Chapter 2: Understanding Why We Assess & Chapter 3: Defining Achievement Standards for Assessment

Achievement Target	Description
Knowledge and Understanding	The ways in which the students will grasp the basic information and awareness of the topics for further examination.   Agriculture affects economic growth. Location to water
Reasoning	The way of thinking for an individual on a discussed topic.   Analyze each of the regions of the state of Washington.
Performance Skills	A product in which a student can get his or her ideas across to others.   A newscast of Washington State news.
Product Development	The outcome of work done by a student.   Create a timeline of Washington State history.
Dispositions	The attitude and work ethic of a student.   The curiosity and questioning of a student.

 

 

Achievement Target	What are the Targets?	Align Targets to Curricular Standards
Knowledge and Understanding: What do you want your students to come to understand and know about the unit?	Understand: -Agriculture affects economic growth. -The location of water influences growth and change. -All states have characteristics/ attributes and culture.   Know: -Capital, Major Cities -Location to water -Economics -Agriculture -Where it is on a map
Reasoning: What thinking skills will the student use during this unit of instruction?	-Analyze each of the regions of the state. -Research the history of Washington: Events, people, conflicts. -Compare and contrast the state versus the Pacific Northwest (Characteristics) -Design a model of what Washington is to you: Features and attributes.
Performance Skills: What are the ultimate performances you want to see from the students?	-Song and dance -Play -Newscast (The economics, religions, traditions, political structure) Compare and Contrast with the United States
Product Development: What products will you have them create that will show mastery of the content or process skills?	-Create a map -Create a timeline -Create a performance -Research the economy, religion, economics, traditions, and political structure
Dispositions: What dispositions do you hope to see evidence of as they work on this unit of study?	-Curiosity -Empathetic -Questioning

Storypath Overview

Coming to America Storypath:

What do they do?

    A storypath is a way for students to learn by immersing them deeper into the topic. The storypath is a complete outline of the systematic process in which the students will take to travel to America. The storypath teaches the students that history is interactive. In addition, it involves more than just history, but math, science, English, drama, and other topics as well.

What is the structure?

    The structure of the unit is laid out in episodes. The first episode involves the creation and introduction of characters, episode two is creating the setting, episode three is the critical incident, episode four is another creating the setting, episode five is another critical incident, and episode six is the concluding event. After all the episodes have been played through, the assessment is given. In each of the episodes, the structure is a lesson of its own that forms into another lesson or episode to create the unit. The structure of the lesson allows for a deeper more involved understanding.

Chapter 3: Civic Education and Democratic Values

Six Dimensions	Skills and Dispositions
Deliberation: Discussion and Decision Making	Listen as well as talk. Encourage others to participate. Criticize ideas but not people. Support opinions with reason. Weigh alternatives.
Voting and Elections	Understand voting is a civic duty. The struggle women have had in the fight to vote. The importance of voting and its effect on society The definitions and terminology The background work behind an election
Community Service and Action	The importance of involvement in the community New insights Civic mindedness The idea of being a good citizen Ways in which to give back to the community
Citizenship Knowledge	Democratic government Common good Actions and influence on public policy Rights and responsibilities of citizens
Democratic Values	Individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness Public or common good Justice Equality of opportunity Diversity Responsibility
Democratic Dispositions and Virtues	Habits that summarize behavior and beliefs Individual Responsibility Civility Courage Lawful Respectful Critical Thinker Patriotic

Standards

Standard	Topic
Standard 1: Family Life Now and in the Recent Past; Family Life in Various Places Long Ago Standard 2: History of Students' Local Community and How Communities in North America Varied Long Ago	Topic 1 Living and Working Together in Families and Communities, Now and Long Ago
Standard 3 : The People, Events, Problems, and Ideas that Created the History of Their State	Topic 2 The History of the Students' Own State or Region
Standard 4 : How Democratic Values Came to Be, and How They Have Been Exemplified by People, Events, and Symbols  Standard 5: The Causes and Nature of Various Movements of Large Groups of People into and within the United States, Now and Long Ago Standard 6: Regional Folklore and Cultural Contributions That Helped to Form Our National Heritage	Topic 3 The History of the United States:  Democratic Principles and Values and the Peoples from Many Cultures Who Contributed to Its Cultural, Economic and Political Heritage
Standard 7 : Selected Attributes and Historical Developments of Various Societies in Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe  Standard 8 : Major Discoveries in Science and Technology, Their Social and Economic Effects, and the Scientists and Inventors Responsible for Them	Topic 4 The History of Peoples of Many Cultures around the World

 

 

Historical Thinking	Definition
Chronological Thinking	-Putting thoughts down in a systematic way for others to view. -A timeline of the Colonization of the United States.
Historical Comprehension	-The essential understandings of what has happened in history. -An explanation of why the Pilgrims came to America.
Historical Analysis and Interpretation	-Looking deeper into history as to why it occurred. -What was the cause-and-effect of World War II?
Historical Research Capabilities	-The ability to dig deeper, ask questions, and formulate answers as to a historical situation. -Why did the United States bomb Pearl Harbor?
Historical Issues-Analysis and Decision-Making	-The process of implementing a decision about history and the overview process behind it. -How has the Civil Rights Movement affected the United States today?

Technology Integration!

I will be posting my work from my classes on my blog this semester for my methods of social studies class and my assessment of learning class.

Chapter Two- Methods of Social Studies

Essential Questions

Response

1. How will student diversity affect your instruction? 2. How does a teacher show respectfulness of those differences in young people? 3. If students differ in their readiness levels, interests, and learning preferences; how would this impact the types of resources we gather for the instructional unit? How about the planning of student learning tasks?

1. Diversity will have a huge influence in my classroom. Each student will bring a different view to the table and help enrich the classroom experience. The more diverse the classroom is, the more the students will learn about different cultures. My goal is to have every student learn as much about others as possible. 2. A teacher can show respectfulness of the different background each student has by giving each student 5 minutes to tell others about themselves. At the beginning of each day, a student would share a little bit about his/ her background. Once all the students got through their presentations, we would have a cultural awareness party. Each student would bring a food from the background of the culture. There are many more ways to increase awareness for the students and show respectfulness. 3. Well as teachers, we have to be flexible and willing to teach students of all levels. There are going to be students who will fly ahead and learn on their own and there will be other who needs more guided experience. We need to be able to find many different resources for our students; whether it is technology, additional readings, and other resources. The planning will just need to be more thought out, better planned, and takes more time. The learning tasks will have a variety of objectives and ways to do each task.

Chapter One- Methods of Social Studies

Essential Questions

Response

1. What are your memories of social studies curriculum and instruction from elementary school years? Middle school years? Write about these experiences and identify what these experiences taught you. Did experiences help to understand any of the 10 themes that have been identified by the NCSS?

1. My memories of social studies curriculum and instruction from elementary school are dismal. I do know that one of my favorite subjects in elementary school was social studies. I liked the study of history and how our society became the way it is today. Then in middle school, my awareness of what was going on around me increased. I began to get more involved in social studies. I liked the teachers who taught it and the way it influenced people in society. I think the reason I am so outgoing and responsible today is because of the lessons I learned from taking all of the social studies classes in the elementary and middle school. I believe that the 10 themes identified closely with my curriculum in elementary and middle school. The 10 themes are ones that are highlighted in almost every social studies book a student will see. Culture, time, continuity, and change, people, places, and environments are just some of the basic outlines I had as a kid in social studies. I think that is what drew my interest so heavily towards social studies.

Chapter One- Assessment of Learning

 

Essential Questions

Response

1. What are the philosophical beliefs underlying the 4 principles of assessment mentioned in your text? 2. How do these principles relate to student achievement? 3. How does assessment data help students to achieve? 4. Who would benefit from using assessment data? 5. How do we make assessment meaningful so students will want to become involved? Think about Emily. 6. If a student becomes involved in managing their performance, what effects will it have? 7. Read the following classroom assessment scenarios. Is each likely to increase or decrease student confidence and motivation to learn? Why? 8. Why is it important to identify learning or achievement targets prior to assessing students?

1. The four philosophical beliefs that underlie assessment are classroom assessment can both promote and verify student learning, clear and appropriate achievement targets are essential, accurate classroom assessment is essential, and sound assessments communicate results effectively. 2. These principles are directly related to student achievement. The assessment allows the teacher to see if the student comprehends the information, he/she is being taught. Without assessment, teachers would not have a clue where student's level of achievement was. 3. The assessment data helps students to achieve by targeting the area of most need. The teachers can use the data collected by the assessment to work with the students where they are struggling. 4. Both the teacher and the student would benefit from the data collected from assessment. The student would benefit because it would target his/her weakness. For the teacher, it would compact the teaching material into what is essential for the child to understand. 5. The assessment has to be applicable to the student. If the student can relate to the topic and tie, it into the assessment the student will be more interested. The teacher also has to be flexible with the student. When the student sees the teacher working with him/her then he will be more receptive to learning. 6. When the student becomes involved in managing his/her performance he/she will: take the test and receive the grade, be invited to offer the teacher comments on how to improve the test, suggest possible assessment exercises, actually develop assessment exercises, assist the teacher in devising scoring criteria, create the scoring criteria on their own, apply scoring criteria to the evaluation of their own performance, come to understand how assessment and evaluation affect their own academic success, and come to see how their own self-assessment relates to the teacher's assessment and to their own academic success. 7. With the following scenarios, it is more likely to decrease student confidence to learn. All of the following events are degrading to the students. It either embarrasses the students in front of his/her peers, in front of people the student trusts, and through the students work. As students learn, they need to hear positives rather than negatives. 8. It is important to identify learning targets for achievement prior to assessing the student, in order that the student understands what his/ her goals are before entering into the assessment. The learning targets are a good way of setting goals and finding ways to meet those goals.