UTES Social Studies

Just a quick note of thanks to NCSS 2012 for a wonderful learning experience here in Seattle. Being chosen as the Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year has been one of the most rewarding and inspiring experiences in my 23 years as an educator. Thank you to all of the teachers and educators who attended my sessions. I was overwhelmed by your encouragement and interest in my work at UT Elementary.

Lessons learned these past 3 days in Seattle:

1. I am the luckiest teacher in the world.

2. The most important lessons you teach your students are those that make them care and have a deep understanding of how they can have a voice in their future.

2. Social studies is the hub of the wheel from which language arts, social-emotional learning, and service learning can and should be taught.

3. If you hope for a peaceful  future where citizens work, learn, and grow together, you need to ensure that social studies instruction is taught deliberately and thoughtfully every single day.

4. There is no substitute for a caring teacher who knows how to reach and inspire her students.

I saw countless examples of these lessons these past 3 days. Thank you NCSS 2012.

Peace, ml

http://connected.socialstudies.org/SOCIALSTUDIES/Go.aspx?c=ViewDocument&DocumentKey=9b6aa0cc-d3eb-4c3e-8ae0-0f74bf4064fa

Picture this – 40 thoughtful 5th graders read an excerpt of, observe artwork, and listen to commentaries on Arizona’s Anti-Immigration Senate Bill 1070 and compare the results of this piece of legislation to issues in immigration and civil rights throughout US History. Imagine, now, their shock when these 10 and 11-year-olds realize that civil rights issues like discrimination, segregation, civil liberties and social justice still exist in the U.S. today just as they did during the during the Civil Rights Movement, the Mexican Repatriation Law of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl era, and all the way back to slavery.

What thoughts would have gone through your mind? Well, our informed 5th graders had thoughts like: “No way!” ” You’re kidding!” What are they thinking?” What can we do to change this?” and “What do our families need to do to stay safe?” “Boy, I’m not going to Arizona,” and “What if that kind of law was passed in Texas?” and “That’s not fair!” The artwork and interviews that we observed included two collections of art by Arizona artists opposed to SB 1070. To see examples of this artwork and more information about the exhibits, see our article in an Social Studies and the Young Learner, date TBD. After our observations and deep discussions, students created their own versions of various artwork and posters with messages that reflected their strong, informed opinions. It was fun, inspiring, and interesting to see and hear their points of view.

After this unit, my take-away, aha moment was – don’t be afraid to discuss sensitive issues with your students. Just do so with care and emphasize empathy for others. How else are our future teachers and leaders going to tackle these issues later in life?

Thanks for visiting my blog. It’s been a while sense I’ve posted and I’ve missed it.

Hook’em and Summer’s just around the corner! ml

This year’s debate between 5th grade Loyalists and Patriots was phenomenal. Not only did the kids demonstrate a deep understanding of concepts, but they added their own understanding of relationships to their reenactments. I am proud to say that our Little Longhorns brought their Peace Keeper strategies to the table, literally. I will let their actions speak for themselves. Check it out!

https://vimeo.com/60962902

Peace.

On the 11th anniversary of September 11th, our UTES 5th graders learned about themselves and the world while becoming thoughtful citizens with a heart for service learning and social justice. When 10-year-olds discuss history, they need to be able to put it in context with their lives. Since most of them were born just before or just after 9/11, what they know is only what they’ve heard or seen at home, in news stories each September 11th, and in movies.

We started each day of Patriot Week and the days leading up to Constitution Day with literature and primary documents (see lesson plans below). Primary documents were actual photographs taken on Sept. 11, 2001 and the days following the 3 attacks, the 9/11 Memorial website, and posters received from Teaching Tolerance.

My 5th graders were given ample time to observe and record their observations and inferences during gallery walks of the artifacts. They then used those observations and inferences to create their own 9/11 poetry and artwork. The “If I Were…” poetry template is one I’ve used for the past 7 years. It requires students to take the point of view of an object or artifact. Student poetry and artwork demonstrate their deep understanding and empathy. My teaching partner, Scarlett Smith, doctoral student and university instructor, Elizabeth Bellows, and I will be sharing more about this unit, lessons learned, resources used, and student work produced at the NCSS 2012 Conference in Seattle, WA in November.

We have since made many connections and references to the lessons we learned during our 9/11 unit. One of the books we read together was 14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy whom I met at the NCSS Conference in 2009 (http://14cowsforamerica.com). This led to the introduction of our service learning objectives and eventually the reading of Listen to the Wind by Greg Mortenson. The SEL objectives we covered have led to our first 5th grade Service Learning project – Pennies for Peace (http://www.penniesforpeace.org). This organization was started by Greg Mortenson, author of Listen to the Wind and Three Cups of Tea. So far, our 5th graders have led our school or raise almost $600 for Pennies for Peace which will help schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan providing girls with the opportunity to go to school and change their lives. The recent events in Pakistan where the Taliban targeted Malala Yousufzai resonated in a big way with our students. Our UTES 5th graders are able to discuss delicate human rights issues as they have in our 9/11, Constitution, Civil Rights, and now Great Depression units. As we are famous for saying, “What starts here changes the world.”

Thank you for visiting my blog. Peace out. ml

Here is a sneak-peek into my social studies lesson plans for this very special unit. (copied and pasted from my weekly lesson plans)

Please vote for my Panel for SXSWEdu in March. My panel is Using Technology to Make History Come Alive.

Last year’s Little Longhorn Walk4Water was such a success that a non-profit organization, Students of the World, joined our Little Longhorns and made a Public Service Announcement that will be featured on a world-wide scale. So exciting! Go Lil’ Longhorns, H2O for Life, P&G, and service learning! Check it out!

http://vimeo.com/47625824

Let’s just say that being recognized by the National Council for Social Studies (NCSS) as the 2012 Elementary Teacher of the Year is one of the most exciting things that has happened in my professional career. I am so thankful. This recognition would never have been possible if it weren’t for the opportunities I’ve had at UT Elementary. Where else can a 5th grade teacher teach the best kids in the world, reach out to university students preparing to be teachers, co-write articles and write a chapter for a university teacher preparation book, and collaborate with the best teachers around? Nowhere but UT Elementary. Thanks to everyone who has been so supportive and so happy for me and our sweet school. Hook’em Lil’ Longhorns!

Happy 2012 School Year! What a great time to teach social studies. With the upcoming presidential election and all of the events surrounding it and Constitution Day right around the corner, opportunities for integrated social studies and language arts are everywhere.

In our first 2 weeks at UT Elementary, each and every classroom has established a caring, supportive environment with Morning Meetings. The great thing about Morning Meeting is that it starts each day with the democratic process in a way that engages every student. I thought it would be fun to share an example of how we used Morning Meeting to support social studies and service learning just last week.

The backstory: Leading up to Constitution Day and establishing the use of primary sources to look at history from a variety of viewpoints, we used the Picturing America resource (http://picturingamerica.neh.gov/), Freedom of Speech by Norman Rockwell to talk about our freedoms and how the Constitution and Bill of Rights are there to guarantee our rights and freedoms. We’ve rewritten the Pledge of Allegiance in our own words and listened to the Preamble to the Constitution. We compared the four freedoms that President Roosevelt referred to in his speech during WWII and talked about why those freedoms were so important then and now. We discussed how Norman Rockwell expressed the idea of Freedom of Speech in his painting, and we decided as a class that the young man standing up and speaking had courage and appeared to be standing up for something he believed in, possibly something he wanted to change. Last, but not least, I created a brief DBQ for students to put thier ideas into writing about Freedom of Speech. My mantra for DBQs is: “The only wrong answer is no answer.”  All of these experiences set the stage for our Thursday Morning Meeting last week.

Morning Meeting Lesson: Our school-wide character focus this month has been courage.

As students arrive into the classroom and complete their morning procedures, I played the song, Be the Change by Kat Edmundson (link to YouTube below). As they join me on the carpet for our Morning Meeting, I ask them to listen to the lyrics.

1. Greeting – After the song ends, I ask students to turn and greet one another and discuss what the quote, “Be the change that you want to see,” means. I also ask if anyone knows where the quote comes from (Ghandi).

2. Sharing – Students share their ideas with the class in complete sentences. One of our 5th grade girls, Amethyst, said it best, “Be the change means if you want to see more trees in the world, then plant more trees!”

3. Activity – Turn and talk to a partner about what your feel strongly enough about that you would stand up and speak about it, or “be the change.” We recorded these ideas and I encouraged students to use this as a topic for their writing during language arts stations.

4. Message – Included in their Morning Message on this day is a link to our H2O for Life Project fundraising page

https://www.h2oforlifeschools.org/index.php/university-of-texas-elementary

We wrap up our introduction to service learning by watching the video made last year when the non-profit organization Students of the World joined us on our annual Walk4Water. Check it out! http://vimeo.com/4762582

Kat Edmundson – Be the Change:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrv3hteHglI&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Having just returned from training 22 dedicated teachers in Tyler ISD, training is on my mind. As I share and publish lessons that I teach, I wonder how my lessons will be interpreted and taught, especially lessons that have students simulate historical events.

When I create student simulations of historical events like the Underground Railroad, The Battle of Bull Run, and The Push and Pull Factors that Immigrants Face, I am always aware of my students’ needs and feelings. Through historical literature, primary and secondary sources, and many classroom discussions we build a common understanding and discuss openly the issues that people have debated for centuries. When we embark on a simulation, it is always clear that it is just that, a re-creation. Students are eager, voluntary participants who can explain both sides of an issue. While our classroom simulations are the favorite lessons of all my students (see student blogs http://kidblog.org/LittleLonghorn5thGrade2012/), they are also the lessons that take the most planning, care, and caution.

The pros of teaching through historical simulations are:

• Students are able to interpret historical events and express themselves;
• Students build a deep understanding and empathy;
• Students learn to agree and disagree in a way that promotes open discussions; and
• Teachers are able to build a strong classroom community where students feel safe discussing issues they care about.

Freebie: I found another great on-line, interactive Underground Railroad website:

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/underground%5Frailroad/

Peace, ml

It’s summertime and, as all teachers know, it’s PD time as well.  I am excited and honored to get to return to Tyler ISD and share more ways that social studies can be integrated into language arts. I am updating my presentation to include the cool technology and performance strategies we piloted this year at UTES. As always, the kids are the stars and I’m the director of their learning.

I will be using Twitter and other “smart” technology resources throughout the day and encouraging attendees to do the same. If you are an attendee in Tyler, or if you just want to eaves drop and tweet in your ideas, my Twitter feed is @meledbetter#socialstudiespd . Go ahead and tweet in your questions and hot topics. I’m all ears! Since my participation at SXSWedu, I am using the interactive white board and iPads more, and anything else I can get my hands on to take advantage of the many educational Apps that motivate kids and get them excited about practicing and using their knowledge and understanding.

I will also be guiding participants to create their own document-based questions using primary documents found on-line. I will collect and create a data-base of these teacher-created DBQs, so stay tuned for some great resources. You are more than welcome to check out the resources already available on my Professional Development page at http://www.utelementary.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=204020&type=u&pREC_ID=328488 .

Tyler Friends, see you next week, Tuesday, June 26th!