This document discusses developing social studies inquiry skills through concept attainment strategies. It provides examples of concepts taught in social studies like historical eras and core democratic values. Concept attainment engages students in developing concepts through identifying attributes, examples, comparisons, and generalizations. The strategy helps students organize facts and understand relationships between concepts in a way that facilitates deeper learning and ability to apply knowledge in new contexts.

1. Developing Social Studies Inquiry Skills

2. Inquiry involves: Diverse ways in which we study our social world and propose explanations based on evidence for various events. Activities students engage in as they investigate the social world and develop their knowledge of ideas in social studies.

3. Developmental Stages of Inquiry: or What They Should Be Able to Do and When Sumal,C.S. & Haas, M.E. Grades K - 4 Grades 5 - 8 Grades 9-12 Ask a question about phenomena/events in the social world Identify questions that can be investigated Identify questions and concepts that guide investigations Plan/Perform simple investigations. Use evidence to construct a reasonable explanation Plan and conduct investigations. Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions and models using evidence Plan and conduct investigations. Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence. Use simple equipment & tools to gather data Use tools and technology to gather, analyze, and interpret data Use technology, resources,to improve investigations and communications Use data to develop descriptions/explanations Use a range of inquiry skills to develop generalizations and models using data Formulate and revise explanations and models using logic and evidence Communicate descriptions of investigations/explanations Communicate procedures for investigations Communicate and Defend findings - position.

4. Inquiry Skills Help Us…. Develop an “explanation” for what we observe or investigate. The “explanation” that students develop is the “idea” or “knowledge” that is to be learned in the lesson. Different explanations can be formed depending on a student’s age level or type of experiences that they have had, as well as the level of inquiry that they have achieved at that time.

5. The challenge for the teacher is to make common experiences meaningful to students through the use of inquiry skills. Inquiry skill development requires instruction that allow students to interact with each other. As a teacher - you also should Model these skills in the classroom.

6. Using Inquiry Skills Knowledge develops through our experiences with the world and people. Students use prior knowledge and information from their experiences to construct new social studies knowledge. Transferring an inquiry skill from one context to another is important, yet difficult for students.

7. Kids Have a Tough Time Transfering…. And in my experience -- so do College Students! Example: In a unit on landforms, students should identify and classify landforms to learn to distinguish hills from mountains (bear with me I was an elementary teacher.. So that is where my examples draw from!) A few weeks later, the class begins working with a unit on economies in the community. The classification skill that was developed earlier on landforms does not automatically transfer when they try to classify types of community businesses - such as manufacturing and service companies.

8. With Practice They finally get it! Hopefully!

9. Social Studies Inquiry Skills Skills include: Basic and higher order integrative thought processes. These are important in S.S. Because they are necessary for exploration and investigation of the social world. Most children, and many adults are not very good at them (Glatthorn & Baron, 1991; Turner, 1994)

10. Social Studies Inquiry Skills Basic Skills Observing Inferring Classifying Predicting Communicating Measuring/Estimate What content area do YOU typically relate these skills to?

11. Did You Answer.. Science? The skills of Inference, Classification, Prediction, Estimation and Measurement, Observation, are typically related to Science, however they are also wonderful tools to use as you plan and teach Social Studies….. Let’s see how…..

12. Classifying Identify and name observable characteristics of objects or events that could be used to group them. Order a group of objects or events based on a single characteristic. Construct a one, two, or multistage classification of a set of object or events and name the observable characteristics on which the classification is based. Construct 2 or more different classification schemes for the same set of objects or events with each scheme serving a different purpose. Construct an operational definition of a single object or event based on a classification scheme

13. Predicting Construct a forecast of future events based on observed events Order a set of forecasts or predictions in terms of your confidence in them Identify predictions as Interpolations between observed events Extrapolations beyond the range of observed events

14. Measuring and Estimating Demonstrate the use of simple tools to describe length, distance, and time Describe objects and events using measurements consistently during investigations Construct estimates of simple measurements of quantities such as length and area Apply rules for calculating derived quantities from two or more measurements Distinguish between accuracy and precision

15. Observing in Social Studies Identify and name characteristics of an object or event by using at least four senses. (The sense of taste should be used carefully) Be aware of the need to make numerous observations of objects and events. Pose questions focusing on observations of objects, people, and events Construct descriptive and quantitative statements of observations Construct statements of observations describing observable changes in characteristics of an object or during an event. Distinguish among statements based on observations and those based on inference

16. Prerequisites The basic Social Studies Inquiry Skills are prerequisites for more complex inquiry skills. Each inquiry skill is built on a number of sub-skills Revisit the Chart and look at how the skills build on one another -- that chart is a very limited explanation of these skills!

17. Try this Try the observation activity -- read the directions on the following slide, then jot down your answers to the questions. Get someone else in your house to do this with your -- a friend, your kids… You can even try this in a classroom with students! Its fun….. Don’t click ahead until you’ve looked carefully and answered the questions… :)

18. Observe Make some observations about the following picture….. What are these people doing? Why do you think that -- supportive details? Where do you think this picture is taken? Why do you think that? Would you like to be standing amongst them? If so, where would you like to be standing, in the middle of things, on the edge, or a bird in the sky? If not.. Why?

20. Answer these questions about your observation What can you remember seeing, experience, or reading that supports your idea of what these people are doing? What “Prior Knowledge” or experiences do you have that helps you form your ideas about the picture? How are they the same or different from your partner?

21. Now - Look at it Again What details do you notice on a second look that you didn’t notice the first time Do these details support your first impression of where the picture is taken? If not, where do you now think it was taken? Do the details that you noticed on a 2nd look support your 1st impression of what these people are doing?

23. About the Photo The picture was taken in Belize, with the following caption. “ With reverence, joy, and a sense of duty, women from one extended family wade out to meet returning fishing boats as part of a ritual called “ dügü - the most sacred ceremony of the Garifuna religion.” From - “The Garifuna: Weaving a Future From a Tangled Past,” Sept., 2001 National Geographic Mag. Photo by: Susie Post Rust You can find it at: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/data/2001/09/01/html/ft_20010901.6.html

24. Now…. Try It Again

25. Are YOU READY? Do you have a friend, kids, or someone there to participate with you? Remember the questions? If not - go back and jot them down.

27. Did you guess a Fish Market? This is the Tokyo Fish Market! The caption states: Tsukiji is a fish market in the sense that the Grand Canyon is a ditch or Caruso was a crooner. Among the wholesale fish markets of the world, Tsukiji ranks at the top in every measurable category. It handles more than 400 different types of seafood, from penny-per-piece sardines to golden brown dried sea slug caviar, a bargain at (U.S.) $473 a pound. It imports from 60 countries You can find it at the following URL http://www3.nationalgeographic.com/places/gallery/tokyo_fishmarket-rows.html

28. Think About It How might you integrate these Inquiry Skills into a lesson? What strategies might be the best to use? What might be some Problems that you might be faced with - teaching these skills? Instructional Behavioral Organizational

29. Now On To Chapter 6 Ideas

31. FACTS – CONCEPTS – GENERALIZATIONS ARE ALL INTERTWINED

32. Facts Are specific examples of people, places, situations or things that is true or observed. They are necessary for building conceptual knowledge and generalizations. They are the building blocks of concept development They are locked in time, place, or situation They support a concept or generalization They are learned through lecture, drill or memorization but often have little application unless connected to concepts or generalizations

33. Concepts Are categories of information or experiences that are organized by common characteristics – attributes. They are broad, “Big Ideas” that need to be developed and understood through discussion, inquiry, and identification of their attributes They require a deeper level of understanding than facts Allow us to categorize concrete or factual examples

34. Examples of Concepts in Social Studies History and Civic Americans Core Democratic Values Historical Eras Diversity in American Life Economic Scarcity Opportunity Costs Taxation Inflation Geography Cultures World Regions Urbanization Environmental Consequences Migration Equator Shelter Family

35. Understanding concepts is ultimately what enables students to transfer understandings learned in one time/place setting to a new time and place – even a setting with which they have no previous acquaintance. When we teach concepts we allow our students to transcend the settings that we have taught. John Hergesheimer

36. Ways to Teach Concepts Graphic Organizers Concept Mapping Concept Attainment Strategies – We will take a look at this concept in a minute. Analyzing Vocabulary References Maxim, George W. (2008). Social studies and the elementary school child. Columbus, Ohio: Prentice Hall, Inc. Welton, David A. & Mallan, John T. (2007). Children and their world: Strategies for teaching social studies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Zarrillo, James. (2008). Teaching elementary social studies:? Principles and applications. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:? Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall.

37. Generalizations Generalizations are descriptive statements of relationships between two or more concepts. Shows relationship between two or more concepts Can be broadly applied Helps to organize facts to create meaning. They are generally timeless, abstract, universal and can be supported by different examples Must be tested against, and supported by, the facts.

38. Examples of Generalizations Families are a primary means of socialization in all cultures. Written laws clarify the rights of citizens and protect the common good. Great and small historical events rarely have a single cause. Geographic factors determine the types of plants and animals that live in region and influence population distribution

39. Examples Fact: The average January temperature in New Orleans is 53.6 F ; in Milwaukee it is 20.7 F . Generalization: Climate varies from place to place. Fact: The capital of Indiana is Indianapolis. Generalization: In the midwest, capital cities are often located in or near, the center of the state.

40. Concept Attainment Strategy Was developed by Jerome Bruner in the 1960s It included in theories on how knowledge is structured by Hilda Taba Is designed to clarify ideas and to introduce aspects of content Concept Attainment engages students in formulating and developing concepts through: attributes exemplars comparisons generalizations.

41. Brain Research The brain is a pattern seeker The brain must process information in order to remember it. Concept Attainment: Invites the brain to find or uncover patterns Enables students to remember information longer Enables students to know information more deeply Students think at complex levels and discuss their thinking with one another. (facilitates opportunities to process and talk)

43. Yes No

44. Building An Idea… or Scaffolding Understanding…

45. To build a concept begin with: Attributes (positive and negative) Examples and non-examples Relationship to other concepts Generalizations

46. Building An Idea… Scaffolding Understanding…

47. To build a concept begin with: Attributes (positive and negative) Examples and non-examples Relationship to other concepts Generalizations

48. Are the attributes the same? List the attributes of a truck. A truck has, or does what? (positive and negative)

49. Examples Non-examples

50. To build a concept begin with: Attributes (positive and negative) Examples and non-examples Relationship to other concepts Generalizations

51. Truck Shared Attributes Cars

52. To build a concept begin with: Attributes (positive and negative) Examples and non-examples Relationship to other concepts Generalizations

53. Generalizations about cars: (Write a generalization based on what you have learned. Concept Attainment Democracy Lesson A great student developed Power-point that shows how it can be utilized in a lesson. It is worth checking out.