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How Can Sixth Grade Teachers Overcome Gaps in Students’ Understanding of Social Studies?. John. S. Crumb II Georgia State university Dr. Caroline Sullivan. The Issue. Most elementary students enter middle school with a lack of knowledge in the social studies. Reasons for the gaps:
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How Can Sixth Grade Teachers Overcome Gaps in Students’ Understanding of Social Studies? John. S. Crumb II Georgia State university Dr. Caroline Sullivan
The Issue • Most elementary students enter middle school with a lack of knowledge in the social studies. • Reasons for the gaps: • NCLB has inspired administrators and teachers to shift resources away from social studies and other subjects to math, science and language arts. • Social studies is seen by many students to be tedious and not engaging- no connection with the students’ world. • Elementary teachers are not prepared to teach social studies because of a lack of content knowledge or training. • Some teachers may have a dislike for social studies because of their experience with it in growing up. • Some are afraid to deal with controversial issues.
Some short-term and not-so-short-term solutions in elementary schools Usually taught through integration with other subjects like reading Student centered approach Communicate how important social studies is Administrators-provide more interactive material with workshops Professional Development Professional Learning Communities
Realistically, it is up to middle and high school teachers • Keys to success: • Collaboration on a regular basis….develop a sense of trust • “Quality teaching is not an individual accomplishment, it is the result of a collaborative culture that empowers teachers to team up to improve student learning beyond what any of them can achieve alone” Caroll, 2009, p.13 • Join Professional Learning Communities • Get over the typical!---20th century…teacher centered, cover the textbook, supplement with lectures and an occasional video, teacher talk during discussions, individual seatwork interrupted with occasional small group work and the use of tests to measure student learning (McCall, 2006, p.161) • Focus on a few KEY concepts
Primary Research- Mixed Model Approach Qualitative section: Interviews with 3 social studies teachers Parent comments made at conferences Quantitative section: Survey of 88 sixth grade students
Teacher Interviews and Parent Comments Strengths of incoming sixth graders-recall/memorization, reading comprehension All 3 teachers cited a weakness in geographic skills, higher level thinking skills, -can’t connect isolated facts to the big picture---how is it connected? Reasons---perceived or actual lack of social studies being taught…reliance on textbook and answer the questions…Teachers lack the time for planning-45 minutes for 5 content areas…4days/week. Parents-at a loss because the textbook is no longer the main source…problems with taking notes and organizing
Quantitative Section Most students received 36 minutes of social studies a day Future studies investigate how that time is used
Limitations and a Solution? Time constraints-3 months Limited to one teacher’s classes, self reporting and memories No elementary teacher input Flawed instrument design Misunderstanding of instructions Solution?----vertical teaming
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