In chapter 5 the author is getting into some higher grade level areas. In first grade I talk to the students about some current events, but some events are not appropriate. In my classroom I use Scholastic News to propel social studies. In the last 2 weeks the children in my class have read about The President and the Inauguration and the life of Martin Luther King Jr. We then pulled out the important information and summarized the reading selection. I am hoping this lays the foundation for an interest in history and current news. I saw the spark in 1 or 2 of my students. I think it's very hard for young children to look outside of themselves. So, a little spark is encouraging.
When I was a high school student, social studies and history were favorite subjects. I didn't realize it at the time, but my teachers were skilled at making these areas relevant to me. I appreciate their use of role play, discussion and debate to make the subject interesting and engaging.
I also find that it is hard to share some newspapers and magazines because of age appropriateness. My students love to look at both, but the news is often too old for my students as well.
ReplyDeleteI also felt like this chapter was talking about higher grade levels. I know that we can still incorporate the reading, discussing, and writing, though. Scholastic News is a great tool for appropriate level social studies and current events. I don't have a subscription to it, but maybe I should get one!
ReplyDeleteWe use Time for Kids and I find it is really helpful for Social Studies and Writing. We learned a technique from Tami Toomb called OPVL (Origin, Purpose, Value, Limitations) that we use with the Time for Kids articles that is really helpful. I do like when I can integrate what we are learning in Language Arts with what we are doing in Science and Social Studies because I feel like I teach best when kids are reading, writing, and speaking about actual events that shaped history or are happening now. And it definitely is higher level thinking skills!
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