Candyce Park’s Super Awesome
Social Studies Study Guide
Social Studies Foundations, Skills, Research and Instruction
Here are the competencies that you have nailed. Read over them from time to time to stay fresh but don’t spend forever on them.
Competency 023 (Social Studies Foundations and Skills)
The teacher understands social studies terminology and concepts; the philosophical foundations of social science inquiry; relationships among and between social science disciplines and other content areas; and skills for resolving conflicts, solving problems and making decisions in social studies contexts. The beginning teacher:
A. Demonstrates knowledge of the philosophical foundations of social science inquiry.
B. Uses social studies terminology correctly.
C. Knows how knowledge generated by the social science disciplines affects society and people’s lives, understands practical applications of social studies education and knows how to use social studies information and ideas to study social phenomena.
D. Understands how social science disciplines relate to each other and to other content areas.
E. Knows how to use problem-solving processes to identify problems, gather information, list and consider options, consider advantages and disadvantages, choose and implement solutions and evaluate the effectiveness of solutions.
F. Knows how to use decision-making processes to identify situations that require decisions, gather and analyze information, identify options, predict consequences and take action to implement decisions.
Competency 026 (Social Studies Instruction and Assessment):
The teacher understands the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) in social studies; knows how to plan and implement effective social studies instruction, including helping students make interdisciplinary connections and develop relevant reading skills; and knows procedures for assessing students’ progress and needs in social studies. The beginning teacher:
A. Knows state content and performance standards for social studies that comprise the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) and understands the vertical alignment of social studies in the TEKS from grade level to grade level, including prerequisite knowledge and skills.
B. Selects and uses developmentally appropriate instructional practices, activities, technologies and materials to promote student knowledge, skills and progress in social studies.
C. Understands the appropriate use of technology as a tool for learning and communicating social studies concepts and provides instruction on how to locate, retrieve and retain content-related information from a range of texts and technologies.
D. Uses a variety of instructional strategies to ensure all students’ reading comprehension of content-related texts, including helping students link the content of texts to their lives and connect related ideas across different texts.
E. Provides instruction on how to locate the meanings and pronunciations of unfamiliar content-related words using appropriate sources, such as dictionaries, thesauruses, atlases and glossaries.
F. Knows how to provide instruction that makes connections between knowledge and methods in social studies and in other content areas.
G. Provides instruction that models and promotes understanding of various points of view.
H. Demonstrates knowledge of forms of assessment appropriate for evaluating students’ progress and needs in social studies.
I. Uses multiple forms of assessment and knowledge of the TEKS to determine students’ progress and needs and to help plan instruction in social studies (e.g., Freedom Week).
Filling in the gaps. Here are the competencies that need work with some added assistance.
Competency 024 (Sources of Social Studies Information; Interpreting and Communicating Social Studies Information)
The teacher understands sources of social studies information and knows how to interpret and communicate social studies information in various forms. The beginning teacher:
A. Demonstrates knowledge of characteristics and uses of primary and secondary sources (e.g., databases, maps, photographs, documents, biographies, interviews, questionnaires, artifacts).
B. Evaluates the validity of social studies information from primary and secondary sources and identifies bias (e.g., assessing source validity on the basis of language, corroboration with other sources and information about the author).
C. Assesses multiple points of view and frames of reference relating to social studies issues and knows how to support a point of view on a social studies issue or event.
D. Organizes and interprets information from outlines, reports, databases, narratives, literature and visuals including graphs, charts, timelines and maps.
E. Knows how to use maps and other graphics to present geographic, political, historical, economic and cultural features, distributions and relationships.
F. Uses maps to obtain and analyze data for solving locational problems and to answer questions, infer relationships and analyze spatial change.
G. Communicates and interprets social studies information in written, oral and visual forms and translates information from one medium to another.
H. Analyzes various economic indicators to describe and measure levels of economic activity.
I. Uses economic models such as production-possibilities curves, circular-flow charts and supply-and-demand graphs to analyze economic concepts or issues.
The teacher understands social science and historical research methods, including procedures for formulating research questions and for organizing, analyzing, evaluating and reporting information. The beginning teacher:
Competency 025 (Social Studies Research)
The teacher understands social science and historical research methods, including procedures for formulating research questions and for organizing, analyzing, evaluating and reporting information. The beginning teacher:
A. Knows how to formulate research questions.
B. Uses appropriate procedures to reach supportable judgments and conclusions in social studies.
C. Understands social studies research and knows how social scientists and historians locate, gather, organize, analyze, interpret and report information using established research methodologies.
D. Knows how to analyze social studies information by sequencing, categorizing, identifying associations and cause-and-effect relationships, comparing, contrasting, finding the main idea, summarizing, making generalizations and drawing inferences and conclusions.
E. Analyzes social studies data using basic mathematical and statistical concepts and other analytical methods.
Your Study Buddy
Email: lbarnes@weatherfordisd.com
Phone: 817-706-9462
Twitter: @MrsBarnesWHS