Elementary Social Studies
Lapeer Community Schools
Updates:
Social Studies standards are still in the works, nothing is expected to be approved by the State Board of Education until sometime in 2018. We need to follow the 2007 Michigan Standards until then.
Be a part of the Team! If you are interested in applying to be involved in the test development process, fill out the application here. They are in need of elementary educators.
(Hyperlink this address to the phrase, “fill out the application here”:http://www.cvent.com/surveys/Questions/IDConfirm.aspx?s=06002a4e-c578-417d-807f-542787fad180)
Keep in mind as planning lessons that the Big Ideas of the MC3 units are similar to your KUDs of the unit right now. Look at the Big Idea and the standards they are saying the lesson is covering, supplement as needed to meet the standards and needs of your students. The units are there to help guide your teaching.
M-Step
Students can experience live, sample questions online via this link. The “hint box” is being removed so when students want to learn about any tools they need to click on the question mark icon button.
It’s important that students often reminded to read directions carefully during online testing for all subjects. Having them practice using the Online Testing Tool via the link above will help them become acquainted with the environment and the way directions are written.
At this point the MSTEP does support partial scoring of items. So, each item is scored 1 for correct and 0 for incorrect. There is considering being given to upgrading the assessment to allow for partial scoring in the future.
(Hyperlink this address to the phrase, “via this link”:https://wbte.drcedirect.com/MI/portals/mi/)
Mi Open Book Project K-5
Great resource to use at the Elementary level! Works well with the MC3 units. 1 book per grade, they can be loaded on to the iPad in iBooks or loaded on to chrome.
Some parts of the book are interactive if you want to put up on projector with smart board.
Importance of TEACHING Elementary Social Studies
The importance of teaching Social Studies informational text at the elementary level is necessary for students to comprehend more complex, disciplinary text in the future. Research supports the importance of teaching informational text outside of your ELA block. Teaching the foundations of social studies and science are equally as important as reading. Introducing informational text outside of the reading block helps improve student reading and understanding of informational text.