Argumentative Literacy in the Social Studies Classroom

Argumentative or Authentic Literacy is defined as Reading, Writing and Discussion by Schmoker in his Results Now book. Our workshop this week focused on the Discussion phase or argumentation part of literacy. This includes engaging students in discussion and allowing them to use their oral skills. During our workshop several discussion formats were presented. To learn more about these formats please view our Argumentive Literacy Powerpoint.

APUSH Podcasts

Over the past three years AP U.S. History teachers have recorded podcasts using audio digital recorders. These podcasts include class lectures that were recorded, special lectures for out of class assignments, and unit or semester exam reviews. Podcasts have been very beneficial to students who have been absent, are motivated to learn extra material, and who find reviewing content auditorially their best learning style. Our podcasts can be found at the D.C. Everest Social Studies website. Here is a podcast on the Road to Revolution

Direct Teaching of Vocabulary in the Social Studies Classroom

As part of our 6-12 vertical teaming, the social studies department has placed a renewed emphasis on the direct teaching of vocabulary. Department members took part in a day-long workshop to learn about explicit teaching of vocabulary terms as well as reviewing formative assessment strategies. The workshop encouraged each grade level team to create their own course vocabulary list. Teachers have been asked to use both tier two and tier three words. Teachers were taught a six step approach to teaching vocabulary that included having students write their own definitions and create their own graphic representations for each word in their notebooks. Students then work with the words during the unit. Several ideas were shared to help teachers develop a word-conscious classroom including the use of word walls. The Vocabulary Workshop Powerpoint can be found at at this site.

American Institutions Teachers attend We The People Summer Seminar in Montpelier Va.

The Center for Civic Education provides teachers with professionally made free materials to teach about the United States government to all grade levels K -12. According to their website, " The primary goal of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution is to promote civic competence and responsibility among the nation’s elementary and secondary students." This past summer three American Institutions teachers from our school attended their summer institute at Montpelier, Virginia. The three teachers had the educational experience of their life learning about the teaching of the American Political System. One of the teachers had this to say about their experience:

"In preparation for the Summer Institute participates were asked to read Unit I of We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution along with several primary source documents related to the creation of the American Constitution.

The four day seminar consisted of an in depth study of the political, legal and ethical circumstances surrounding the creation of the Constitution. The seminar’s overall goal was to empower teachers to help students, “develop competency in using the founding documents to organize and interpret information, analyze public issues, and evaluate public policy decisions.” The seminar also centered on helping students incorporate a mock Congressional Hearing in the classroom. In the mock Congressional Hearing students are placed in heterogeneous groups and asked to prepare a two-minute opening statement in response to a Constitutional based question (ex. What were the philosophical and historical foundations of the American political system?). After the opening statement, groups are then asked follow-up questions from a panel of judges. By going through this process students are forced to critically analyze the Constitution and apply the principles to current day issues.

There were a number of highlights to the seminar including interacting with Constitutional Scholar Dr. John J. Patrick. Dr. Patrick, who has authored several books on the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. In addition, participants to the seminar were able to tour James Madison’s estate at Montpelier, observe an active archeological dig and network with teachers from around the nation about the most effective ways to teach about the Constitution. At the end of the seminar the participants were able to experience a mock Congressional Hearing. "

You can learn more about the We the People program at the following links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfCevXSHq6E&feature=player_embedded

http://www.civiced.org/index.php?page=wtp_introduction

http://www.iccsd.k12.ia.us/Schools/West/faculty/neuzil/we%20the%20people%20folder/wethepeople.htm

Welcome back DCE social studies teachers! Our department goals for 20010-11 will focus again on instruction and assessment of student learning as well as literacy. Two new initiatives added to literacy are an emphasis on direct instruction of vocabulary and the use of DBQ (Document Based Question) writing.

Social Studies Department Goals

2010-2011

1. Literacy (Reading, Writing, & Oral Speaking skills, e.g. discussion, oral presentation, etc.)

• Pre, During, and Post Reading Strategies (Buehl’s Interactive Reading Strategies)
• Argumentative Discussion (Socratic Dialog, Socratic circles, Debate formats, rotating 2X2’s, etc.)
• Writing – Expository essay format (Thesis, Org. Parts, Specific Details-elaboration) Reflective Writing – journals. - Improve writing experiences for students through the use of model papers, common assessment rubrics, APPARTS, GSPRITE, and other strategies that will enhance expository writing.
• - Implement the Thinking Like a Historian framework at all grade levels (Cause and Effect, Change and Continuity, Turning Points, Using the Past and Through Their Eyes)
  
  
• *Vocabulary direct instruction – each grade level 6-12 will identify key vocabulary that they take responsibility for teaching. (300-400 terms)
• *DBQ writing project – teachers will attend a workshop on the DBQ project and implement document based essays to improve student thinking and writing in the social studies classroom.

2. Assessment in the social studies classroom

· Common assessment (unit tests, semester exams – summative testing)

· Formative assessment (Assessment for Learning – checking daily for understanding)

· Social Studies teachers will use assessment to monitor student

· Create power sheets for units to help focus on the key understandings in each unit, rather than the mini

The effect of assessment for learning (formative assessment) on student achievement is from 4-5 times greater than the effect of reduced class-size (Ehrenberg, Brewer, Gamoran, and Willams, 2001) While all students show achievement gains with formative assessment, the largest gains accrue to the lowest achievers. (Stiggens, 2006)

3. Authentic Instruction in the Social Studies Classroom

· Promote hands on authentic tasks in all social studies classrooms

· Promote Rome Days, History Day, Oral History, Archeological Digs, Psychology experiments, 2008 election, Service-Learning, etc.

4. Technology in the social studies classroom.

· Use technology to make social studies more interactive and engaging for students.

· Teachers may use the following: Smart boards, LCD projectors, ELMOS, laptops, Computer-assisted Instruction (remote clickers), etc.

· Strategies utilizing technology include: blogging, pod-casting, wikis, interactive gaming, United Video Streaming, webquests, etc.

· Use of technology for formative assessment, e.g., moddle, clicker system, department powerpoint, etc.

· * Level Three Technology learning means that students become communicators, collaborators and creators using technology as a means to complete a product that is shared with a wider audience.

* New department initiatives for 2010-11

The D. C. Everest Oral History Program

The nationally recognized D.C. Everest oral history project received the American Historical Associations Albert Beveridge K-12 Teaching Award in 2010. To learn more about setting up your own oral history program check out our powerpoint at Oral History Program. This 8-12 grade student project has completed  oral history books over the past 12 years. See their website.

Using Understanding by Design in the Social Studies Classroom

Most educators are familiar with Wiggin's and McTighe's Understanding by Design. Defined by Wiggins and McTighe, Understanding by Design is a "framework for designing curriculum units, performance assessments, and instruction that lead your students to deep understanding of the content you teach." Teachers at our school identify the key enduring understandings that need to be taught and formulate essential questions to guide learning. Our social staff received a refresher training this past year using this powerpoint designed by social studies and English staff. Find it at UBD in Social Studies.

Argumentative Literacy in the Social Studies Classroom

After reading Mike Schmoker's book Results Now, it became clear to me that not only should the social studies classroom be filled with reading and writing, but also discussion, argument and deliberation! In chapter six Schmoker tells us that high school classrooms are nearly void of
discussion and argumentation! He says the following "discussion is indeed an essential part of a university education. But not, alas, of K–12 education. As the Learning 24/7 study makes clear, there was evidence of “academic dialog and discussion” in only 0.5 percent of the 1,500 classes they observed (Learning 24/7, 2005).
In Mike Schmoker's book Results NOW, he talks at length about argumentative literacy in Chapter 6.
In this chapter he talks about reading methods, discussion and writing, the three components of argumentative literacy. The part most often missing in Junior and Senior High classrooms is argumentative discussion. In our social studies classrooms we have experimented with Socratic Dialog, particularly with Socratic circles ( see Socratic Circles by Matt Copeland -  ) and other discussion models. In our history classes we use Socratic dialog because students are taught to bring clarification and problem solving to the discussion rather than worrying about winning that occurs in a debate format. ( see Socratic Dialog handout - ) Keeping an open mind and pursuing answers to good provocative Socratic questions leads to increased involvement and deeper thinking by students.
the first method that we promote is the Socratic circle format. Students are expected to come into the discussion with either annotated notes on the reading ( see) or notes on the agenda ( sample agenda) . Often times agendas are student created and distributed to class members 1-2 days prior to the discussion. At the start of the discussion, the class is divided at random( some teachers predetermine the groups with student personalities in mind) into two discussion groups. One half of the class will sit on the floor and will be the group discussing for the first 20 minutes of class while the 2ND group hovers over them in their desks watching and filling out an observation/participation form (see sample). Before the discussion actually begins, students pair up so that they can fill out the first box in the observation form regarding preparation. They show each other their annotated notes, agenda notes, etc. During the discussion itself, the students in the outer circle are collecting data on participation, use of discussion skills, and overall evaluate the discussion.
The teacher can either sit in a desk in the outer circle or walk around the circle. The teacher may interject to move the discussion forward, however I do assign a student leader to move the students through the agenda. Teachers tend to dominate the discussion, so it is best to stay out of it.
After 20 minutes, the groups switch positions, that way all students are involved in the discussion. A new student leader takes over at the midway point of the agenda. You may want the outer circle to spend 2-3 minutes analysing the inner groups overall discussion prior to the switch. The final 5 minutes of class, I usually make overall comments and do some debriefing of the Big Ideas or I do some type of formative assessment. ( The group discussion process can be evaluated on such criteria as group sensitivity, continuity of discussion, use of transitions, question relevance, and so on.)
Our social studies department 6-12 has begun implementing a variety of discussion formats that include socratic circles, retellings, 2 x 2 debates, deliberations, and others. Check out the department powerpoint titled Argumentative Literacy.

Thinking Like a Historian

Our social studies department has adopted the Thinking Like a Historian inquiry categories to improve student thinking in its history classes. Doug Buehl, reading consultant out of Madison WI., informed our department that when students read history text they need to think like historians and when they read science text or math text they should think like scientists or mathematicians. With this in mind, the Wisconsin Historical Society in conjunction with UW- Whitewater education professors, created 5 inquiry categories which are always in the minds of readers of history. They are cause and effect, change and continuity, turning points, using the past, and through their eyes. The teachers added a 6th category called differing perspectives. Inquiry questions have been created for each of the 6 categories that go through the students mind as they read. The department created a powerpoint explaining Thinking Like a Historian. It can be found at Thinking Like a Historian

Formative Assessment in the Social Studies Classroom

Research shows that the most effective way to improve student achievement is to do formative assessment for learning on a daily basis. Our social studies department examined the attributes of formative assessment and discussed and shared how checking for understanding during each and every lesson can really improve student learning. The department identified these attributes in the following powerpoint that can be found at DCE Formative Assessment. The department then brainstormed 55 different formative assessment strategies that will work in your social studies classroom. This powerpoint on the different strategies can also be found at Social Studies Formative Assessment.

Using "Easy" Podcasting in the Social Studies Classroom

Last year we experimented successfully with podcasts in our AP U.S. History, AP Government, 8th Grade U.S. History , 9th grade American Institutions and our Pre AP class called American History Seminar. In some cases, the podcasts were a way to get additional content to the students that we didn't have time to cover in class. However, in most cases, it was a way to reinforce the key concepts and essential understandings taught in the class. Sometimes we required the students to show the notes they took while listening to the podcasts. Because students were able to download the podcast to their ipod they were able to listen to the information on the go, thus utilizing their valuable free time. Some of the podcasts were reviews to prepare kids for unit tests or semester exams. Kids said these were really valuable review tools and helped them succeed on the tests.

At our school we keep things simple. The teacher takes home an Olympus digital recorder (approximately $70.00) and they hit record and talk into the device. The Olympus model we use pulls apart and the bottom half is a USB stick that we put into the computer and copy to the desktop. We then upload the audio recording to EDLINE where the students can get at them on the web. The disadvantage to this method is that we are unable to edit the podcast, but it sure makes it simple for the teacher. In my AP class I allow students to take the digital recorders home to make their own podcasts on topics that interest them like Hitler or The Holocaust or whatever. After reviewing the podcast I put it on EDline (a program our school uses to communicate with students and parents) for all the students to enjoy.

In the near future I hope to put over 50 podcasts on various U.S. History topics on this Blog for everyone to share and use with their students. I have a series of lectures on American Foreign Policy from 1973 ( Vietnam) to the Present that I use in the Seminar course.

Marshfield, WI. Has Exemplary AP U.S. History Website

Jim Bokern has been an AP U.S. History instructor at Marshfield H.S. in Wisconsin for over two decades. He is President of the Wisconsin Advanced Placement Advisory Committee and is an AP Reader. His AP U.S. History website is outstanding. On his site you will find outlines for every chapter of the John A. Garraty Book, The American Nation as well as information on model essays, evaluating documents, analytical devices, language prompts, how to organize essays, the students view, and topical information on subjects like the Holocaust, New Deal, Social Darwinism, and on and on. Check it out at http://www.marshfield.k12.w...

Find New Resources on HistoryTeacher.Net

If you have not had the chance to visit Susan M. Pojer's historyteacher.net site - please do so! I continually find great history resources there such as this interactive history site entitled Have Fun with History - http://havefunwithhistory.c... . The historyteacher.net site is filled with resources. It is not your typical site. Ms. Pojer teaches Advanced Placement courses so there are parts of the website designated to various AP courses such as AP U.S. History, AP Euro, etc. You will find review quizzes, primary sources documents, DBQ's and much more. In addition resources for AP teachers, there are hundreds of history links. She is continually adding new resources to her site.
http://www.historyteacher.net/

Starting Your Social Studies PLN

What is a PLN? A PLN is your professional learning network. It is a group of people online that you learn from/interact with. Beth Stills recently described PLNs -- http://bit.ly/7zMZ8


I've been using delicious bookmaking for several years. Several history teachers in our district use/add to my delicious bookmarks http://delicious.com/paleckson. We have 2,199 bookmarks. Delicious has been very helpful for our teachers. Most recently I started on Twitter and immediately realized the strong impact it can have on teachers. There are so many people sharing outstanding ideas and resources. Of course Twitter quickly leads one to the blogs of some great educators. I've listed a few excellent blogs and one or two websites. Please let me know about other outstanding social studies blogs that I have failed to include here. These social studies bloggers are a great place to start developing your Professional Learning Network (PLN). Another way to learn about PLN oppurtunites is to view Jennifer Carrier Dorman's slideshare. http://bit.ly/1458rK


Social Studies Central- Tons of resources for social studies teachers

http://historytech.wordpress.com/

Freetech4teachers - technology ideas galore!

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/

Copy/Paste : Dedicated to Relinquishing Responsibility for Learning to the Students

http://peterpappas.blogs.com/

Psychology Teachers Blog

http://teachinghighschoolps...

Speaking of History- Langhorst has many podcasts, and other technology tools!

http://speakingofhistory.blogspot.com/

History is Elementary- Great site for elementary teachers.

http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com

Blogush- great site of an 8th grade U.S. History Teacher.

http://blogush.edublogs.org/about/

World History Teachers Blog

http://worldhistoryeducatorsblog.blogspot.com

U.S. Government Teachers Blog - good stuff on government here

http://usgovteducatorsblog....

U.S. History Teachers Blog- under the August Archive a blog about WatchKnow which has short videos to put on a blog

http://ushistoryeducatorblog.blogspot.com/

The Henricus - Includes some good posts on assessment

http://hcpssocialstudies.com/mikehasley/

HistoryTeacher.net - Excellent site for AP U.S. History and Europoean AP teachers - it has lots of quizzes and DBQs

http://www.historyteacher.net

DCE Social Studies Goals 09-10

Welcome back DCE social studies teachers! Our department goals for 2009-10 will focus again on instruction and assessment of student learning. I look forward to working with you all.

1. Improve student learning through the use of argumentative literacy.

- implement strategic learning strategies learned in the Doug Buehl workshop and through reading Janet Allen's book Reading History.

- implement discussion formats like socratic circles, 2x2 debates, retelling, 5 plus 1 format, etc. in order for students to learn argumentative discussion skills.

- improve writing experiences for students through the use of model papers, common assessment rubrics, APPARTS, GSPRITE, and other strategies that will enhance expository writing.

2. Continue Vertical Teaming of Social Studies concepts and skills grades 5 - 12 to improve student learning.

- Implement the Thinking Like a Historian framework at all grade levels (Cause and Effect, Change and Continuity, Turning Points, Using the Past and Through Their Eyes)

3. Increase the use of 21st century technology as a learning/assessment tool in the social studies classroom.

- Use podcasting with students via the use of the digital recorder.
- Continue using blogs with students to enhance writing and discussion experiences.
- Implement use of Google Docs
- Use other Web 2.0 tools to engage students in the learning e.g., wikis, delicious bookmarking, graphic design tools - glogster.
- Develop a PLN (Professional Learning Network)

4. Continue the use of Professional Learning Communities (PLC's) to improve assessment of learning.

- continue to identify and refine unit power standards
- provide daily learning target/objective for students
- continue to write objective common assessments, gather data for remediation and to modify instruction.
- begin/continue to develop common assessment to evaluate student writing
- continue to check for understanding by implementing a variety of strategies for formative assessment. Use this feedback to modify instruction.

5. Continue the use of authentic (hands on) instruction/assessment in the social studies classroom.
- continue 9th grade field trip to Washington D.C.
- promote the use of oral history in the classroom through the oral history project.
- continue authentic project learning through the History Day program.
- implement authentic tasks like attending county board meetings, going on archaeological digs, creating a Civil War Wall, simulating Roman culture through Rome Days, Panic, Forensic Science experiements and simulations, psych sims, Feudalism play, etc.
- use performance based assessments

Advanced Placement - Common Assessment

The following will appear in the Wisconsin Advanced Placement Advisory Council Newsletter in August 2009. This was an interview conducted by Jim Bokern of Marshfield High School with Paul Aleckson.

As K-12 Social Studies Curriculum Coordinator and Advanced Placement (AP) US History Instructor at DC Everest (DCE) High School, Paul Aleckson has continually set high standards of professional excellence. For decades DCE students have been standouts in National History Day; published oral histories on WWII, Korea and Vietnam veterans, the Hmong Culture and History, and the Depression Era. Long before the terms of equity and access were common, Paul and other History teachers at DCE reached out to all college bound students sparking their interest in taking on the challenge of AP. This year DCE enrollment in AP US History will surge from 100 students to 150! This spike in participation is an extension of the AP vertical teams that DCE has developed over the years in grades 6-9.

Not surprisingly, Aleckson and his team at DCE have developed a new and promising practice that can increase student performance on the multiple choice portion of AP exams. In an effort to share this grassroots assessment, Aleckson addressed four questions regarding his multiple choice assessment model:

What sparked this new approach?

How does it work?

What were your results from year 1?

What to you see as the future of this multiple choice model?

What sparked this new approach?

Five years ago the Principal at DCE, Dr. Johansen, set common assessments as the number 1 goal of their Professional learning Communities (PLC). After several years of DCE teachers setting Learning Targets, Dr. Johansen pushed the high school faculty to create strong common assessments in shared areas of instruction. Aleckson indicated that the teachers were expected to hit the Learning Targets they set as measured by their newly created common. The idea was to generate data on student learning, reflect on the data, and make adjustments to instruction to increase student learning. Aleckson and DCE teachers of AP US History, AP European History, Regular History and Regular Global Studies embarked on a journey of multiple choice assessment reform.

How does it work?

Once the Learning Targets were set, Aleckson’s AP US History teachers collected old AP multiple choice exam questions and some questions from outside vendors to create a pool of authentic and rigorous questions. Since 1984, over 400 multiple choice questions have been released by the AP program so the DCE teachers did not create the questions. Once the questions were pooled, they broke the AP US History course into 12 periods and grouped the multiple choice questions into the 12 chronological periods. The tricky part was finding the correct question that matched both the Learning Target and skill required by the DCE curriculum. Aleckson indicated that it took about 8 PLC meetings to select the questions but this was the foundation of a well constructed common assessment.

Once the rigorous semester exams were created, the DCE team set standards of 70% and higher as advanced, 60% to 69% as proficient, 45% to 59% as basic and 44% and lower as below basic. These standards closely correspond with the AP standards on the multiple choice portion of the national exam.

What were your results from year 1?

The test results were shared with the students, and work was done on improving student learning gaps. The multiple choice exams pin-pointed student learning gaps and suggested instruction by teachers. Aleckson shared that educators often felt that they taught a concept well in class, but in reality the kids missed it. The common assessment data helps ID these problems allows for correction. DCE teachers found that the data led them to use more quick formative assessments like daily/weekly quizzes to clear-up deficits before the big common assessment at semester.

DCE teachers adjusted testing schedules and gave semester exams well before the end of the semester to allow for data analysis and remediation. This logical adjustment of time allows for reflection on the data and remediation. One of the data analysis discoveries Aleckson made regarding his best students was they most often missed multiple choice questions that used the term “except” in the prompt. For instance, “All of the following deal with the rise of sectionalism in the 19^th century except….” These discoveries help both the gifted learner and the student reaching to get a 3 on the AP exam.

As for the remediation and analysis of student deficits, DCE teachers allow the students to disaggregate their test data. With the possibility of raising their grade by retesting in areas they tested at basic or below basic, students have a vested interest, and tend to be both honest in their data reflection and targeted in remedial learning. Aleckson expects student’s to retake portions of the exam that were below standard. This requires a week or two before the end of the semester to accommodate student learning and remedial testing needs.

What to you see as the future of this Multiple Choice model?

Aleckson hopes that other AP courses explore and improve on the multiple choice testing model his social studies department created. He is already looking to remove some of the questions used last year and refine his assessment based on DCE Learning Targets. Next year, Aleckson wants to focus on improving upon interventions for students who score at basic or below basic on their semester tests. The DCE teachers involved in this innovative practice will continue insightful data reflection and hopefully expanding this multiple choice testing model into other subjects.

As most educators embrace open access to AP for all college bound students, strategies like Aleckson’s will provide critical differention of assessment that will lead to greater student success and skill development. Hopefully, educators will create and share these teaching/assessment instruments in the state of Wisconsin as we pursue both Equity and Excellence.