Session 2: Social Studies and the Arts Combined

READING

Read through documents 1 and 2 below (reading # 3 is optional). Then, answer the
questions below and do the Final Project Component.

New York State Department of Education – Social Studies Learning Standards

and Core Curriculum: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/ssrg.html

1) The STANDARDS: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/socstand/home.html

The standards set expectations for what students will learn in the key areas of Social
Studies: Standards 1 US + NYS & 2 World History - Standard 3 Geography -
Standard 4 Economics - and Standard 5 Government and Politics.

Each standard is further defined by 2 - 4 Key Ideas. These are further illustrated with
Performance Indicators, descriptions of the things students will be able to do as they
address and satisfy the standard.

2) SS Resource Guide with Core Curriculum:

a. OVEVIEW (18 pages) http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/ssovervi.pdf

(gives philosophy and framework of instructional approaches for teaching Social
Studies)

b. Grade K-6 Standards are found on (PDF reader) Pages 1 – 17 (marked 19 – 34 at

bottom of page) http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/sscore1.pdf

3) OPTIONAL Item, but of interest– Here’s a 4th grade curriculum guide for talented and
gifted that offers arts activities. This is a multidisciplinary unit, with a very strong Social
Studies dimension. It is part of the New York City curriculum, which is aligned with the
NYS curriculum. http://schools.nycenet.edu/offices/teachlearn/Immigration_4_final.pdf

There is a great deal of material to cover in the above documents. Please read
through them quickly (skim) and then return to them for specifics as you do this
assignment.

Assignment to Turn In:

Part One –Reflections

ANSWER the following focus questions below*:
Skim read through the above documents. Familiarize yourself with their content and the
ways they are organized.

1) How would you explain the relationship between the standards and the curriculum?

2) Give an example(s) of places in the documents where you see confluences between
Social Studies and the Arts. In other words which S.S. subjects and themes do you feel
would be implemented well with arts activities - give a brief explanation. Be specific
about what you find in these documents as well as locations (page numbers)

3) Please share any other ‘Ah Ha’s’ you had while reading through the documents –
examples of how your understanding of what this subject is and how it may best be
taught was influenced or changed by this reading of the NY State Education
Department documents that frame Social Studies learning .

Number your responses – the above should be 200 – 300 words.

* How to respond and submit your response:

Compose your answers in a word processing document and save the document for your
own records. Then copy and paste your response in to the appropriate answer in our
class Discussion Board area. See the section on how to use the Discussion Board if you
are unfamiliar with it:
http://sites.google.com/site/touromgura/about-the-course/using-the-discussion-board

Part Two – Final Project Installment #1

Have you read through the entire Final Project Folder in the Course Information Area? If
not, PLEASE do so before beginning your project!

Preparation: Before you begin, prepare a fresh Final Project Template for yourself by:
1) Highlighting the Final Project template in our Course Information Area
(Final Project Folder - “Final Project Planning Info. & TEMPLATE”)
2) Copying it using the “Copy” function of your computer (right click the mouse and then
left click to select “Copy”,
3) Pasting the template into a fresh word processing file (i.e. MS Word) using the
“Paste” function.

TEMPLATE: Fill your name in at top and “Save” this file with your name and the words
Final Project. You will develop and submit your project using this document.

You will be turning in the same document 6 times; each time it should be more complete
and refined than the last. It would be wise for you to save each version as a separate
file, renaming it each time (i.e. FinalProject.JoeSmith.Version1,
FinalProject.JoeSmith.Version2, etc.)

Final Project INSTALLMENT #1: Identify a theme for an instructional unit that you will
plan for a class of students. This theme should be well represented in the NYS Social
Studies Learning Standards and Core Curriculum. You will also describe the type of
class the unit will be implemented with (i.e. grade level, Regular or Special Ed.,
approximate # of students, etc.).

Using the Final Project Template that you prepared for your Final Project (see
“template” above), fill in the following items. You will expand, refine, and change these
things as often as you need to, as you develop the unit during the course. Fill in
sections: A – 1, 2, and 3.

Also, take an initial stab at filling in A - 9 (description).

NOTE: you will have to identify a product for the students to create that is a good match
for the things you want them to learn. It should also offer them good opportunity to
express themselves and communicate what they’ve learned (Social Studies content and
skills). The general Project-based Learning model has the students researching,
gathering information directly, interpreting, reflecting, etc. (the content and skills
learning) in order to create the product! Some common products for these projects are:
posters, post cards, illustrated magazine articles, slideshows, books, flip books, comic
books, trading cards, etc. Quite likely you will want to refine or change your choice of
product further along in the course, but for now you need to choose one as a starting
point. You may want to do a little web research to get ideas. We will be reviewing
samples and examples as we go along in the course.