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Performance Objectives

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Performance Objectives When constructing lesson plans in any subject, you need a good objective. The objective is almost like the goal that you want you students to achieve: it is what you want your students to do during that time. There are four parts to a good performance objective: the audience, the behavior, the condition, and the degree. All of these aspects are detailed and specific enough so that the student should be doing exactly what is said in the lesson plan. When thinking of the audience, you are thinking who this lesson is being made for. What does your class know already or need to learn in this new lesson? What is their tone like as a whole? Why are they learning this new information and how is it going to be done? Next thing to keep in mind is the behavior of the lesson. During this lesson you are trying to have your students meet a goal; what do you want them to do behavior wise that will help them to learn this topic? How are you going to chang...
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Fieldwork Experience- Observing!

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Fieldwork Experience- Observing! Being able to watch all of the groups, made up by my peers, teach the second grade class economics in many different ways is interesting. Each group is able to teach their own version of economics in a variety of ways. Each group has a slightly different topic based off of economics and it is fun to watch each peer have their own way of teaching. Observing is a very important, and I think essential, way to learn how to teach. Being able to watch experienced and even new teachers, can give you real life examples and situations of things that can actually happen in the classroom. Observing also gives you the chance to not worry about actually relaying information to students in an efficient way, but to just focus on how you can better your own teaching skills. Creating an appropriate and engaging lesson plan is hard enough, so to be able to watch students in a classroom before having to yet...
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Connecting to Economics

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Connecting to Economics In chapter ten of our class textbook,  National Social Science Press,  I was able to read up on the different ways we can make connections to economics. In the current moment, elementary students don't think that economics can effect them in anyway, but that is far from the truth. Economics effects just about everyone and everything, whether you have money yourself or not. A growing society can certainly effect the economy just as much as it effects class sizes. The bigger the class, the more needs for services such as teachers, janitors, cafeteria workers, etc. On the other hand, the opposite happens when class sizes go down- there is less of a need for these services. With class sizes growing in rural and poverty stricken areas, there are less services being provided to students who need it most. Important one-on-one attention is being overlooked and neglected because there is simply not en...
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Goods and Services

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Goods and Services Inside the topic of economics is the commonly taught goods and services attribute. Goods and services is an important but simple way for younger students to understand the gist of economics. Goods is something you can buy, where a service is something done for you or someone else. You can twist goods and services in many, many different ways to fit your students understandings and needs. You can also do many fun things with this topic. For example, inside the 2nd grade classroom we are doing fieldwork in, goods and services is taught in a discreet and amusing way. Before my college class arrived, the 2nd grade lesson wasn't even focusing on economics, but they had a system in place that is entirely what goods and services is. The teacher has a coin system where a student will earn a penny, nickel, dime, quarter, or rarely a bill, for doing a good job inside the classroom. Then, at the end of the week the student...
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Utilizing Debates in the Classroom

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Utilizing Debates in the Classroom When you hear the word debate, one would usually think of politics or an argument. But, if done correctly, a debate can be a great method to use when teaching Social Studies in your classroom. As long as you and your student have an understanding that it stays positive and polite, a debate can be a great way for students of any age to learn and see different point of views. It is also a realistic strategy used in many different real world situations. Debates give students a chance to speak up and fight for what they think is right in an appropriate and knowledge filled way. When myself and a few peers presented a current event to the rest of our class, we had them do a debate. We split the class into two groups, one promoting what was being taught and one that was against it. We picked the groups, but in some cases, you can allow your students to pick what side they want to be on: students like having a ...
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Collaborative Lesson Plans and Economics

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Collaborative Lesson Plans and Economics To collaborate means to work together, share ides, and communicate. Economics means production, trade, wealth, and services. Tying these two together in an interesting and engaging way is already difficult, but when also adding 2nd graders into the mix, it becomes even more complicated. Collaborative lesson plans are not only important, but also my favorite type of lesson. They are unique and always fun- if done the right way. There should never be a boring moment during a collaborative lesson plan which makes it perfect to use with boring topics like economics, especially in 2nd grade. Most elementary schoolers don't care to learn about economics because it is not something they have to deal with or worry about in their real world. But, by creating interactive and exciting lessons for students to really indulge themselves and their ideas into, it allows them to mak...
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Current Events

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Current Events Social Studies is not only history but it is also todays current news. What was and is going on in your neighborhood and around the world is all relevant and important news to share. When someone thinks of a current event, they imagine the assignment you get in school where you have to find your local newspaper and pick a article to explain and present to the class. But, it is more than that; current events are around us all day everyday, especially in todays technology filled society. For this college course on teaching social studies, of course we had to do the typical assignment. Me and two other students worked together to find a relevant article and present it to the class with a few activities. Our article was on New York state banning the sale of large sugary drinks and how it will affect the economy in New York. Before this assignment, I had never even heard of this new law attempting to be pa...
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