Iowa and the Underground Railroad

My fall 2014 social studies methods students worked collaboratively to create VoiceThreads using images and conversation to highlight Iowa’s role in the anti-slavery movement and Underground Railroad trails.


https://voicethread.com/new/share/6274804/

http://voicethread.com/share/6302465/ 

https://voicethread.com/new/share/6302461/

http://voicethread.com/# thread/6274820/32307240

https://voicethread.com/new/share/6307349/

https://voicethread.com/new/share/6275277/

https://voicethread.com/#thread/6302974/32478328/33908797

https://voicethread.com/new/share/6275264/

Literature Book Clubs

*Social Studies Strategy 31: Literature Book Clubs

Children’s literature helps students explore the similarities and differences with other people and places. Quality literature integrates naturally with the social studies and allows the teacher to meet both language arts and social studies learning objectives. Book clubs are standard in many elementary and middle school literacy and language arts programs. When using literature to help students learn social studies teachers must include an explicit focus on the social studies content to be addressed and have learning objectives that address social studies.

Procedures:

1. Determine what will be best learned through a book club.

2. Choose a variety of quality children’s literature that addresses the social studies learning objectives and that is appropriate to the students’ various reading levels.

3. Explain how book clubs work as well as the broader goals of reading and talking about what is read.

4. Provide any necessary background content and skills needed as well as the concepts or themes to be explored.

5. Introduce and display the writing prompts that students will be addressing in their later conversations.

6. Provide quiet time for reading in class, with the teacher reading also. Assigning reading for homework is appropriate.

7. Display and explain writing prompts.

8. A student serves as the discussion leader and uses the writing prompts as conversation starters, noting that the conversation may go in many directions.

9. Gather the class for a brief period to synthesize the many conversations.

10. Continue until the book is completed.

*50 Social Studies Strategies for K-8 Classrooms (3rd ed.)

Application and Ideas

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11JfjQJ5zYH5ja_Ckn5hOsdBDu0L2lIfyt-OPSBqwNxA/edit?usp=sharing