Integrated Social Studies Curriculum Unit Performance includes application of technology skills in researching topics and development activities reflecting creativity higher order thinking skills different learning styles and multiple assessments Qualitative and developmentally appropriate children s literature will be collected and applied in unit projects Focus is on the design of integrated and themed curriculum for comprehensive social studies and citizenship in a global village including the creation of learning environments that invite development of healthy self concept and pro social behaviors ACEI 2 8 3 1 3 2 3 3 3 4 3 5 IPTS 1 3 4 5 6 8 ISTE 2 3 LASIT 1 2 3 LiveText uploads will be submitted from the Social Studies Curriculum Unit per instructions from the instructor Group Presentations Performance includes demonstration of effective communication skills application of technology tools and utilization of productivity tools such as Power Point or LiveText Focus is on dissemination of social studies content knowledge ACEI 3 5 5 4 IPTS 7 9 ISTE 2 5 LASIT 2 Literature Journal Internet Reviews Performance may include assembling and evaluating books for a literacy circle reading an article provided by the instructor and submitting a reaction paper and or locating relevant social studies sources topics issues and providing a reflection paper Focus is on utilization of vital social issues current events