History & SS Methods

According to the authors, what is a disadvantage of using current events as a basis for social studies units?

Current events might require resources that are difficult to gather.

Which one of the following statements accurately explains the connection the authors make between current events and controversial issues?

Currents events that involve an enduring public issue are also controversial issues.

You are teaching fifth-grade students when immigration officers announce the deportation of several undocumented immigrants from a neighboring state. Which of the following describes an assumption the authors believe should inform you as you decide how to discuss this current event with your students.

You should assume that at least one student in your class is the child of undocumented immigrants.

According to the authors, what is a disadvantage of using current events in addition to social studies instruction?

Current events are isolated from the social studies program.

A teacher is working to increase engagement and communicate the value of the social sciences. Which TWO of the following are strategies that would further progress toward these goals?

-incorporate current events into class instruction - use simulations when appropriate

Geography is composed of five themes according to the National Geographic Alliance. Which of the following best describes what each theme is?

A concept that students should form as they work through multiple examples.

Which of the following best aligns with how the authors describe an enduring public issue?

A controversial issue that does not go away when the current event ends

Which of the following best describes the rationale the authors provide for why social studies must be revitalized?

A democracy requires citizens with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that social studies teaches.

You have decided to engage your fourth-grade students in talking about a controversial issue. According to the criteria established by the authors, which of the following topics is best suited to a controversial issue discussion?

A local municipal zoo's decision to give their elephants to another zoo

Based on what the authors have written about when difference should be addressed, which of the following is an example of difference being addressed inappropriately?

A teacher notes that girls often have more trouble with spatial abilities-they need to work harder at map skills.

Which of the following is an example of relative location?

Across the street

Carl is a third-grade student who consistently struggles with writing on his social studies assignments. A specialist offers to pull Carl out of social studies to help him with his assignments. Based on the guidelines for Response to Intervention (RTI), how should you as Carl's classroom teacher respond?

Agree to the extra help for Carl as long as he does not miss new social studies instruction.

Which of the following is likely due to an interaction of religion and culture?

All choices listed here

The authors note that many standards suggest that students understand why we use money. Which of the following is a key idea the authors give for why this is important?

As a means of exchange, money is much more efficient than the alternatives.

Being committed to "liberty and justice for all" is an example of which subgoal of social studies?

Attitudes and values

What subgoal of social studies are teachers primarily addressing when they ask students to consider the big ideas contained in historical documents such as the Declaration of Independence and the Pledge of Allegiance?

Attitudes and values

Anna's teacher never calls on her unless she raises her hand because she knows Anna, as an English Learner (EL), struggles with verbalizing what she understands. The teacher does not want to embarrass Anna. Which of the following is a reason the authors might give the teacher to consider changing this policy?

Calling on Anna communicates the teacher's high expectations for her.

Which of the following is often learned in the primary grades?

Cardinal directions and relative location

During a presentation on the branches of government, a group of students state that "the executive branch is responsible for interpreting the laws created by the legislative branch." Based on this statement, which of the following feedback would be most appropriate for the teacher to provide?

Clarify the powers of the executive and judicial branches

A second-grade teacher is planning a unit and wants to address the state standard that "the student understands multiple points of view and how they shaped historical research." Which of the following would best address this standard?

Compare various primary and secondary sources about a single notable event

Which of the following would be the most effective assignment to assess a student's ability to analyze the digging of the Erie Canal on the development of the Midwest and New York?

Create a cause-and-effect flow chart about the Erie Canal

Which of the following is not an essential map-reading skill according to the National Council for the Social Studies?

Create a map from memory.

Why do the authors suggest it is important to debrief any classroom simulation?

Debriefing is necessary if students are to learn from and remember the experience.

Which of the following does not illustrate a definitional controversy as defined by the authors?

Deciding which of the available options is best

According to the authors, what is the relationship of deliberation to voting?

Deliberation informs and empowers voting.

The authors identify three basic practices of democracy that can be nurtured through active citizenship education. What are they?

Deliberation, voting, and community service

According to the text, what is the primary task of the teacher in developing mapping skills in children?

Develop the spatial capacities that students already possess.

Each of the following is an example of a kind of multicultural curriculum. Which of the choices illustrates what the authors describe as the key aspect of excellent multicultural education?

Fifth graders create a play to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

In a class with students of different abilities and different cultural backgrounds, which of the following is counterproductive?

Fixed groups

Using the information above, which of the following conclusions can be made using the data above?

Foreign-born citizens were better represented in large cities than small towns.

Which of the following scales can be accurately enlarged on a copy machine?

Graphic scales

Which of the following do the authors argue is important for children to learn about graphs?

Graphs can create false impressions.

How do the authors define "dispositions?"

Habits or inclinations that summarize a person's behavior and values

Which of the following is not a special responsibility a teacher has when teaching a controversial issue?

Helping students understand which is the best choice for common good

What do the authors suggest is the relationship of maps to geography?

Maps are necessary but not enough when studying geography.

Which of the themes of geography relies on the understanding that all places on earth have advantages and disadvantages for people living there?

Human-environment interaction

What do the authors mean by the term "spiral" curriculum?

Ideas are revisited with increasing precision as students get older.

What relationship do the authors describe between patterns in social studies topics and state standards?

Individual states decide what should be taught at each level and these standards often reflect national patterns.

Ms. Fullmore intends to use a primary source document to introduce a new unit to her sixth-grade class. The text contains some challenging vocabulary. Which of the following would be the best approach to ensure her sixth-graders are able to comprehend the text?

Introduce and define unfamiliar vocabulary with the students before beginning the text.

According to the text, what is the main reason data-organization chart is used?

It allows students and teachers to keep track of information across several examples.

Which of the following is not given by the authors as a reason to engage students in deliberation about solving classroom and playground problems?

It makes classrooms easier to manage.

Which of the following is one of the fundamental skills in learning to read a map?

Knowing that symbols represent real and actual things

What so the authors argue is necessary to develop civic competence?

Learning about democracy and practicing active democratic engagement

According to the authors, what is the most important reason teachers need to help students understand the purpose of what they are being asked to learn?

Learning new information is more likely if learners see the value of the information or skill.

Which of the following is a key aspect of marginal analysis?

Making choices often involves compromises and trade-offs.

In the opening vignette, Ginny Simpson notes the incredible diversity of children in her classroom. Which of the following best captures how the authors suggest Ms. Simpson should respond to this diversity?

Ms. Simpson should learn all she can about her students and adapt her teaching.

What is the source of the values the authors argue must be taught in school?

Our great public documents

Which of the following best describes how the authors would characterize learning the history of the Pledge of Allegiance?

Passive

Which of the following are not considered White by the U.S. Census Bureau?

People with Hispanic origins

Which of the following do the authors claim as a "defining attribute of modernity in general and modern constitutional democracy in particular?"

Pluralism and toleration

Why do the authors argue that political divisions in American democracy is a trend that impact social studies teachers?

Political divisions can make the goal of civic competence more difficult to address in a classroom.

Which of the following is not permitted in public schools?

Promoting a particular religious point of view

What aspect of the inquiry arc do the authors stress as the most critical to success?

Questions must be compelling.

Racial categories are based in a nation's history and they change as times and the power dynamics of a society change. What is this process called?

Racialization

When a student has formed an initial question for a research topic, which of the following would be the most appropriate next step?

Research what others have found and written about the initial question

Which of the following is not an example of a social position?

Riding a bus to school

You are working with a second-grade class to consider human-environment interactions. Which of the following best illustrates an enduring human-environment public issue your class might explore?

Should the city require car makers to pay for electric vehicle charging stations?

What do the authors suggest is a key reasons teachers might use economic games and simulations?

Simulations and games feel like real life with fewer risks.

How do the authors believe that the subgoal of skills in social studies is related to knowledge?

Skillful behavior is supported by knowledge

Intellectual skills support which of the following social studies goals?

Social Understanding and Civic Competence

A fifth-grade student tells you that poverty is not her problem since her family has enough money. What would the authors say this student needs help understanding?

Social problems are the responsibility of all citizens.

The social studies curriculum is aimed at which two goals?

Social understanding and civic competence

Kenji claims the following identities: Southerner, Buddhist, working class, and African American. Which of these identities identifies Kenji's ethnic group?

Southerner

Given what the authors write about an active approach to citizenship education, why do they advocate for a recently naturalized citizen to come and speak with the class?

Students can ask questions directly and engage in thinking about how the system works.

What do the authors suggest is an important benefit of teaching anthropology?

Students can come to see ways of being as different, not superior or inferior.

Which of the following is not a purpose the authors give for teaching current events and social problems in elementary school?

Students must be able to interpret the current events and social problems they find in the news.

What do the authors argue is meant by the opportunity gap?

Students often achieve at different levels because of students have different chances to learn.

As a fourth-grade teacher, you have invited a local police officer to talk to your class about problems in the community. Which of the following goals would the authors suggest you share with the police officer to make her visit best serve your students?

Students should understand how a system of laws and justice benefits society.

What is a basic reason, according to the authors, why students want to understand geography?

Students want to know the nature of the world and their place in it.

What do the authors say happens if students are not taught how the economic world operates?

Students will develop their own theories about how the economic system works

As a beginning third-grade teacher, you want to feature current events regularly and meaningfully in your classroom without becoming overwhelmed the amount of planning you need to do as you teach multiple subjects. Based on what you've read in this section, which of the following would the authors recommend?

Subscribe to a grade-level appropriate news source that you explore each week with your students.

A sixth-grade student is researching the Civil War and has read two conflicting secondary sources about the motivations of Abraham Lincoln in issuing the Emancipation Proclamation. He asks the teacher how he can find which secondary source is most accurate in the matter. Which of the following responses by the teacher would be most appropriate?

Suggesting to the student to read the primary sources quoted by the secondary sources so the student can draw an independent conclusion

According to the authors, what is a disadvantage of using current events to supplement social studies instruction?

Teachers may feel restricted from using a range of news stories.

The authors argue that equal educational opportunity is a bedrock ideal in the United States. Which of the following best captures what the authors suggest teachers must do to close the gap that exists between this ideal and reality?

Teachers must develop the necessary competencies to effectively teach all children.

According to the authors, what is one of the best ways to teach current events?

Teachers select events that are controversial.

Which of the following represents what the authors suggest for selecting activities and simulations?

Teachers should consult the standards and look for reputable resources for appropriate activities.

Why do the authors suggest that teachers take time to consider their own political assumptions about economics?

Teachers who know their political assumptions can more easily avoid their blind spots.

What does the evidence suggest was one major impact on social studies (and other areas, like as art, literature, and music) due to No Child Left Behind's intense pressure on schools to score well on high-stakes tests?

The curriculum narrowed to reading and math, leaving social studies behind

Why do the authors argue that developing the skills required to analyze current events must be started in elementary school?

The required analysis skills take years to develop.

Which of the following ideas do the authors argue that first-grade students will have trouble understanding?

The role of genetics, law, and custom in determining what is a family.

The authors propose that teachers develop a curriculum planning habit of applying the 10 social studies conceptual themes to the subject-matter topic emphasis at the elementary level. Why is this an important habit?

The scope of a topic is expanded and deepened so that student understanding is expanded and deepened.

As they appear in Figure 5.2, how do the authors describe the Economics standards?

The standards are concerned mainly with content.

Examine Table 2.1. Which of the following claims is not supported by the table?

The student population in 2060 will be more racially diverse than the teaching force.

Which of the following is not an important aspect of culture?

The symphony

Which of the following best describes the importance of a primary source?

They help researchers gain first-hand accounts and insights into a situation and allow researchers to draw conclusions based on the account

According to James Baldwin, what is the likely result if children are not educated to live democratically?

They will become apathetic about government.

According to the authors, how are map- and globe-reading skills best learned?

Through direct teaching and application in situations where map- and globe-reading skills are used

How do the authors suggest citizenship learning in school might be bridged with community civic life experiences?

Through service learning activities

What is one way the text proposes content in graphs be made less abstract for younger students?

Through the use of pictorial representations

What do the authors suggest is a reason that teachers should learn about the religious diversity in their classrooms?

To avoid causing any child feel like an outsider

Which of the following do the authors give as a reason for helping students understand religious diversity?

To avoid stereotypes about people

What do cartographers mean by projection?

Transferring information from a round globe to a flat map

Which of the following do the authors give as a reason teaching economics is an issue of social justice?

Understanding economics can give people the chance to engage with decisions that impact their lives.

Which of the following best matches how the authors describe issue-centered unit planning?

Unit planning that draws on the social studies disciplines and a variety of instructional techniques to consider a public issue

Mrs. Adams is beginning instruction on WWII in her history class. How could the English teacher best support this instruction by connecting their two disciplines?

Use Night, a Holocaust memoir, as the text for their upcoming genre study of memoirs.

How do the authors define "scope?"

What is taught-the subject matter

When creating political cartoons, what do cartoonists rely upon?

What the reader already knows about the event

The authors suggest that teachers take a compare-and-contrast approach to curricular planning because the approach:

builds intellectual strength and conceptual power.

The authors argue that deliberation skills need to be

taught and practiced.