Throughout my EDU 375 class, I have:
  
1. Developed an understanding of the scope and breadth of social studies topics and ideas that need to be covered in the elementary school curriculum.

    I can show evidence of this course goal with the Industrial Revolution Unit Plan that my two partners and I created.  When we first chose this topic in which to research and produce lessons, I was not fully aware of the breadth of information we would have to write lessons for, as such a general topic has numerous specific things to learn about. We narrowed this broad topic into three subtopics: mass production, factory conditions and gender roles in society.  We believe these are three important, more distinct topics, which can overlap and lead into other factors of the Industrial Revolution and beyond.  We also had to look at a typical social studies curriculum for fifth graders to determine how long our lessons should be and to what extent we should continue the unit.


2. Explored multiple perspectives of social studies topics, address diverse learning needs of learners, and construct hands-on social studies activities which support the New York State Social Studies Learning Standards and NCSS Standards.

    Through the Industrial Revolution Unit Plan, my group and I addressed multiple perspectives, diverse learning needs and hands-on activities.  We knew the general topic of the Industrial Revolution would be too broad to cover with just three lessons, so we each covered more specific aspects of the Industrial Revolution, including mass production, factory conditions and changing gender roles.  In my lesson on factory conditions, I used multiple learning styles, including articles from a children’s book, photographs, music and written questions.  I also had students use problem solving skills in a hands-on activity by creating imaginary laws for the safety and fairness of factory workers of this time.  Using many different kinds of learning styles, according to Garner’s Multiple Intelligences, will allow more students to comprehend my lesson.  In addition, these resources all come from different places, written by diverse people, and therefore, have differing viewpoints. 

3. Explored the strategies of developing an interdisciplinary approach to social studies instruction.

    For the Children's Literature Project, I integrated Social Studies and English/Language Arts by writing a Social Studies lesson plan using the children's book, "Mammolina" by Barbara O'Connor.  By integrating two or more subjects, a teacher is able to link subjects together to make a unit or to make each subject to be related in content.  Further, I used technology, as a Microsoft Power Point presentation, to display pictures and brief notes about the book's content.  The activity in the lesson can be related to art, as the students will make dioramas to model a Montessori Classroom.  It is beneficial and will save time and effort to use an interdisciplinary approach in my teaching.