Blog Post #1
Looking back on elementary school I remember learning a decent amount of social studies in many different ways throughout those younger years. Some of the different areas of social studies I recall learning about during that time was learning about where places are around the world, how to read a map, the different states and continents around the world and background on historic events in the United States. A couple of activities I remember doing in elementary school that relate to social studies were watching different videos and movies on the history of the United States for example I remember watching one of the constitution being written as well as one about the Boston Tea Party. These were fun animated videos that I remember enjoying as an elementary student. Another activity we did was the Flat Stanley project. This was one activity that everyone really enjoyed and it taught us a lot because our Flat Stanley was moved all over the United States so we got to see pictures and read about where Flat Stanley had traveled to each time.
Social studies is definitely something that I believe is super important for students to learn about. There are so many important aspects of social studies, for example learning about the different places around the world and where they are on a map. As well as the history of our country and the very significant moments that have occurred in the past to make the United States the way that it is today. All of these aspects of social studies are very important for children to learn about but it is equally as important to make sure that the activities are fun and engaging for the students. Many times students may not want to learn about math or social studies or do a history lesson but there are a lot of ways to make it interesting so that they enjoy it and want to learn more. For example the movies on Friday's about different historical moments in the United States was something the whole class looked forward to every week. They were engaged and actually became excited for the videos and to learn more each week.
Without looking up what social studies inquiry means I would guess that it would mean to become engaged and interested in social studies by asking questions to try and actively learn more. Usually when you hear the word inquiry it is in the context of someone wanting to ask more questions about something for example a job inquiry they are asking more questions about the job. When students are showing social studies inquiry they are becoming curious and interested in learning more, if I interpreted that correctly.
Celynne,
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I totally forgot about doing that Flat Stanley activity. That was one thing I will say that was actually something fun that I totally forgot about. Thank you for reminding me of something exciting that happened from my childhood. I sadly get more irritated at my old schools lack of attention to detail when I should try to focus more on positive aspects such as these things. I remember that some students had family in the army or overseas who would send back really cool comments about differences in culture and things they saw. Do you remember a specific movie that you watched that was maybe your favorite? Glad we had more or less the same idea on the definition though.
I also remember a few students who sent their Flat Stanley overseas or just somewhere super out of the usual and it was super cool the different responses they got. I do not remember one specific movie name but they were a whole series of social studies movies with animated characters and they acted out different significant events in our history.
DeleteI never did Flat Stanley at my school, but one of my second cousins from Louisiana sent her Flat Stanley project to us! It was super for us and it wasn't even our project! I completely forgot about that but since I want to teach younger grade levels, I think this would be a great project to integrate into my classroom!
ReplyDeleteAshley, I also would love to try and do this activity in my classroom as well. I totally forgot about it until I thought back more to social studies and things I did in Elementary school and remember how fun it was!
DeleteHi Celynne, the activities you talked about sounded pretty fun, especially the Flat Stanley activity, I had never heard about it before. I agree with you that social studies is an important subject to cover which also makes it very important that the students find it very engaging and fun in order for them to take an interest in it. I think the movies on Fridays was a really good way to have gained students engagement in a topic. Getting students to be excited about what they are learning will make them much more motivate to learn about the topic.
ReplyDeleteHello! The movies were for sure a big hit for the students in the classroom for everyone, I agree that it really helps students become engaged in what they are learning and gives them something to look forward to every week.
DeleteCelynne,
ReplyDeleteGeography is definitely one of the areas that gets focused on the most. When reading everyone else’s posts majority of them also mentioned maps and locations. Also, I like you mentioned that social studies have different areas and covers different things. As a visual learner myself, videos are a great tool to use to help students see the event and create an image in their mind. Do you see yourself doing something similar with videos in your classroom? I enjoyed hearing your examples and experiences from your elementary school seemed liked your classrooms had some great activities for students.
Mary, I do see myself using videos in my classroom in the future. I totally agree that videos, movies and other visuals like pictures or posters can help a lot of students who are visual learners but also helps engage the students and keep them interested in what they are learning.
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