6th grade Social Studies: A Primer

Monday, October 21, 2013

Class Facilitation

Nicolette Smith

Kristin Campbell

Angela Orr

AgendaTime Focus

4:15-4:25 Administrivia

4:25-5:15 Why Concept Lessons?Concept Lesson Example

5:15-5:25 What is PERSIA?

5:25-6:00 PERSIA Stations:Visual SortSource AnalysisCulture Comparison

6:00-6:10 Debriefing Concepts and PERSIA

6:10-6:15 Questions Homework

Administrivia Sign-in (stipend forms for two new folks)

Edmodo folder for 6th grade World History Resources Code: ffxhnf Direct link:

http://www.edmodo.com/home#/join/72726b11f6478a0dbc11f0fb03ed85a1

DBQ Training – January 21 at WEA Building On Solutionwhere Code: 6DBQ2014

Foci of the Course1. Sharing important social studies resources

and strategies2. Building a community of 6th grade S.S.

educators

1st meeting: standards & essential questions2nd meeting: concept lessons & PERSIA categorizing tool3rd meeting: text annotation & academic vocabulary4th meeting: discussion & structured academic controversy

Discuss with two people next to you…

What was one idea that you noted in the reading from Walter Parker on

concepts? Why did that idea stand out to you?

Rationale for Teaching ConceptsConcepts are the “furniture” of our minds. A well-furnished mind is a source of joy, academic success, citizenship, career satisfaction, and lifelong learning. When a student forms a concept from its examples, he or she knows more than the definition of a term (e.g., river: he or she also knows some vivid examples of the concept that add flesh to a bare-bones definition, such as the Mississippi, the Amazon, the Yangtze, and the Volga). This is deep conceptual learning rather than superficial knowledge of a vocabulary word.

Description of “Concept”A concept is defined by critical characteristics shared by all examples of the concept. For something to be an example of a concept, it must contain all these critical characteristics. To help students form the concept, the teacher helps them first to see these critical characteristics across different examples and, then to summarize those characteristics in a definition that students themselves write.

One Type of Concept Lesson

Concept Development

90-120 minute lesson

SNAPSHOT Experience (today – 20 minutes)

Steps in Lesson

1. Activate Prior Knowledge

2. Individual Brainstorm3. Small Group

Brainstorm4. Whole Group

Brainstorm5. Small Group

Categorization6. Whole Group

Consensus & Gallery Walk Notetaking

7. Defining the Concept8. Applying the Concept

SNAPSHOT LESSON PRACTICE

Read through the sentences at the top of your handout.

Work in a small group to brainstorm as many words and phrases as possible that come to mind when you think of the term culture.

Share with another group and add to your list.

What we’re leaving out of this snapshot…• Individual

brainstorm• Whole group

brainstorm (rather than two groups)

• (Remember when brainstorming with students, no idea is wrong until categorization begins. Keep the conversation open and honor all ideas. Deleting words is a later step.)

SNAPSHOT LESSON PRACTICE

Back in your small group, use the PERSIA Method to categorize all of the words and phrases that you associate with culture. All words must either be deleted by consensus (“This isn’t a word related to culture.”) or fit into one of the categories.

How this differs from a traditional concept lesson…

Traditionally, you would allow students to define their own categories and then come back together as a whole class and decide on the BEST five categories. These categories become your critical characteristics of the concept. In this case, we are giving you some critical characteristics that you can use all year long for categorization.

SNAPSHOT LESSON PRACTICE

After categorizing your terms, work as individuals or small groups to complete the final steps in defining and revising your definition of culture.

These steps are highly important, and having an agreed upon definition of an important concept is essential. We are skipping this step today, but you never should.

Working Definition for the Year

Create a class definition for your term.

Post this definition and refer to it often.

Ask students to use the concept as well as context clues that give a glimpse into its meaning in their writing.

Important Concepts in 6th Grade Social Studies:

• Religion• Government• Technology• Culture• Economy• Law

Why would an in-depth understanding of concepts like these be important to

teaching world history?

PERSIA

PLeaders & Leadership Style

Government SystemMilitary/WarConstitution/Documents

Individual ParticipationLaws/CourtsStructure of Gov’tTreaties

Political

E Economic•Currency/Money•Resources•Trade •Industry•Technology•Agriculture/Farming•Infrastructure•Labor & Production

RImportance day to dayBelief/TeachingsReligious Leader(s)Worship PracticesHoly book and sitesValuesWho & what is

worshipedRelationship to

Government

Religion

S Social •Family•Roles of different genders•Class Structure•Language•Education•Lifestyles•Entertainment

IArt & MusicWriting & LiteraturePhilosophyMath & ScienceInventions & InnovationsEducationTechnologyFashionDiscoveries &

ExplorationArchitecture

Intellectual/Artistic

AGeographyPhysical characteristics

of location (land, waterways, natural borders, types of soil, etc.)

Movement of people, goods, and services

Human Environment Interaction

Region

Area

Practicing the PERSIA Method

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: How can the PERSIA Method help my

students to better understand ancient civilizations and organize their understanding so that they can more effectively discuss and write about their learning?

PERSIA in Practice

Note Taking Asking Great

Questions Analyzing

Readings Primary Source

Analysis & Annotation

Image Sorts Annotation of

Timeline

Review of Chapters Comparisons of

Cultures Ranking of

Important Cultural Characteristics in a Civilization (within and across categories)

Preparation for Writing

Vocabulary Work

Emphasize Reasoning

Don’t let these become worksheets where students just “dump” information.

Consider ways that you can “probe” students for their reasoning. Why? So what? Why is this the most appropriate

category?

PERSIA Stations

Introduction to three different methods of using PERSIA

Not enough time to complete…just a snapshot experience (15 mins each)

Stations Comparison of Cultures (from a close

read) Analysis of Sources (from DBQ) Image Sort with Emphasis on Reasoning

ReflectionHow might these strategies work in your classroom?

Homework

Before we meet again on November 18, please try to implement PERSIA in some capacity or another.

If you want extra credit , maybe try a concept lesson, too!

Sign up for DBQ training if you are interested.