Thoughtful EducationStrategies in the Social Studies Classroom

Jeanne Lovettand Kelly WeaverMarshall County High SchoolBenton, Kentucky

Thoughtful Education, a professional development program based on the research and development of Harvey Silver, Richard Strong and Matthew Perini, calls on teachers to develop lesson plans based on the different learning styles of students, to better understand how students learn and to intentionally plan using strategies and tools that engage students in higher levels of thinking.

-Kentucky Teacher, August 2008

Thoughtful Education focuses on 4 different learning styles:

Mastery (fond of lectures and practice)

Understanding (uses logic and inquiry to learn)

Self-Expressive (creative and artistic learners)

Interpersonal (likes group work and attention)-Kentucky Teacher, August 2008

Thoughtful Education Tool:

Carousel

Thoughtful Education StrategyCarousel Brainstorming

“Immigration”• Stations will be set up around the

room and students will move in groups to each of the stations in order to answer/discuss the questions.

• Students will be divided into small groups and proceed around the room to answer questions. Each group will begin at a different station in order to distribute people evenly around the room. Individuals may move when they have answered the question at that station.

• STATION 1• If you were expecting to come to the United

States from a foreign country, what animal would you expect the U.S. to be like?

• As an American citizen, what animal do YOU think the United States is like?

• STATION 2• Top 5!• What advice that you would give to a

teenager that has just moved to the United States? Name at least 5 things.

• STATION 3• What words and ideas come to mind when

you hear the word “immigrant”?• STATION 4• What do you predict will happen to the

United States in the future in terms of population and race?

• STATION 5• What impact do immigrants have on American

society and culture?• STATION 6• If YOU were a recent immigrant to America what

three things would you be most afraid of?• What three things would you be most excited

about? • STATION 7• If you were President of the United States, what

would your policy on immigration be?• STATION 8• Compare/contrast immigrants to the United

States in the early 1900s to those who are arriving in the United States today

Thoughtful Education Tool

Task Rotation

Task Rotation

The Task Rotation allows teachers to offer students questions, activities, or assessments in the four learning styles.

Mastery

Remember

Interpersonal

Relate

Understanding

Reason

Self-Expressive

Create

World Religions Task Rotation

Task 1 Name the five major

world religions and describe their main beliefs and duties.

Task 2 Write a script between

people from two different religions that highlights their similarities and differences.

Task 3Compare and contrast Hinduism and BuddhismCompare and contrast Christianity, Islam, and Judaism

Task 4Create a kaleidoscope using symbols of all of the major religions.

Age of Exploration Task Rotation

Task 1Create a chart of explorers to the new world. Include the country they sailed from, the areas they explored, the activities that took place there, and their relations with the native population.

Task 2Imagine that you are an Aztec and Cortes has just arrived in Tenochtitlan. Write a paragraph explaining your first impression of the Spanish and explain your feelings about them being there.

Task 3Draw a Venn diagram and compare Cortes to another explorer from this time period.

Task 4Create two posters over Cortes. One will be a “Wanted” poster listing three reasons why Cortes would be wanted by the Aztecs, and the other will be a “National Hero” poster explaining three reasons why Cortes was a hero in Spain.

Thoughtful Education Strategy:

Similarities and Differences:

The Cold War and

The Butter Battle Book by Dr. Seuss

Description Phase:

The Butter Battle Book

The Cold War

Comparison Phase:

Similarities

Butter Battle Book Differences

Cold War Differences

1.Do you suppose nuclear weapons cause war or keep peace? Why?

2.If you could write a book for children that had a deeper meaning to learn about a problem in society what would the book be about?

3.Just like children of the cold war era were drilled in such areas as “Duck and Cover” you are drilled in preparation for fires, tornadoes, and earthquakes. Evaluate the effectives of those drills, how you would improve those drills, and give at least one example of an area that should be practiced but isn’t.

Assessment: In the post 9-11 era, Americans today are

bombarded with terms such as “Terror Alert”, “the war on terror”, “Homeland Security”, “Suicide Bombers”, “Osama bin Laden”, and “Weapons of Mass Destruction” . Just like Americans during the Cold War who were fearful of an attack by the Soviets, Americans today are concerned about future terrorist attacks. Using the internet for research and drawing upon prior knowledge, design a pamphlet to help people prepare for and survive a nuclear disaster or another type of terrorist attack. This pamphlet should be written for your community and should be easy to interpret and informational. Be specific about where people should go, the type of shelter they could buy, and what they should stock their shelter with.

Thoughtful Education Tool

Assessment Menu

Assessment MenuThree Levels of Difficulty

Mastery1. Gather information2. Organize information3. Present information

Interpersonal1. Express feelings2. Understand

feelings3. Act on feelings

Understanding1. Examine data2. Interpret data3. Extrapolate data

Self Expressive1. Generate ideas2. Reorganize ideas3. Create original

work

Resource for Thoughtful Ed Templates and Activities

• http://www.marshall.k12.ky.us/Thoughtful%20Ed/ThoughtfulEdtemplates.htm

• http://www.marshall.k12.ky.us/cd/CurriculumDocuments.htm