Thoughtful Education Strategies in the Social Studies Classroom

1. Thoughtful EducationStrategies in the Social Studies Classroom Jeanne Lovett and Kelly Weaver Marshall County High School Benton, Kentucky

2. Thoughtful Education, a professional development program based on the research and development of Harvey Silver, Richard Strong and Matthew Perini, calls on teachers to develop lesson plans based on the different learning styles of students, to better understand how students learn and to intentionally plan using strategies and tools that engage students in higher levels of thinking. -Kentucky Teacher, August 2008

3. Thoughtful Education focuses on 4 different learning styles: Mastery (fond of lectures and practice) Understanding (uses logic and inquiry to learn) Self-Expressive (creative and artistic learners) Interpersonal (likes group work and attention) -Kentucky Teacher, August 2008

4. Thoughtful Education Tool: Carousel

5. Thoughtful Education Strategy Carousel Brainstorming “Immigration” • Stations will be set up around the room and students will move in groups to each of the stations in order to answer/discuss the questions. • Students will be divided into small groups and proceed around the room to answer questions. Each group will begin at a different station in order to distribute people evenly around the room. Individuals may move when they have answered the question at that station.

6. STATION 1 • If you were expecting to come to the United States from a foreign country, what animal would you expect the U.S. to be like? • As an American citizen, what animal do YOU think the United States is like? • STATION 2 • Top 5! • What advice that you would give to a teenager that has just moved to the United States? Name at least 5 things. • STATION 3 • What words and ideas come to mind when you hear the word “immigrant”? • STATION 4 • What do you predict will happen to the United States in the future in terms of population and race?

7. STATION 5 • What impact do immigrants have on American society and culture? • STATION 6 • If YOU were a recent immigrant to America what three things would you be most afraid of? • What three things would you be most excited about? • STATION 7 • If you were President of the United States, what would your policy on immigration be? • STATION 8 • Compare/contrast immigrants to the United States in the early 1900s to those who are arriving in the United States today

8. Thoughtful Education Tool Task Rotation

9. Task Rotation The Task Rotation allows teachers to offer students questions, activities, or assessments in the four learning styles.

10. World Religions Task Rotation Task 1 Name the five major world religions and describe their main beliefs and duties. Task 2 Write a script between people from two different religions that highlights their similarities and differences. Task 3 Compare and contrast Hinduism and Buddhism Compare and contrast Christianity, Islam, and Judaism Task 4 Create a kaleidoscope using symbols of all of the major religions.

11. Age of Exploration Task Rotation Task 1 Create a chart of explorers to the new world. Include the country they sailed from, the areas they explored, the activities that took place there, and their relations with the native population. Task 2 Imagine that you are an Aztec and Cortes has just arrived in Tenochtitlan. Write a paragraph explaining your first impression of the Spanish and explain your feelings about them being there. Task 3 Draw a Venn diagram and compare Cortes to another explorer from this time period. Task 4 Create two posters over Cortes. One will be a “Wanted” poster listing three reasons why Cortes would be wanted by the Aztecs, and the other will be a “National Hero” poster explaining three reasons why Cortes was a hero in Spain.

12. Thoughtful Education Strategy: Similarities and Differences: The Cold War and The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss

13. The Butter Battle Book The Cold War Description Phase:

14. Butter Battle Book Differences Cold War Differences Comparison Phase:Similarities

15. 1.Do you suppose nuclear weapons cause war or keep peace? Why? 2.If you could write a book for children that had a deeper meaning to learn about a problem in society what would the book be about? 3.Just like children of the cold war era were drilled in such areas as “Duck and Cover” you are drilled in preparation for fires, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Evaluate the effectives of those drills, how you would improve those drills, and give at least one example of an area that should be practiced but isn’t.

16. Assessment: In the post 9-11 era, Americans today are bombarded with terms such as “Terror Alert”, “the war on terror”, “Homeland Security”, “Suicide Bombers”, “Osama bin Laden”, and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” . Just like Americans during the Cold War who were fearful of an attack by the Soviets, Americans today are concerned about future terrorist attacks. Using the internet for research and drawing upon prior knowledge, design a pamphlet to help people prepare for and survive a nuclear disaster or another type of terrorist attack. This pamphlet should be written for your community and should be easy to interpret and informational. Be specific about where people should go, the type of shelter they could buy, and what they should stock their shelter with.

17. Thoughtful Education Tool Assessment Menu

18. Assessment MenuThree Levels of Difficulty Mastery • Gather information • Organize information • Present information Interpersonal • Express feelings • Understand feelings • Act on feelings Understanding • Examine data • Interpret data • Extrapolate data Self Expressive • Generate ideas • Reorganize ideas • Create original work

19. Resource for Thoughtful Ed Templates and Activities • http://www.marshall.k12.ky.us/Thoughtful%20Ed/ThoughtfulEdtemplates.htm • http://www.marshall.k12.ky.us/cd/CurriculumDocuments.htm