Course: ELE 3600, Teaching Social Studies: PreK-8
Division: Teacher Education
Course Credit: 3 hours
Time & Place: Mondays 12:50-3:35 in Room 200 Education
Fall 2009 CRN: 11287
Instructor: Dr. Bob Pettapiece
Office: 271 College of Education
Mailbox: Second Floor South (below my name)
Email: pettapiece@wayne.edu
Office Hours: Mondays 9:00-11:00 by email appointment

Teaching Assistant:  Lori Lucas

Course Description:  Objectives, curriculum content & organization, teaching strategies, instructional materials, evaluation of learning, utilization of community resources.

Course Objectives (Outcomes): To have students  . . .

• Know why we teach social studies
• Be familiar with the seven (NCSS) social studies disciplines
• Experience teaching examples of the social studies disciplines
• Better understand how our diverse country is composed of many cultures, Western & non-Western
• Use the Michigan Curriculum Framework or the Grade Level Content Expectations to design instruction
• Become familiar with the Core Democratic Values of Michigan
• Work together as a total class
• Understand why we work in groups (teams)
• Practice working together in small groups
• Join a social studies professional organization (NCSS)
  
• Participate in a social studies conference (MCSS)
  
• Use technology whenever appropriate
• Realize you need to first win the heart of your students before their head
  
• Appreciate diversity in others and consider becoming anti-racist
• See the methods used in this class as a model for constructivist teaching

Assignments (details in class or on-line as necessary):

•  All written work will be done on a word processor unless otherwise mentioned in class
•  Participate in class activities at beginning of class (10%)
•  Bring in one unique Detroit field trip resource chosen from a list in class (5%)
•  As a small group, teach the class about an American cultural group  (15%)
•  As a small group, participate in a reflective, Personal Timeline project.  Details given in class. (5%)
•  As a small group, develop & present a unit plan which includes a controversial issue, reflection & innovation to be shared with the class (20%)
•  Review & critique 4 articles on the practical classroom teaching of social studies, one of which must be related to economics plus one Book Review (30%)
  
•  Participate in three (3) field trips & follow-up activities (15%)
  

Perhaps the best way for you to approach this course, or any course you take in college, is to think of it as your current job; possibly the most important job you will ever have. It helps determine your future opportunities and establishes the pattern for your teaching career.

• Participation is important in a democracy and in this social studies class.
• Every student is expected to be in every class, including the day for review of the Road Maps.
• Absences in this class are absences; they are neither excused nor unexcused and you lose credit (1%).
• Telephones and beepers are not expected to be heard in the classroom.
• To contact me outside of class, please use email.
• You are expected to use your WSU email account & ID (aa1234)
• You are expected to understand Academic Integrity & not commit Plagiarism in this class.
• If English is your second language you may need the services of the English Language Institute at Wayne State.  For more information call Dr. Bruce Morgan at 313-577-8072.
• If you have a documented disability that requires accommodations, you will need to register with Student Disability Services (SDS).  You should do so before the start of each semester or no later than the first class.

Evaluation & Grading:

• A=94-100, A-=90-93, B+=87-89, B=83-86, B-=80-82, C+=77-79, C=73-76, C-=70-72, D+=67-69, D=63-66 & D-=60-62 of a possible 100 points.
• Article reviews turned in more than 2 days late will lose a point; all other assignments may be turned in only on the day of class.
• Being late to class or leaving early may count as .5 of an absence.
• Participation in a social studies conference or subscribing to Social Education during the semester will raise your grade a maximum of a third (+3 points).
• An incomplete (I grade) may be given only for good reason, after completing a contract with the instructor and may not be for a grade higher than a B.
• Be aware of the WSU grade policies.

Class Schedule: The dates for topics dealt with in class will be announced in class and deadlines will be determined by  the instructor in consultation with the class.

Due Dates

Required Texts & Expenses:

1. Takaki, Ron, A Different Mirror (revised edition, copyright 2008, ISBN 0-316-22361-5)
2. Expenses for field trips

Suggested Additional Reading:

Ability Grouping (NCSS)
Bill Bradley on Racism
Constructivist (Papert, Piaget & Vygotsky)
Curriculum Guidelines from NCSS
Delpit, Lisa, Other Peoples Children
Gardner, Howard  Frames of Mind
Glasser, William  Quality School, A  or Quality School Teacher
Goleman, Daniel Emotional Intelligence
Hunter, Madeline  (Effective Teaching)
Johnson, Roger & David  Circles of Learning
Kaplan, Leonard Asking the Next Question
Kelley, Earl  Education for What Is Real
Kelley, Earl The Workshop Way of Learning
Kirschenbaum, Howard  Wad Ja Get
Lester, Julius, To Be a Slave
Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me
McIntosh, Peggy White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack
Oakes, Jeannie  (Tracking)
Postman, Neil  Teaching As a Subversive Activity
Rogers, Carl  Freedom to Learn
Teaming in the Real World
Whole Language

Photos & Lesson Plans from Last Semester

If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him.
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.

 --Benjamin Franklin