Social Studies 2007-2008

September 21, 2007

September 17th was Constitution Day and so we talked about the beginning of our country. We talked about the three branches of government (legislative, executive, and judicial) and the two Houses of Congress. We explored the phrase, “We the People” and read chapters 1 and 2 of A New Nation.

We continued our look at the United States in 1800. On Thursday we visited Forest Park and experienced the pond and prairie first hand. We were asked to think about what it would be like to walk before roads existed.

On Friday, we joined in the celebration of the International Day of Peace.

September 14, 2007

This week was full of questions.

Some critical thinking questions:

How do you answer questions?

How do you know a place?

Some content questions:

What was the United State like in 1800? or Describe the United States in 1800.

Culturally, Geographically, Politically, Economically

We started to break it down by looking at individual states and working on the skills of using the encyclopedia, gathering bibliographic information and scanning for information.

In addition we received the New Nation Rap and began to explore it’s meaning.

September 7, 2007

We continued our discussion of culture and history this week. We worked to finish the “Where I’m From” poems and posters for Open House on Thursday.

One of our final exam questions will be “How did the United States change from 1800 to 1900?”

We began to think about the United States and what it means to be an American.

We read from the New Nation and added some vocabulary to our Social Studies Journal.

The vocabulary was:

Democracy Liberty Justice

Perspective Paradox Persistence

Metacognition

August 31,2007

This week we explored the topic “What is history? and we set up a Social Studies Journal. We explored the concept of culture.

Students completed a Family Data sheet and in literacy they were working on their “Where I’m From” poems. We also review the completion of the Family Data sheet and talked about how to strengthen responses and add details to generate a quality response.

During our first week we worked on discovering Wydown. We set our goals:

1. Open locker without help.

2. Bring Planner, pencil, and independent reading book to every class.

3. Remember Core teachers names.

4. Complete the planner everyday.

In addition we began to learn the names of our colleagues and find our way around Wydown.

We also worked together to complete the TOES – How do we show respect for Teachers, Others, the Envionment and our Selves. We brainstormed ideas and began to collaborate on a list to use in our classroom this year.

Open House Power Point

In case you missed it feel free to look over the open house power point.

You have entered the world of ” How do we find history?” and “Why do we care?” and “How do we answer questions?”