|
|
|
Secondary Social
Studies
Only the
educated are free.
"Next in
importance to freedom and justice is popular education, James A. Garfield (1831 - 1881), July 12, 1880 ¤ At the heart of social studies education is the need to prepare thoughtful, knowledgeable, clear-thinking citizens. Teaching social studies in the elementary schools is an essential part of an overall kindergarten through grade 12 social studies program. According to the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), the early elementary years are the ones in which children develop a foundation for the entire social studies program and a beginning sense of efficacy as participating citizens of their world. Social studies is defined as the integrated study of the social sciences and humanities to promote civic competence with the primary purpose of helping young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world (National Council for the Social Studies, p. vii). Therefore, it is crucial for early elementary children to begin the process of gaining a broad, interdisciplinary social studies education that will equip them to live effectively in the complex and interrelated world to which our country is inextricably connected. These excerpts are as they appear in the section "Social Studies Foundations" of the ODE Academic Content Standards: ODE ¤ This portion of the online credit deals directly with integrating technology into the learning experience. Participants in the Secondary Social Studies workshop will be developing a web-quest as the major requirement for the two hour graduate workshop credit. Developing a web-quest is analogous to developing a labyrinth, puzzle, or a learning journey for a target audience. The other workshop participants will be working on Lessons that can be adapted to fit a web-quest format. |