Vertical Conversations for 21 st Century Teaching and Learning

1. Vertical Conversations for 21st Century Teaching and Learning Beth Ratway Senior Consultant March 18, 2010

2. MY MANTRA When the question: 'What's new?' is pursued at the expense of all other questions, what follows in its wake is often an endless flood of trivia and fashion. I wish to be concerned with the question: 'What is best?' for this question cuts deeply, rather than broadly sweeping over everything." Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

3. Start in common groups • What topics and content should we focus on for this work?

4. How can we make social studies manageable and meaningful?

5. Finding the common ground POWERFUL PRACTICES

6. What are the most powerful ways to get students engaged in the social studies classroom? What do you remember…

7. Recommendations for Best Practices in Teaching Social Studies* ·        Students of social studies need regular opportunities to investigate topics in depth. ·        Students need opportunities to exercise choice and responsibility by choosing their own topics for inquiry. ·        Social studies teaching should involve exploration of open questions that challenge students’ thinking. ·        To make real the concepts being taught, social studies must involve students in active participation in the classroom and the wider community. ·        Social studies should involve students in both independent inquiry and cooperative learning, to build skills and habits needed for lifelong, responsible learning. ·        Social studies should involve students in reading, writing, observing, discussing, and debating to ensure their active participation in learning. ·        Social studies learning should be built on students’ prior knowledge of their lives and communities, rather than assuming they know nothing about the subject. ·        Social studies should explore a full variety of the cultures found in America, including students’ own backgrounds and understanding of other cultures’ approaches to various social studies concepts. *Best Practice New Standards for Teaching and Learning in America’s Schools by Steven Zemelman, Harvey Daniels, Arthur Hyde, 1998

8. Strategies Covered • Secondary Sources • Main Idea to Details • Big Picture (48) • Agree/Disagree (51) • Details to Main Idea • Conceptual identification (63) • Using Subheadings (65) • Generating Main Ideas (68) • Half Page Solutions (77) • Primary Sources • APPARTS • SOAPS • Evaluation • Assessment

9. Strategies for today • Writing Strategies • Thesis (141) • Identify key elements of thesis statements • Identify effective theses • Score theses • Pose question – create thesis • Topic sentence analysis • Supporting Paragraph (144) • Reconstruct paragraph • Score paragraphs • Answer essay questions • Question, topic, evidence • Topic Sentence Note card • Conclusion (148) • Thesis and clincher sentence • Score conclusions • Synthesizing Strategies • Categorization (86) • Define categories – explain changes • Categorize list of terms • Generalization (90) • Demographic data • List of evidence • Factual information that demonstrates change • Evaluation (101) • Examine documents • Consider arguments • Analyze information • Full synthesis (112) • Topic • Factual information • Rank • Topic sentence • Justification

10. Strategies for today • Writing Strategies • Thesis (141) • Identify key elements of thesis statements • Identify effective theses • Score theses • Pose question – create thesis • Topic sentence analysis • Supporting Paragraph (144) • Reconstruct paragraph • Score paragraphs • Answer essay questions • Question, topic, evidence • Topic Sentence Note card • Conclusion (148) • Thesis and clincher sentence • Score conclusions • Core Structure • Synthesizing Strategies • Categorization (86) • Define categories – explain changes • Categorize list of terms • Generalization (90) • Demographic data • List of evidence • Factual information that demonstrates change • Evaluation (101) • Examine documents • Consider arguments • Analyze information • Full synthesis (112) • Topic • Factual information • Rank • Topic sentence • Justification

11. Partnership for 21st Century Skills Learning and Innovation Skills Core Subjects & 21st Century Themes Life & Career Skills Information, Media, and Tech Skills Standards & Assessment Curriculum & Instruction Professional Development Learning Environments 11

12. 21st century Skills • CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION • Think Creatively • Work Creatively with Others • Implement Innovations • CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING • Reason Effectively • Use Systems Thinking • Make Judgments & Decisions • Solve Problems • COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION • Communicate Clearly • Design Communication Products • Collaborate with Others • INFORMATION LITERACY • Access and Evaluate Information • Use and Manage Information • MEDIA LITERACY • Access and Manage Media • Understand and Analyze Media • Create Media Products

13. 21st century Skills cont… • ICT LITERACY • Access and Apply Technology Effectively • FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY • Adapt to Change • Be Flexible • INITIATIVE AND SELF-DIRECTION • Manage Their Goals and Time • Work Independently • Be Self-directed Learners • SOCIAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL SKILLS • Interact Effectively with Others • Work Effectively in Diverse Teams • PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY • Manage Projects • Produce Results • LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY • Guide and Lead Others • Be Responsible to Others

14. What does this look like in practice? Engaging Instructional Strategies http://www.edutopia.org/edutopia-video

15. Process for today’s work Campfire: Water cooler: Cave: • Review the strategythrough CWC processing • Look at it as a 21st century practice

16. Synthesis Categorization, Generalization, Evaluation

17. Categorization: the basic cognitive process of arranging into classes or categories Campfire: Read through pp. 86-87 Water cooler (Vertical groups): Missouri Compromise Dred Scott Case Kansas Nebraska Act Fugitive Slave laws Secession Slave rebellions Radical Abolitionism Uncle Tom’s Cabin

18. What does this look like in practice?

22. Cave: Create your own

23. Generalization: reasoning from detailed facts to general principles; an idea or conclusion having general application Campfire: Looking for patterns or relationships between the categories. Students need to identify similarities and/or difference contained within the data that can be used to support broad statements and create generalizations

24. Puerto Rico Commonwealth Independence Statehood United States

25. Generalization • Puerto Rico is under the control of the United States but some Puerto Ricans want to change their political relationship with the U.S.

26. European Exploration Crusades Technological advances in navigation Printing Press Marco Polo’s travels to China Renaissance spirit

27. Generalization • Prior to 1500, changing ideas and technology in Europe led to the Age of European Exploration

28. Another strategy • PG 198

29. What does this look like in practice? http://www.ddguild.org/ http://www.digitaldocsinabox.org/

30. Cave: Create one for your level

31. Evaluation: the act of judging or assessing a person or situation or event Campfire: Look at pg 101 Water cooler (Vertical groups): Building a case – pp 101-105

32. What does this look like in practice?

33. Historical Scene Investigation http://hsionline.org

34. Cave: Create your own

35. Synthesis: The combining of separate elements or substances to form a coherent whole Campfire: • Categorize information • Make meaningful generalizations about that category • Evaluate the relative importance of information within a category • Evaluate the relative importance of categories to support a thesis statement

36. To what extent and in what ways did the Great Depression and the New Deal alter Americans’ perception of the legitimate role of government in the economic and social life of the united states? (p.113) • Stock market crash • Hoovervilles • Keynesian economic theory • New Deal • Dust Bowl • National Labor Relations Act • Huey Long • Securities and Exchange Commission • National Recovery Administration • Tennessee Valley Authority • Trickle-down theory • Social Security Act • Eleanor Roosevelt • Fireside chats

37. What does this look like in practice? http://vimeo.com/2575533

38. Cave: Create your own

39. Writing (pg 152) Thesis, Support, Conclusion, Core Structure

40. Thesis Campfire: • Fully addresses the question asked • Takes a position with regard to the question asked • Provides organizational categories that will be used in the essay

41. Identify the key elements in each thesis • The US was justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima for both military and moral reasons • The US was not militarily or morally justified in dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima

42. Use the key elements in each thesis to determine which one is best • While the Progressive Era reforms did success in improving conditions for most Americans, people were often neglected and forced to fight for justice and opportunity on their own • While the Progressive Era reforms did succeed in improving conditions for most Americans, African Americans and Native Americans were often neglected and forced to fight for justice and opportunity on their own • Progressive reformers achieved a lot during the Progressive Era

43. Write a thesis statement • How did the Versailles Treaty contribute to Hitler’s rise to power?

44. Another strategy • PG 143-4

45. Support Campfire: • A topic sentence that relates back to the thesis, introduces the major topic of the paragraph and a category of analysis • Logically organized evidence with interpretive commentary that supports the thesis • A clincher sentence that ties the paragraph together and links it back to the thesis statement (may be a transition) Water cooler (Vertical Teams): How did the Versailles Treaty contribute to Hitler’s rise to power? • Topic sentence • Evidence and Interpretative commentary • Clincher sentence

46. Conclusion Campfire: • Reinforce the significance of the evidence presented in the essay to the question asked. It does not merely restate the thesis statement or the arguments already presented. It reinforces the thesis, synthesizes the clincher sentences and answers the question “So what” Water cooler (Vertical Teams): How did the Versailles Treaty contribute to Hitler’s rise to power? • Reinforce thesis • Synthesize • Addresses “So what?”

47. Core Structure Campfire: pp.149-151 Water cooler (Common groups): Remake the worksheet on pg 151 into something you would use

48. What does this look like in practice? http://www.slideshare.net/cliotech/blogs-in-social-studies-classrooms http://dl1.yukoncollege.yk.ca/ckedhanscomblog/ http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/WritinginSocialStudies.html http://home.comcast.net/~mruland/Skills/skills.htm http://hamiltonssverticalteam.wikispaces.com/

49. Cave: Create your own

50. Designing a roadmap – work in common groups to incorporate synthesis and writing into your curriculum