Jigsaw

Jigsaw Mini Lecture Project Social Studies Chapter 8: Teaching Civic Education Kelly Morgan, Melissa Rubeo and Courtney Rouzer Outline: 1.  Meaning of Citizenship a.  The three conceptions of a “good citizen” are: personally responsible, participatory, and justice-oriented. b.  Personally responsible citizens show honesty, integrity, respect and compassion. They pay taxes, obey laws, vote and work hard in the community. c.  Participatory citizens are active members who participates in the civic affairs and social life of the community at the local, state and national levels. d.  Justice-oriented citizen critically assesses social, political, and economic structures and then takes social action to redress in justice. e.  On the whole, about 2 out of 3 American student’s grades 4, 8, and 12 have at least a basic knowledge of civics. 2.  Classroom Civic Education a.  The three goals for all students to become effective citizens are: i.  Goal one: citizens are informed, thoughtful and have knowledge of our system of government. ii. Goal two: citizens are committed to their communities. iii. Goal three: citizens participate in civic affairs while having concern, tolerance and respect for others. b.  Civic education takes places all day inside and outside of the classroom. c.  At all grade levels, students should be involved with making the classroom rules. d.  Students should be taught that rules and laws change or that new ones are needed in order to fit current situations. e.  Class meetings give students a voice and are an essential strategy for decision making. f.  Some sort of conflict resolution program should be implemented in the school. Administration and a selected group of students are trained to help others solve their problems. 3.  Instruction in Civic Education a.  In order to encourage civic education congress mandated that all schools who receive federal monies must hold an educational program pertaining to the U.S. Constitution on September 17th of each year. b.  Formal instruction helps increase civic knowledge, which would lead students to engage in future adult participation in the political process. 4.  Current Events/Current Affairs a.  Current events need to be discussed in class in order for students to be aware of what’s happening in the world. This will allow them to vote and make intelligent decisions. b.  In order for students to keep up with current events they should be encouraged to bring in newspaper articles to discuss in class. c.  Ideally as the students grow older they should use more adult sources of information such as //The New York Times// and the //Wall Street Journal//. 5.  Teaching Controversial Issues a.  These issues should only be discussed if they are appropriate to the subject area and the school districts guidelines. b.  There should be rules when discussing controversial issues and the students need to understand them and abide by them. c.  Although views may be presented no one should be put down or made fun of by their peers for their views. 6.  Linking Schoolwide citizenship to the Community a.  Service learning is the integration of community service with academic learning. i.  It can improve academic achievement, meet real community needs, promote seeing the problem as an issue and improve self-esteem of the students. ii. Service learning should be something that is done over a period of time and should include several hours of work. b.  Community service is giving back to the local community. i.  Associated with charity and is considered volunteer work. ii. It is not necessarily tied with school work. 7.  Teaching Global Education a.  Global education emphasis the cultures and people of other lands. b.  Multiculturalism deals with racial and ethnic diversity in the U.S.    c.   Globalization is the growing integration of economies and societies around the world. i.  Driven by international trade and investment and is aided by improved information technology. ii. Deeply controversial. Multiple Choice: 1.  Which of the following is NOT considered a conception of a “good citizen”? a.  Personally Responsible b.  Participatory c.  Justice-oriented d.  Honesty 2.  Civic Education takes place when in the classroom? a.  All day long b.  Only during social studies lessons c.  Only during lunchtime d.  During morning meeting 3.  On which date do all schools that receive federal monies need to hold an educational program pertaining to the U.S. Constitution? a. September 11 b. September 17 c. January 19 d. February 16 4.  Which current issues and events need to be discussed in classrooms? a. local b. national c. international d. all of the above 5.  Controversial issues should only be discussed _____________. a.  If the teacher says that he/she wants to discuss them b.  If they are appropriate to subject area and school guidelines c.  When the teacher wants d.  When appropriate, but not connecting to subject matter Answers: 1.  D   2.   A   3.   B   4.   D   5.   B  Three Short Answer: 1.  What is one strategy for handling conflict in the classroom? 2.  Besides conflict management, classroom meetings, and classroom citizenship, some parents and curriculum planners want more direct education for teaching values of American democracy. What are the values of American democracy? 3.  How is schoolwide citizenship linked to the community? Answers: 1.  One strategy would be to have the children write a letter when they are in a disagreement with another student. This provides a cooling down period and allows the teacher to react to the situation. Another strategy is to implement a conflict resolution program where a group of trained students assist other students who are involved in the disagreement. A final strategy is to discuss the issue as a whole class during a class meeting. 2.  The values of American democracy are: 1. Individual rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness 2. The public or common good 3. Justice 4. Equality of opportunity 5. Diversity 6. Truth 7. Patriotism 3.  Children can show their schoolwide citizenship to the community through service learning and community service. Service learning can meet real community needs and improve self-esteem. Community service is giving back to the local community and is not necessarily tied with school work. Two suggested instructional strategies: 1.  The first instructional strategy deals with the conflict resolution. When using the writing letter technique the students develop better writing skills because they are using those skills in order to express their feelings. They also develop reasoning skills because they will become better at reasoning with others by literally seeing what the problem is and then coming up with a solution to the problem. 2.  The second instructional strategy deals with the classroom meetings. These meetings allow the students to have a voice in school government by enabling them to voice their opinion freely during this time. This also models for the students proper decision making techniques which will enrich their skills as a decision maker.

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