Episode 36: Social Studies Instruction in 4 Dimensions
REFERENCES:
National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) C3 Standards https://www.socialstudies.org/standards/c3
INTRO:
In this podcast, I will discuss each of the 4 Dimensions from the C3 Framework for social studies put out by NCSS. These Dimensions will help you plan for and create deeper, more connected learning experiences in social studies for and with your students. And I’ll include some additional tips and questions to help you get started.
So, by the end of this episode, I promise you will have a better understanding of 4 Dimensions within social studies that will help you, the teacher, have a role in what social studies is taught and how it is taught in your classroom, school, school district, and state.
CONTENT:
It’s important to pick up where we left off in the teaching of social studies, namely, how the C3 Framework divides social studies instruction into 4 dimensions, laying a foundation for deeper, more connected learning experiences. At face value, these dimensions seem to only benefit us as teachers- but I’m here to explain how they can also be incorporated into your instruction and become teachable tools for your students to follow as well. Further, you won’t need to look far to see how these 4 dimensions can be used for science, literature studies in ELA, and math.
So let’s get right to the 4 dimensions and then see how they can work for us and our students.
Dimension #1: Developing questions and planning inquiries. According to the NCSS and written in the C3 Framework documents, “Questioning is the key to learning.” I couldn’t agree more. Without questions, humans are unable to engage or move forward in the learning process. Humans are curious by nature and we enjoy asking and answering questions. Our students are no different. They need to hone in on the ability to both ask and seek answers to their own questions throughout their learning process too. Think of how many questions you ask of your students each day in the classroom. According to research conducted by Patricia Almeida (1994), “teachers spend up to 50% of class time on questioning and that they ask between 300 and 400 questions a day.” This study is a bit dated and I hope that in 2022, this number has actually increased. Good questions can,
Motivate student learning and fuel curiosity,
Foster intellectual development and stimulate critical thinking,
Assess student understanding, and
Guide discussion and shape a positive learning environment. (Chicago Center for Teaching and Learning, 2022).
Questions are just good for kids- and other humans too. So we should ask questions; a lot of them!
But I found the research also disappointing when it noted that although teachers ask many hundreds of questions each day, the study noted that, “each student asks, on average, 1 question per week” (Graesser & Person, 1994).
UGH! One question per week?!?!
This statistic must change! We must be doing a better job helping students learn how to ask questions themselves and also give students the space and time to think about, ask, and inquire about how to find out answers to the questions they are asking.
This element of time is, I believe, where we fall flat. We never feel like we have enough time to teach or learn anything, let alone give students space to ask questions about their learning. Arguably, by taking and making the time to ask and answer questions in your classroom space, however, your students will engage in higher levels of learning overall. It does take a mental shift as a teacher to engage more in asking questions and getting students to also ask questions for themselves so here is a quick tip: Take a moment to write down the questions you want to ask students when teaching something. When I was in the classroom, I used brightly colored sticky notes to write my questions on and slapped them into the teacher’s manual or my lesson planner. Because these bright sticky notes stood out, I was able to spot them right away and then ask them of my students. You know you can’t forget something neon pink staring back at you, right?!? This simple tip allowed the space for questioning to become part of the learning process in my classroom. And the neon color of the sticky note made me not forget.
I also used the sticky note method when one of my students asked a particularly good question. This can happen, if you let it, and why not use something your brilliant student has put out into the world? Talk about a time saver! If a good question has been put out into the air, by one of your students, grab it, write it down, and use it! And don’t let that question go until it’s answered (or learned from- if it can’t be answered and that’s ok). Talk about a win-win!
There are many different teaching and learning methods that use questions to drive the learning process including: PBL, UbD, inquiry- and others. Regardless if you are using one of these methods or just asking questions to ask them (which is amazing- way to go you!), another concern of elementary teachers I often hear is that: generating questions to ask of students is difficult. You’re not wrong here- asking really good questions of students is difficult. But here are a few to get you started and they are universal to the content area meaning they can be used in ELA, math, social studies, and science:
Ask, “why?”
Ask, “what did you notice?”
Ask, “what’s happening here?”
Ask, “how do you know?”
Ask, “so what?”
These 5 basic questions can really be put to the test- and are probably the basis of any question we are asking anyway. So don’t fret if your questions are clumsy, wordy, or don’t resonate with your students! Try using one or more of these questions the next time you ask a question. And be ready for the learning to begin!
Dimension #2: Applying disciplinary concepts and tools. This is fairly simple to do as this dimension lies right within the disciplines of civics, history, economics, and geography and any national, state, or local standards you are using to teach social studies. Not sure how to make this connection between content and standards especially in social studies? See Episode 34 for more information. According to NCSS, “students access disciplinary knowledge both to develop questions and to pursue those questions” through concepts and tools within the discipline. “Dimension 2 sets forth the conceptual content that defines the disciplines. … This practice, along with the curricular content … informs students’ investigations and contributes to an inquiry process for social studies.” Using the social studies concepts and any teaching and learning tools you deem appropriate for instruction, provide students the knowledge they need for learning social studies to begin with. It is important that we, as teachers, lay down or help to lay down this foundational content so that students will have information to ask questions about, inquire about, possibly answer their questions, and continue their learning process. Like anything, without a solid foundation, student learning of social studies will crumble. Need some specific concepts and tools to use? Check out the C3 Framework document on the NCSS website or here. The link is free and provides everything you need to point you, and your students, into the appropriate content direction.
Dimension #3: Evaluating sources and using evidence. The task of evaluating sources and using evidence sounds a bit daunting for younger elementary children, however, I am here to tell you it is a doable task. Think about it- we are constantly asking our students to prove their answers to us. You got answer C instead of D for the multiple choice LA quiz. Prove how you reached answer C. Where can you find your answer? Please show me your work for that math problem. How did you come to that scientific conclusion? What conclusions can you draw? And the list goes on. So even young students can use evidence to prove their learning and thinking. And they should! Especially when you give them a lot of different pieces of evidence to use. As students get a bit older, the conversation can shift from using the evidence you have given them, to the students finding evidence of their own to use. Then comes the fun part- evaluating that evidence or source that is being used.
In an age where information is available at our fingertips- literally- it’s everywhere- making the process of evaluating evidence for soundness and accuracy, a daunting task. And students should be using various technologies and print resources to both find information, test its reliability, and to use the resources and information to make compelling arguments towards their claims.
But sifting through the myriad of information is a difficult process when you aren’t sure how to evaluate a source to begin with. This is where Dimension #3 comes in. And for more information on evaluating resources and information, I highly recommend Googling Henry Jenkins at New Media Literacies.org. Jenkins talks about teaching students to discern the plethora of information gathered through technological sources despite the fact that they have a computer or cell phone in front of them. It’s good stuff- I highly encourage it.
And finally, Dimension #4: Communicating conclusions and taking informed action. There is a lot of research in the field of social studies that students learn by doing. I think this idea holds true for all learning- most students are more engaged and are able to receive and process the learning at a higher level, when they are doing the thing they are learning about. Teaching concepts in the abstract aren’t always the answer- unless you are talking about Calculus…. As far as I’m concerned, Calculus is always in the abstract.
Further, the process of doing something with the learning helps students make the learning more real to them- especially if they are learning about some individual from 50 years ago or a place that doesn’t exist on a map any more. Somehow the bridge between the topic of learning and students’ lives today, must be met. And this is really difficult in social studies, I know. But somehow we must unlock the learned concept into today’s vernacular. It’s the only way.
Here are a few quick tips on how to make this happen. Much of social studies can be broken down into people, places, and ideas. That’s a huge simplification of a really large content area- I know. But stick with me here as it will make sense when you hear these tips. And again, the tips are not particular to social studies-
Does the individual have any character traits that can be attributed to students today?
What connections can students make between the place you are studying from the past and what is happening there right now?
Is the way an idea or topic is discussed now different than it was discussed in the past?
Here are a few quick examples:
MLK, Jr. was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement. One leadership quality he possessed was resilience. How can your students learn about, discuss, and demonstrate the leadership quality of resilience today?
The Alamo, located in San Antonio, Texas has a 300 year old history and arguably is the site of one important military battle in our American history. But the building today is quite small by comparison to its historical significance. Is there a more positive relationship between size of a place and significance of the event that happened there? A negative relationship? No relationship?
This podcast comes roughly a month after Christopher Columbus/ Indigenious People Day. Whether your class or state celebrated this holiday or not, it’s a good example of putting the idea of exploration to the test. Asking your students about exploration in the time of Columbus compared and contrasted to what it means today (i.e., space exploration) would spark an interesting discussion with your students. It may also warrant some ethical concerns and motives about explorers in general.
So there you have it. 4 Dimensions from the NCSS C3 Framework that lays a foundation for deeper, more connected learning experiences and some examples for classroom implementation too! I hope you are able to take the Dimensions and tips from this podcast and use them as soon as possible.
Here are the 4 C3 Framework Dimensions again:
Dimension #1: Developing questions and planning inquiries.
Dimension #2: Applying disciplinary concepts and tools.
Dimension #3: Evaluating sources and using evidence.
Dimension #4: Communicating conclusions and taking informed action.
Whether you consider yourself a creative teacher or not, or just need a spark to re-energize your classroom atmosphere tomorrow, I hope our discussion today of the 4 NCSS C3 Framework Dimensions for teaching and learning social studies will help you confidently engage your students and create an atmosphere for high-quality content, instruction, and amazing learning potential to begin.
OUTRO:
I hope you have enjoyed this podcast and want to listen to more. Please subscribe to Get Off the Dotted Line! I can’t wait to share another podcast with you.
Thank you again for joining me, Dr. Paige Hendricks in today's episode of Get Off the Dotted Line! See you next time!
