Chapter 7

1. Chapter 7 Teaching Thinking, Problem Solving, and Skill Acquisition

2. Looking Ahead • Why is it important to develop students’ ability to think critically and solve problems in a democratic society? • What skills have a particular importance for social studies? • Why are these skills important for social studies? • How can teachers best teach these skills to students?

3. Can You? • Explain three ways to teach students to think logically? • Identify the functions of the mind that relate to critical thinking? • Identify of problem-solving tasks? • Identify several ways that you can stimulate curiosity in students? • Explain why map and globe skills are challenging for students? • Explain the three types of memory?

4. Do You? • Know how to help students to understand and retain information? • Understand stand the term story map? • Know the functions of the mind? • Ever get the "Columbus urge" or have “Aha!" moments? • Know and understand the term mnemonic device?

5. Focus Activity • Think back about your education and life experiences. • Can you recall an important decision you had to make in your life? • How did you go about finding the ultimate solution? • Share your decision making experiences and compare with classmates. • Does your decision making process share common attributes with others? If so, what attributes?

6. Thinking Skills • What are the two kinds of learning? • Rote Learning? • Constructivist Learning? • What does the term “thinking skills” refer to? • What are a few principals teacher could follow to enhance students’ retention of knowledge?

7. Logical Thinking and Analyzing Skills • What are ways teachers can help students gain logical thinking and analyzing skills? • Modeling • Through discussion • Through guided practice with feedback

8. Critical and Creative Thinking • What is critical thinking? • What is creative thinking? • Why does creative thinking differ from most thought required in school?

9. Problem Solving and Inquiry • How can teachers utilize problem solving in the social studies curriculum? • How does an inquiry teaching model work? • What is the best way to create active problem solvers? • What are the different types of problem-solving tasks that a teacher can utilize in the classroom?

10. Promoting Critical Thinking with Modules • What are modules and how are they used? • Develop definitional understanding of concepts • Help students reach evaluation judgments • provide experiences that cause students to arrive at a commonly shared generalization as a way of thinking

11. Promoting Inquiry with Case Studies • What is a case study approach and who might use it?Why? • What are some basic procedures for preparing a case study? • Identify the problem • Tentatively identify a research procedure • Select the appropriate example (or case) • Develop detailed procedural plans • Collect resources related to the case • Organize the materials and data • Plan activities

12. Incorporating Thinking and Learning Skills into Social Studies • What skills are at the core of effective teaching? • What is the major thrust of social studies?

13. Building the Desire to Master Study Skills • Learning to use knowledge is the heart of a problems approach. • Once students learn that knowing information and how to get it is useful in solving real problems, it gives knowledge purpose. • Knowledge is empowering

14. Finding Information • What is the “Columbus urge”? • How can a teacher facilitate the “Columbus urge” • Stir interest/curiosity • Leave questions dangling • Model excitement • Celebrate discoveries • How can a teacher promote decision making? • How can a teacher promote information retention?

15. Maps and Globes • Are map reading skills necessary in today’s day and age? • What are some considerations teachers need to keep in mind when choosing maps or globes? • What are a few ideas that might help students learn more effectively from and about maps?

16. Using Maps • How can we create authentic map activities for students? • Why do students tend to see map work as lacking in purpose? • Why do students never really learn to use maps to find specific information or to follow routes?

17. Charts, Graphs, and Maps • Can math related concepts and skills be taught within social studies curriculum? • If so, how?

18. Economic Skills • What economic skills do students need to learn? • What are some activities a teacher can use to help teach economic skills?

19. Looking Back • The major goal of teaching is to help students become independent learners, therefore a real emphasis needs to be placed on students’ ability to think and solve problems • Obtaining, understanding, and retaining information are among the thinking skills that are important to social studies learning • Problem-solving is the most essential thinking ability and is an important part of the inquiry process. • Well-developed study skills give students a winning advantage including • This is a society in which the development of Map skills, time skills and economic skills are essential to survival

20. Extension • It is almost spring break and you are finishing the third semester report cards. Your principal stops by your classroom to express his enjoyment of your problem solving based classroom activities. The Monday after spring break he would like you to share a new dynamic classroom activity with the superintendent, assistant principal, and a local reporter. You agree to the challenge, and say “I am excited for the opportunity, thank you.”

21. Extension • Develop a new and innovate problem solving based classroom activity for the elementary grade level and topic of your choice. • The activity should be in written form and utilize the lesson/activity format required by your school/district/university. • Share your response with peers and/or instructor.

22. Extension • Select a skill and grade level (6-12) of your choice. • Develop a new and unique activity that can help students master the selected skill while learning social studies content. • The activity should be in written form and utilize the lesson/activity format required by your school/district/university. • Share your response with peers and/or instructor.

23. Self-Test • What are thinking skills? • What does the term schema mean and how does it relate to thinking? • What does the term critical thinking mean? • What is meant by the expression, story map? • Can you list five thinking skills and describe a class activity for meeting each thinking skill.

24. Self-Test • Can you identify and describe types of problem-solving tasks? • What are some ways to create the "Columbus urge" in students? • What is a mnemonic device? • Describe the three types of memory? • What are some guidelines for using maps and globes? • Why is it important to teach maps in a way that involves maps as tools of problem solving?

25. Resources • Boostrom, R. (2005). Thinking: The foundation of critical and creative learning in the classroom. New York: Teachers College Press. • Council for Economic Education. (2003). The great economic mysteries book: A guide to teaching economic reasoning grades 4-8. New York: Council for Economic Education. • Erickson, L. (2007). Concept-based curriculum and instruction for the thinking classroom. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. • Johnson, T. (2012). Exploring the options: Teaching economic decision-making with poetry. The Social Studies, 103(2), 61-66.

26. Resources • Kracl, C. (2012). Review or true? Using high-level thinking questions in social studies instruction. The Social Studies, 103(2), 57-60. • McIntyre, B. (2011). History scene investigations: From clues to conclusions. The Social Studies, 23(3), 17-21. • Sewell, A.M., Fuller, S., Murphy, R.C., and Funnell, B.H. (2002). Creative problem solving: A means to authentic and purposeful social studies. The Social Studies, 93(4), 176–179.