Social Studies Strategies

A Quick Look at the 8th Grade Data

YOUR Instructional Calendar

How do they learn and remember?

Active Engagement =

thinking/doing + mental engagement

Student Focused

• Inductive Learning• Political Cartoons• Categorization• Generalization• PERSIA

• What we want

• What we don’t want

Inductive Learning

• Inductive reasoning moves from specific observations to broader generalizations and theories. Informally, we sometimes call this a "bottom up" approach.

Group Instructions

• Spread out the cards and group them into logical groups

• Give each of your groups a title – write it on a post-it & put above the grouping

• Write a general statement (not specific) about EACH of your groupings

Group Share

• How might YOU use this strategy in your OWN classroom?

• What is the value of this strategy?

Political Cartoons Challenges we face:

Lack of prior knowledge

Must teach historical/social background

CHALLENGES

CHALLENGES

Why Use Political Cartoons?

• Something different

• Adds humor (Even if they aren't knee slappers, political cartoons can stimulate discussion and provide interesting writing topics. )

• Strengthens analytical and other higher order thinking skills

Are you convinced yet?

• Promote interest in political issues (civics)

• Encourages creativity

• Helps prepare students for questions on the Social Studies Assessments

Political cartoons serve to make people think about political and government

issues by:• providing readers with additional

viewpoints • assuming the reader has enough

background knowledge about the issues to understand the message

• emphasizing one side of an issue or concern

• utilizing humor • relying on drawings to make a point

Cartoonists use the following persuasive techniques to create humor: • symbolism - using an object to stand for an idea• caricature - exaggerating a physical feature or habit: big

nose, bushy eyebrows, large ears, baldness• captioning and labels - used for clarity and emphasis• analogy - a comparison between two unlike things that

share some characteristics• irony - the difference between the way things are and

the way things should be or the way things are expected to be

• juxtaposition - positioning people or objects near each other, side-by-side

• exaggeration - overstating or magnifying a problem

Sample Symbols used in Political Cartoons

• peace - dove, olive branch, victory sign• United States - Uncle Sam, flag, stars and stripes,

shield• Democrats – donkey• Republicans – elephant• death - vulture, skeleton with shroud, skull and

crossbones, grim reaper• love - heart, Cupid, Venus• money - dollar bill or dollar sign• heroes or good guys - wear white• villains or bad guys - wear black

Steps in Analyzing a Political Cartoon

• Identify the characters, symbols and objects in the cartoon

• Look for clues and details that would given further meaning

• Identify the main idea of the cartoon by reading the captions and putting the message into their own words

• Identify any bias the cartoonist might have

                                                                              

 

                                                                    © Copyright 2000 The Washington Post Company

                   

 

    

             

                                                                                                                                

                                                           Cagle Cartoons

Standard

• SS8H11 The student will evaluate the role of Georgia in the modern civil rights movement.

a. Describe major developments in civil rights and Georgia's role during the 1940s and 1950s; include the roles of Herman Talmadge, Benjamin Mays, the 1946 governor's race and the end of the white primary, Brown v. Board of Education, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the 1956 state flag.

Performance Task: Political Cartoon

Categorization

• Political

• Economic

• Social

• Cultural

• Religious

• Geographic

Categorization: An example

Directions:Given the following question, organize the following information into three meaningful categories that you could use to answer the question.

Question:Analyze how arguments over the issue of slavery in the 1850s ultimately led to the Civil War.

Terms:

• Missouri Compromise• Secession• Uncle Tom’s Cabin• Slave rebellions• Compromise of 1850• Election of 1860• Kansas-Nebraska Act• Northern wage slaves

• Radical Abolitionism

Categories:• Extension of Slavery• Morality of Slavery• Political Factors

Generalization: An example

European ExplorationCrusadesTechnological-navigationPrinting PressMarco Polo-ChinaPrince Henry the navigator

Renaissance spirit Weak generalization: These are things that happened in

Europe before 1500. Stronger generalization: Before 1500, changing ideas and

technological advances in Europe led to the Age of European Exploration.