Tag Archives: differentiated instruction

Common Core Social Studies

Common Core Standards Help Teachers Enrich Their Lessons

COMMON CORE SOCIAL STUDIES

The Common Core Standard CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RH.6-8.2 encourages the social studies teacher to go beyond the curriculum or content in a lesson with the inclusion of primary or secondary sources that may add knowledge or conflict with the knowledge they’ve acquired during a mini-lesson or from reading their textbook.

To use the CCSS.ELA-Literacy.R.H.6-8.2 Common Core Social Studies Standard in class, the students must read, analyze and summarize the primary or secondary source explaining how the source is different from what they knew or how it differs with their own opinion. This Common Core Standard brings in high level critical thinking. It helps them connect the content they are learning with their background knowledge. This Common Core Standard also helps them connect the content with themselves. Connecting content to self and background knowledge has long been known to help students retain information.

When I taught in GA, the students learned about Andersonville prison. It was a POW camp during the Civil War with extremely poor conditions and a high death rate. Until I brought in a primary source from a POW camp in Elmira, NY, the students thought that the Confederacy was the only side that had POW camps in the Civil War. Both camps had horrid conditions. When I teach this lesson again, I will provide the same questions that helped students analyze the document. I will add onto what I did before by including a section for students to summarize the document and then another section where they can write about how it conflicted with what they knew or with what their opinion had been before they read the primary source.

In WWI, most teachers will only teach about how the home front helped the war effort through the use of Liberty Bonds and Liberty Gardens, etc. What if a teacher then brought in a primary source about protests against WWI? I for one am excited to see what their responses to that will be.

The next question teachers may ask is how would they differentiate instruction for this type of work session that uses the Common Core Social Studies Standards? My two favorite ways to differentiate instruction are to use the Multiple Intelligence Theory to peak student interest and leveling so that they can learn the same content on their own ability level. To bring in both of these forms of differentiated instruction I would use a ‘Museum Walk’ with two ability levels using two different sides of the room. The average/enriched side would include the primary or secondary sources as is with the questions at the bottom of each source. The lower ability level side of the room would have the primary or secondary sources simplified and have alternate words in parenthesis for vocabulary that is higher than they can handle or for sections that are written so archaically that they would not be able to interpret the meaning. I would also split up the sources into different sections with a question following each section where the answer can be found to help them focus and not be overwhelmed.

During ‘Museum Walks’ students use the kinesthetic intelligence because students move around the room. I would allow students to work in similar ability pairs to bring in the interpersonal intelligence.  I would also offer students the choice of working by themselves in packet form to bring in the intrapersonal intelligence. I would include political cartoons, paintings, photographs or propaganda posters to include the spatial intelligence. Students will be reading the primary or secondary sources from the wall where they hang, discussing the answers with their partner and writing about them so that also brings in the linguistic intelligence. Another option is to have the teacher lead a group of lower level readers and learners with the lower ability level packet form of the activity in a small group to help them read, analyze and summarize the primary sources. The last option will be harder to do without a co-teacher because teachers will still have to pay attention to the partners moving around the room and announce when they need to move to the next source.

Go beyond your content and provide a primary or secondary source that will have your students conflicted and critically thinking about their own knowledge and how they feel about the situation in history in order to enrich your lessons. The Common Core Social Studies Standards encourage you to do this.

To find out more about and how to use the Common Core Social Studies Standards, click on the link here.

 

 

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction gets my Students Excited

Differentiated Instruction

Every teacher desires and struggles with getting their students excited about their subject. We want our students to be as passionate about it as we are. The percentage of pure passion for a subject is limited to a few in each class. So how can we get the rest of the students to enjoy and look forward to coming to our class? I suggest trying to use multiple intelligence learning styles, differentiated instruction as well as increasing student choice.

Multiple intelligence learning styles are a great way to start to increase interest in a subject and use differentiated instruction. The multiple intelligence theory was developed by Dr. Howard Gardner. There are seven original multiple intelligences and thus the same number of learning styles but there are considered to be more now. Some even think there are hundreds of them.

I like to stick to the original basic seven as to not be overwhelmed during the differentiated instruction planning process. In my experience they will work for most students in the class. In the rare occasion they don’t, teachers can include one of the new multiple intelligence learning styles to reach the student.

The seven original multiple intelligence learning styles are intrapersonal, interpersonal, linguistic, spatial, musical, logical-mathematical, and kinesthetic. You can use multiple intelligence learning styles in all aspects of the lesson to include different ways of presenting each piece of content in a mini-lesson or offering choices for activities during a work session dealing with different multiple intelligence learning styles, which brings us to the next suggestion to get students excited in a class, differentiated instruction.

Differentiated Instruction has been a hot topic for a while now, however many teachers still don’t quite know how to do it, don’t have time to do it, or they just think it’s a phase. It can be a great tool to use to interest and excite your students and, in my opinion, shouldn’t be overlooked as an option for every day lessons.

Differentiated instruction can be done through the use of the multiple intelligence learning styles as well as leveling, scaffolding or tiering.

Teachers can use multiple intelligence learning styles to differentiate instruction in not only the mini-lesson but also the work session activities and pretty much any other part of the lesson. Offer students up to four choices of activities for a work session, all using the same content, but using different multiple intelligence learning styles. The students will choose the one that they think will be the most interesting to do. I’ve noticed that if you allow them to choose the activities the day before, their interests peak. They feel like they have ownership in their education and look forward to coming to the class the next day. I have also noticed a decrease in complaining about work sessions because they can’t blame you as the teacher. After all, they chose it.

I’m sure you are wondering how I actually have time to create four options of activities for students to choose from. I created a system of activity templates that saves me a ton of time. I offer about 55 of them at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico. They even include rubrics. I can tweak them easily to fit almost anything I need my students to work on.

Another way to differentiate instruction to increase excitement is through the use of leveling. Leveling is also known as tiering and scaffolding. This can be done by using the same content once again but at different levels. This is not less and or more work depending on “how smart” your students are. It has to do with taking students from one level to the next through the use of small steps. Differentiating instruction through the use of leveling is easily done with expository writing. Teachers can take a student from a topic sentence and the listing of three facts to a topic sentence with one fact sentence and then listing two facts and so on. Students need to see that there is hope at the end of the tunnel and if they have a learning disability or are ELL, many times writing can be an overwhelming task for them. Using small differentiated instruction leveled steps helps them feel success and improves their attitude in the subject.

Whether a teacher uses leveling or multiple intelligence learning styles to differentiate instruction, they stand a chance of really interesting their students in their subject area or content. To read more about differentiated instruction, click here.

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

htttp://www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico/Products

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction Systems

Use Differentiated Instruction Systems to Save Time During Planning

The administrations that I worked under were always pushing differentiated instruction. I think I attended more differentiated instruction training seminars than years I taught. The biggest problem I found when I taught middle school social studies was finding time to plan for differentiated instruction. I had to learn the content before I could create a lesson plan and then I had to differentiate it and with only one planning period which was many times a week taken away for meetings. I was staying at work until nine at night and getting there at six in the morning to try to get everything done. Needless to say, I was exhausted and I was burned out before five years. I took a year off after moving, my husband is in the Army, and then started again. I ended up running around in circles once more.

I realized that there were two ways this could go for me. I could switch careers and work normal hours and actually have weekends off, or I could figure out a way to plan for differentiated instruction in a much faster way. I decided on the latter because I love to teach. I began to systems that helps me plan for differentiated instruction.

The first system I created was a leveled expository writing system. It has nine levels that can help bring a student who needs to focus on just writing a topic sentence and then listing the facts that support it underneath to a DBQ essay within a year’s time. Each template included the directions. They also included the grading checklist so that the student could see how they were going to be graded. All I had to do was write in the question I wanted my students to explore and the assignment was created. By using my leveled writing system, I increased the amount of writing that was done in my classroom and my students became much better writers. There wasn’t one student that didn’t show some sort of improvement in writing that year. When I became the SST chair for my grade level, I realized that this could also be used for the RTI process because it shows small achievable goals each student has made in their writing.

The second system that I created was for activities based on the Multiple Intelligence Theory. At the top of each activity were the Multiple Intelligences used in the activity. Under those, student roles were included to help keep the students focused and on task. This also provided consistency in the way activities were run. All I had to do with the activity templates was write in the content I wanted my students to use for that assignment. I could provide four choices of activities for my students that could be ready in less than five minutes! Each one of the templates also included a rubric specific for that assignment but with an equal grading system as all of the other activity templates.

I was pretty proud of what I had created and since they took less than five minutes to include in a lesson plan, I saved a lot of time during planning. My brain wouldn’t shut off though. What about the other sections of a lesson plan? Was there a better way to do those too? Could I create a system for that as well?

After much deliberation I realized that there was a way to differentiated instruction for vocabulary that could be done with templates too. I created a template with three sections; one for the vocabulary word on the left, in the middle was the area for the definition, and on the right side students could choose from drawing a picture to represent the vocabulary word or write a sentence to show understanding. This choice brought in the Multiple Intelligence Theory and student choice.  From there I decided to level it. The enriched level allowed students to write the definition in their own words to provide a bit of critical thinking. The average level allowed students to fill in the blanks of the definition. The basic level provided the full definition. I chose this option for the lower level because I realized that many of them were having trouble just decoding the definitions even in simplified form. This allowed them the time to read and comprehend it and then use it in their choice box on the right.

Unfortunately, there really isn’t a way to systemize the creation of PowerPoints, note sheets and primary sources quickly. However, I have created many for American History for you to download. Most of my PowerPoints have two levels of them; enriched and basic. For each PowerPoint, there are two levels of notes; enriched and basic. The enriched notes allow for more critical thinking and the basic notes allow students to fill in the blanks as they go through the PowerPoint in class. There are many differentiated instruction primary sources available in my social studies differentiated instruction lesson plans as well to help you bring in the common core standards too. You can access my plans at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico.

To learn more about differentiated instruction, click here.

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction

www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

How to bring in the Common Core to Social Studies Classrooms

Don’t freak out, the common core are here to stay. If you have ever used a primary source document in your classroom, you were doing what is now written in the common core. New York State teachers have been using primary source documents in as early as fifth grade for many years now because on the fifth grade state social studies exam, it was expected that students be able to interpret primary source documents and write an essay including the information in them. This is all common core; reading for information, interpretation, and expository writing.

If you teach your students how to read the expository writing in their textbook then you are following the common core. You can use different techniques to do this such as annotating using post-it notes or having them write it in their own words on a separate sheet of paper. What is important to extend to your students is that reading for information is different than reading for enjoyment. When reading for information, it is important for them to stop and think about what they read after each paragraph before they go onto the next. If they don’t remember what they have read, they need to reread the paragraph until they do. Expecting them to write the information in each paragraph or at least each section in their own words will help reiterate this technique.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico includes the common core by implementing primary sources into their lesson plans. Beyond that, they are leveled for differentiated instruction. I highly recommend my store for anyone who teaches middle school American History.

Written by,
Kasha Mastrodomenico

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction

www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

Government Response to Industrialization and Abuses Differentiated Instruction Lesson Plan

Government Response to Industrialization and Abuses Differentiated Instruction Lesson Plan

I am proud to announce the addition of the “Government Response to Industrialization and Abuses” differentiated instruction lesson plan and revised PowerPoint! It follows the NYS 8th grade social studies curriculum. Below is a sneak peek of what is included.

Government Response to Industrialization and Abuses Differentiated Instruction Lesson

 

Table of Contents

  • Lesson Plan  (3-8)
  • 3 Ability Levels of Vocabulary Sheets (9-14)
  • Enriched Note Sheets (15-16)
  • Basic Note Sheets for Enriched PowerPoint  (17-19)
  • Basic Note Sheets for Basic PowerPoint  (20-22)
  • Enriched Economic Activity Sheet  (23)
  • Basic Economic Activity Sheet  (24)
  • Basic Economic Activity Answer Key  (25)
  • Activity Choice Sheet (26)
  • Rap and Dance Activity with Rubric (27-28)
  • News Article Activity with Rubric (29-31)

Grade: middle school

Title of Unit: Industrial Society in the 2nd Half of the 19thCentury

Title of Lesson: Government Response to Industrial Development and Abuses

1. Standards addressed in lesson: You will need to put your state standards here. (NY 4 and 5)

2. Concepts used in lesson: Economic Systems, Factors of Production, Government

3. Materials/supplies needed for lesson: computer, projector, and screen for PowerPoint, vocabulary sheets, note sheets, economic activity sheets, activity choice sheet, rap and dance and news article activity sheets, colors for newspaper drawing

4. Approximate length of lesson: 2 days

5. Multiple Intelligences: linguistic, logical, musical, spatial, kinesthetic, intrapersonal, interpersonal

6. Teaching Strategies Used: anticipatory set, group work, vocabulary taught before lesson, check for understanding, timer, processing time, partner review, concluding set

7. Background Information:

a. yesterday students…

b. Students already know… there are businesses in the US.

8. Essential vocabulary needed: (definitions are included)

(Day 1)

  • Capitalism:
  • Social Darwinism:
  • Laissez-faire:
  • Market Economy:
  • Regulation:
  • Command or Planned Economy:

(Day 2)

  • Mixed Economy:
  • Interstate Commerce:
  • Pooling:
  • Rebates:
  • Kickbacks:
  • Corporation:
  • Trust
  • Monopoly:

9. Essential Questions:

  • What is the difference between laissez-faire and regulation?
  • What type of government regulations were put into effect?
  • What was the purpose of the Sherman Antitrust Act?

10. Anticipatory Set: (Day 1: 12 minutes; Day 2: 16 minutes or less depending on if there was time left over the previous day to do this; if all vocabulary was done the day before just have the students review the vocabulary words for 5 minutes) There are three different ability levels of vocabulary sheets to differentiate instruction. The enriched version allows for more critical thinking by making the students write the definition in their own words. The average version has students filling in the blanks of the definitions. The basic version has the complete definition to allow them to read the definition and then work on step two, which is on all of the versions; write a sentence or draw a picture to show understanding of the vocabulary word. Day One’s activity is short which will allow you to have your students work on the vocabulary that will be used on day 2.

Enriched Version

Enriched Version

Average Version

Average Version

Basic Version

Basic Version

11. Notes: (25 minutes) In order to differentiate instruction there are different ability levels of note sheets. There is an enriched version of the note sheets that work with both of the PowerPoints. There are two basic versions of the note sheets that work with the basic PowerPoint and the enriched PowerPoint. Below are the notes that are in the “Government Response to Industrial Development and Abuses” PowerPoint.  (This preview only includes the headings of the PowerPoint and a view of four of the slides from the enriched version of the PowerPoint as well as pictures of the note sheets.) The different ability leveled note sheets allow some to do more critical thinking and others to focus on the content and then review with a partner after each slide is presented.This provides repetition for students who need it. The notes are separated into two days.

 

Government Response to Industrial Development and Abuses 

Day 1

  • Capitalism
  • Opposition to Capitalism (enriched only)
  • Laissez-faire vs. Regulation

Day 2

  • Interstate Commerce
  • Sherman Antitrust Act: Bigness as a Threat

·pp cover

Capitalism Differentiated Instruction PowerPoint

Laissez-faire vs. Regulation Differentiated Instruction PowerPoint

Interstate Commerce Differentiated Instruction PowerPoint

Basic Note Sheets

Basic Note Sheets

Enriched Note Sheets

Enriched Note Sheets

12. Differentiated Instruction Activities:

Day 1: (15-20 minutes)The economic systems activity should be done after the laissez-faire vs. regulation slide of the PowerPoint.There are two different ability levels of the economic activity sheet to differentiate instruction. The enriched sheet allows for more critical thinking. The basic sheet is more for repetition and identification of the different types of economies.You can allow your students to work individually, with a partner or with a small group. You will need to make sure that if they are partnered or grouped, each member in the group has the same ability level sheet.

Left: Enriched/ Right: Basic

Left: Enriched/ Right: Basic

Day 2: (35-40 minutes)Use the activity choice sheet the day before you plan on doing the activity. Students will be allowed to choose to create either a rap and dance or a newspaper article. These options are based on the Multiple Intelligence Theory to differentiate instruction. The rap and dance must be done in a group. The newspaper article may be done individually, with a partner or in a group with no more than 4 people. Using the activity choice sheet the day before will allow you to run off enough copies of each activity and group appropriately. It is recommended you group using mixed ability levels.

It is important that you check the rap before the performance to make sure there is nothing vulgar in it. Sometimes students hear the word “rap” and immediately think they are on MTV and don’t think they will get in trouble for vulgarity even though it states in the activity that it will not be accepted.

Student Activity Choice Sheet

Student Activity Choice Sheet

Rap and Dance Activity with Rubric

Rap and Dance Activity with Rubric

News Article Activity with Rubric

News Article Activity with Rubric

13. Concluding Set: Answer the essential questions during a class discussion or have students write down their answers as a ticket out the door.

14. Evaluation: There is an answer key for the economic activity for the basic version. No answer sheet is available for the enriched version because answers will vary. There are rubrics for both the newspaper article and the rap and dance activities.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico offers this differentiated instruction lesson plan (soon) and much more. Our site specializes in middle school social studies differentiated instruction. Check out what we offer by visiting our site!

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction

www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

Great Blog Gives Technology Ideas for Teachers!

I usually stick to writing about our new social studies differentiated instruction lesson plans but I ran across this blog that I was impressed with and I thought I would share it with you. It is called “The Educator Beat”. The articles are interesting and fun to read. I really like the ‘my top five’ list of technology for the classroom because there is so much technology out there, sometimes it’s hard to choose the best product. Randee has used the technology in the classroom that is suggested on the site which means more to me than the ad I read for it. The blog also has a good list of websites that are great for the classroom and some of them do focus on differentiated instruction which is what this blog focuses on too.

One of the articles on “The Educator Beat” suggests joining a support group if you are a special education teacher. I, having been a special education teacher for a short time, think this is a great idea. The laws are always changing and every special education teacher needs to be aware of them and share the laws with their co-teachers. Teaching special education can also be overwhelming at times and outlets are needed. I encourage you to join this group if you are a special education teacher. Click here to go to that article.

To visit “The Educator Beat”, click on the link below!

http://www.theeducatorbeat.blogspot.de/

 

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico

The Presidency of Lincoln Differentiated Instruction Lesson Plan

“The Presidency of Lincoln” differentiated instruction lesson plan!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico continues to create quality social studies differentiated instruction lesson plans as the year goes on. My newest one is “The Presidency of Lincoln“. It is based on the 7th grade NYS social studies curriculum and standards. Below shows what is included in it.

The Presidency of Lincoln Differentiated Instruction Lesson Plan

The Presidency of Lincoln Differentiated Instruction Lesson Plan

 

This social studies differentiated instruction lesson plan includes:

  • Lesson Plan
  • There are three different ability levels of vocabulary sheets. The enriched version allows for more critical thinking by making the students write the definition in their own words. The average version has students filling in the blanks of the definitions. The basic version has the complete definition to allow them to read the definition and then work on step two, which is on all of the versions; write a sentence or draw a picture to show understanding of the vocabulary word.

vocab

  • There are two ability levels of the same PowerPoint. There is an enriched note sheet that goes with both the enriched version and the basic version of the PowerPoint. There are two basic level note sheets; one for the basic version and one for the enriched version of the PowerPoint. The different ability leveled note sheets allow some to do more critical thinking and others to focus on the content and then review with a partner after each slide is presented.This provides repetition for students who need it. You can use parallel teaching if a co-teacher is available and split the class or you will need to decide which PowerPoint will benefit the majority of your students for each class.
Basic Ability Level Note Sheets

Basic Ability Level Note Sheets

  • There are two primary source or document based question (DBQ) activities. The first is on the Gettysburg Address. The second is on the Emancipation Proclamation. There are two levels of each primary source; basic and enriched. The basic version simplifies the documents and breaks it up into manageable sections. The enriched version allows for more critical thinking. You can have students work in similar ability pairs, groups or individually. You can do this activity either during the PowerPoint when you get to the documents used or you can wait until the mini-lesson is over and do it as a full activity session.
Differentiated Instruction on the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation

Differentiated Instruction on the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation

The Presidency of Lincoln differentiated instruction lesson plan also comes with a Leveled PowerPoint mini-lesson (Basic and Enriched versions). It includes the following content:

  • Vocabulary
  • Essential questions
  • Personal Leadership
  • Gettysburg Address
  • Opposition
  • Emancipation Proclamation
  • Assassination
Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

Personal Leadership Slide in the Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

Personal Leadership Slide in the Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

 

Gettysburg Address in the Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

Gettysburg Address in the Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

Assassination Slide in the Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

Assassination Slide in the Presidency of Lincoln PowerPoint

To find out where you can find the “Presidency of Lincoln” differentiated instruction lesson plan and PowerPoint, click here.

Written by,

Kasha Mastrodomenico

www.socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

kasha@socialstudiesdifferentiatedinstruction.com

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Kasha-Mastrodomenico