Social Sciences – Bag
of Tricks
Overview:
A “bag of tricks” is a collection of teaching strategies,
activities, assignments, classroom management strategies, and professional
development tools used to enhance and develop a person’s teaching abilities.
Some teachers carry a physical binder with them so that they have it readily
available at all times. For this assignment, you are creating a Word document
(or PDF) that you could print out and place inside a binder for future use.
For this assignment, you are going to create quick
activities and/or worksheets that you could pull out and use on the spot in a
classroom, for social studies. This
means the actual item has to be ready to use. For example, if it is a
worksheet the document is fully constructed and would only need to be photocopied. If you are doing an activity, all of
the components would be included and or fully described (see example on
Monopoly for an activity). This serves multiple purposes. The more activities
you create and have in your binder, the more readily available material you
will have if you need to fill time in class, are subbing for someone and need
an activity, or just need a compilation of activities so you can use them in
your lessons.
You can get your inspiration from anything! You are
welcome to look at items on the internet, mentioned in the readings, etc… You
just cannot copy them. I am also including examples for you to see successful
activities and rationales. Do NOT
copy the examples. The examples are just that, examples.
Assignment Requirements:
There will be 5
total entries that all relate to social studies. This means you must use ISBE
content standards, so create your activities with those in mind. Each entry has
two parts: the activity you created and the annotation.
The Activity:
Provide the actual item, if it is something that can be
shared in a document. Examples for this might be: worksheet, cross word puzzle,
a content specific graphic organizer, a role playing activity, etc… It must be
something you created. You may not take something from the Internet and submit
it as your own creation.
If it is something that cannot be shared, then you write
up a description of it that includes directions. Examples for this might
include: taking a neighborhood hike, creating maps, using games, etc… (I have
provided an example at the end that uses a game).
Warning: do not turn in two circles in a Word document
and call it a Venn diagram. If you want to create an activity using a Venn
diagram, then create the full activity… label the circles and intersection. Provide
the directions. You are not creating
tools (like a Venn, KWL chart, or a graphic organizer). You are creating
specific activities that meet a social studies curriculum needs. You may use
tools, like a Venn, KWL chart, or graphic organizer; but, you have to create
the activity that uses them. (An example, a triple Venn for checks and balances
with the center representing the concept of Power in the US governmental
system).
Second warning: if your activity needs explanation, then
please provide it. For example, using a Venn diagram: Maybe you have three
circles labeled: executive, judicial, legislative. The intersection is labeled laws.
Would that make sense without any explanation? Would you know what the
“activity” would cover? It could be checks and balances, it could be validity
of laws, it could also be how a law is affected by each branch. If there is
room for interpretation, take that room away by explaining how you will use it.
The Annotation aka Rationale:
Write a separate
annotation for each item. In it, provide the rationale for your activity. In
the annotation you need to:
1.
State the grade level you think this would work
best in and explain why. You must select a grade that is part of the elementary
education certification (K-6).
2.
Identify a standard or two that you think would
apply to this activity and briefly explain why you think it would apply. You
must use ISBE content standards. You may also add an NCSS theme if it applies
(use NCSS learning expectations, chapters 4 and 5 depending on grade level).
3.
Provide a rationale for why this is a valid
entry. In your rationale you will use evidence from academic research to prove
why your activity works for the grade level you selected and why it works for
teaching the content you selected. You may use any of the texts you read for
our course as justification. You do not need to do additional research. Another
way to think of this is: a rationale is where you explain why this activity
works for social studies and your explanation is backed up with research to
support your ideas. (See examples)
This assignment
needs to be your original work, that means you are creating social studies
activities .. This also means you may not take activities from the
internet or activities that you have created for other classes. If you have
taught already, you may not take any previously used activities. You have to
create these activities yourself for this course. J
Attached for you are:
1)
The traditional bag of tricks categories. This
is in case you want to actually create a full bag of tricks to take with you to
interviews.
2)
The rubric for this assignment. The rubric is
there for you to use as you work on the project.
3)
Some examples. These examples were collected
from a few different students so you can see different successful approaches to
this assignment. These examples are not perfect and should not be copied. They are being offered as examples to help you start thinking about
activities that you might create.