Day Two of Social Studies

     Yesterday, the social studies lesson went great for the full time. The kids were engaged, excited and were absorbing the material. Today, they were only into it for about half the lesson. The activation went really well and carried over into the work period. But the excitement and engagement did not last for everyone. There were still plenty of kids engaged in discussion, but my goal is 100% engaged and %100 excited about what’s going on. I believe when that’s happening, the child is going to have the greatest opportunity to learn.

      The main focus today was the Missouri Compromise and the Compromise of 1850.  I used an activation strategy of making a personal connection by giving them a scenario. The school has acquired a new gym and the fifth grade gets to decide what to do with it, but only if both classes agree. My class came up with fun uses, and then I informed them that the other class wants to use it for more ELT. That led into our discussion of the compromises and slavery, and how that could have aided in spurring the American Civil War. It is all new information for them, and the concept of connecting these compromises and the dissolving of them can have been a cause for the war is a tough concept to see. So, I found myself doing a lot of talking, which is not what I was wanting. In that is where I believe I lost a few kids. I believe it does require a little extra direct instruction from the teacher when trying to explain or inform about completely new content or concepts, but I know I talked too much this time. I believe next time I have a similar lesson; I will have to have another activity somewhere in the middle to break things up if it is a subject that requires a little background information from the instructor.

    On a positive note, I have started something that I believe will be a good thing. We will do ticket-out-the door from time to time. I am going to have them continue their TOD on the same piece(s) of paper, and respond to each one. This way, I will have a running conversation with each child as we explore different ideas together. I’m hoping this will be as powerful as I envision it can be.