Concept Attainment

MST LESSON PLAN

Rationale
The understanding of concepts is an important aspect of the social studies. Traditionally concepts are taught through formal definitions that students then commit to memory. For instance, Tame animals are animals that we have trained to keep in our homes. While efficient, this approach is heavily dependent on language and does not necessarily indicate whether or not a student really understands the concept. The concept attainment strategy taught in this lesson teaches teacher candidates a way to insure that students can demonstrate their understanding of the concept by correctly identifying positive and negative or counter examples. Assessment is hence built in since students who can correctly identify examples and provide their own examples of a concept can be assumed to have understood the concept. The strategy of concept attainment strategy is based on the work done by Hilda Taba (1902-1967) an educator and researcher focusing on the learning of concepts, and Jerome Bruner (1915) whose work forms the foundation of constructivist learning theory.

Standards
The TPE TPE TPE TPE lesson meets the following Teaching Performance Expectations: 4: Making content accessible 5: Student Engagement 6: Developmentally appropriate teaching practices. 9: Instructional Planning.

This lesson also meets the following Single Subject standards for the 2042 Credential: SB2042: 1B History-Social Science Standards They enable students to learn and use analytic thinking skills in history and social science while attaining the state-adopted academic content standards for students. Candidates teach students how social science concepts and themes provide insights into historical periods and cultures. Candidates connect essential facts and information to broad themes, concepts and principles, and they relate history-social science content to current or future issues.

Objectives and Assessments

Objectives By the end of this lesson students will be able to identify the steps of a concept attainment lesson plan. By the end of the lesson students will be able to provide appropriate examples of the concept of critical attributes. Students will outline a basic concept attainment lesson plan that includes a concept derived from one of the standards Assessment Informal assessment: Instructor will ask for verbal responses from students. Students provide attributes of the concept of hero and decide as a group which of the attributes are critical to the concept and which are not. Students complete a task asking them to identify a concept, provide critical attributes, and provide positive and

for their grade level, critical attributes, and concrete positive and negative examples

negative examples that can be used in their own classroom. The tasks will be individually completed and graded.

Materials Laptop, projector, and website. Handouts: Attributes of Manners, 5th grade history page, assignment page. Other Materials: Wind-up Toys, Clock, Plant, Candle Readers: Manners, Feelings. Source: Hilda Taba, A Teachers Handbook to Elementary Social Studies: An Inductive Approach , 2nd Ed. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1971

Instructional Tasks Time 1:00

Activity Introduction: Introduce myself. Explain the course briefly and go over the website: http://education.ucsb.edu/hss/mst. Ensure that the students make use of the website. Explain that students do need a binder that follows the structure of the website. Show PowerPoint Slides of German Expressionism. Make the point that one can understand a concept without knowing the label. ASK: In what way is this particular strategy different from that of other ways of teaching concepts that you have seen? (Use of examples: positive and negative; and focus on understanding the concept, rather than the use of the label) Vital point: Knowing the label does not mean understanding the concept. Introduce the concept attainment strategy inductively. Provide an example of learning concepts without necessarily learning terminology or linguistic labels. Show examples that are geared toward primary children. Rationale

1:301:45 (30 min)

1:452:00 (15 min)

2:002:10 (10 min) 2:102:25 2:252:55 (30 min)

Alive or Not Alive? Show wind-up toy and ask if this is living/nonliving. Explain response. Show Plant, clock: then ask for attributes. Demonstrate lit candle: how can we use the attribute list? Clouds? What other things might confuse primary children? Other examples (PowerPoint Slides) Manners, Disappointed. Discuss the use of role play and point out that although the basic method is the same, the specific activities should be adjusted for the age level of children, the concept involved, and the motivational aspects embedded. Break (Early break as students have just come from schools) The concept of hero. Students write down a hero. Ask for attributes. Then ask for examples. Point to make: we may not completely agree on the specific attributes, nor whether or not an example is or is not a positive example, but the thinking about the concept is something that will last for a life time. Review the basics of the strategy: concept, critical

Continuation of examples.

Demonstrate the importance of critical attributes.

2:55-

Review once again

3:10 (15 m) 3:103:40 (30 min.) 3:40

attributes, examples. Use Fact vs. Opinion to show contrasting approaches. Look at other examples. Talk about Pledge of Allegiance, and discuss what concepts children do not have. Then show the 5th grade example and talk about origin stories, or migration, adaptation. Students sit in grade-level groups and work on a concept: Look at the standards for the grade; select an appropriate concept; come up with critical attributes, and two positive and a negative examples. Afterwards discuss the assessment of the strategy.

the basics and to show the variety of activities.

Provides group practice for students and feedback to determine if students are on target. Hand out assignments and discuss what needs to be done. Provide independent practice for students.

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