Social Studies
Mrs. Farsalas' classes
We're just one month away from the end of the first quarter...
so I wanted to give you on update on how busy Social Studies students have been. Students have created a Words to Live By bulletin board with famous quotes to decorate our classroom. These quotes also include the historical context that they were said in. They have looked at both primary and secondary sources on historical events. They have read and annotated nonfiction with the "Big 3" questions in mind: What surprised you? What did the author think you already knew? What challenged/changed/confirmed what you knew? They have also asked questions to help drive their inquiry. This process, also known as Q-F-T, or Question Formulation Technique, was the focus of our first inquiry project.
History
Some historical events/ significant people we've covered include the following:
- Irish Potato Famine
- Civil War and the Gettysburg Address
- Harriet Tubman
- Great Chicago Fire
- Japanese Internment Camps during WWII
- Little Rock Nine
- Vietnam War
- September 11, 2001
Current Events
Some current events we've discussed include:
- Election 2016
- Syrian Refugee Crisis
- Colin Kaepernick's protest
Students work in cooperative learning groups to process their thinking, and share their learning with each other.
Stand Up, Hand Up, Pair Up
With students mixing about, they then used Give One/Get One to learn more about September 11th.
Inquiry
While doing inquiry, students got together in topic groups to process the information they were learning.
Class Building
We take some time to also get to know our peers better. Building trust between students goes a long way with their learning.
Inquiry
There are many steps involved in our inquiry projects. We started with an image, then students used See-Think-Wonder to come up with questions. They did a "5 W Summary" to find basic information. Then they came up with an essential question for a deeper look into the topic. Then they needed supporting questions that will help them find information to answer the essential question. Students worked on finding credible sources, note taking (paraphrasing by putting information into their own language and using direct quotations citing their sources.) They also put together a Works Cited page. As a culmination of all of this, students shared their information in the form of Google Slides with three other students. They also got to hear three others' presentations. Not only did they get a lot of presentation practice, but they liked being an expert on their particular topic. Ask them if they chose the Irish Potato Famine, the Japanese Internment Camps, Little Rock Nine, or Vietnam War.
Contact Information
Email: farsalasc@woodridge68.org
Website: woodridge68.org
Phone: 630-852-8010