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• Social Studies Unit
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Standard 7: Engagement with Elementary Subject Matter
In what ways does the student teacher:

• demonstrate understanding and enthusiasm in the elementary disciplines — children’s literature, reading, writing, math, problem solving, science, social studies, art, technology, health, physical education?
• understand how knowledge in each discipline is created, organized and linked to other disciplines?
• use subject knowledge to carefully select instructional materials and resources based on their comprehensiveness, accuracy and usefulness?
• use precise and appropriate language to convey content accurately and understandably?
• demonstrate a broad knowledge base that could be used to create interdisciplinary learning experiences?
• demonstrate an awareness of means of explanation and multiple representations of concepts (including analogies, metaphors, experiments, demonstrations, illustrations) that help students develop conceptual understanding in all subject areas?
• demonstrate an awareness of differing viewpoints and theories in the disciplines? Is that understanding evident when teaching concepts?
• mediate the tension between content and skills demands in the subject areas?
• design lesson plans that reflect a variety of academic, social and cultural experiences?
• demonstrate an ability to present subject matter in culturally responsive ways, which assumes a knowledge of cultures and backgrounds present in the classroom?

This semester, I had the opportunity to try my hand teaching every elementary-level content area. Some I found to be very comfortable and fun to teach, including math and science, while others I found to be new and very challenging. My social studies unit presented me with a great challenge in that I have little experience teaching in this field, and the specific topic, American civil rights, is one in which I lack the expertise and experience that inform my math and science teaching.
 
But I was able to put together what I believe to have been a very successful unit, a multimedia-based inquiry into central figures in the 20th-century civil rights struggle. In particular, I focused the class on the story of a little girl who, at age 6, became the first African-American child to integrate into an all-white school, an especially remarkable feat considering that this occurred in New Orleans in 1960, a place that at the time was not known for its racial tolerance.
 
To examine the different stages of planning and assessment I incorporated into this unit, please visit my social studies unit, where I detail the process and progress I as the teacher, and my class as the learners, followed throughout this unit.