Classifying: A Core Skill in Learning About Cultures

I've written a handful of blog posts about culture. I've looked to define culture and how to help students think about culture. Still, I notice that all of this work is grounded in gathering information about culture from a variety of primary and secondary sources. This post is going to focus on the core thinking skill that teachers must elevate when students engage with sources about culture. That skill is CLASSIFYING,... or associating something with a particular group.

First, let's think of some situations where students apply the skill of CLASSIFYING.

1. In math, students might be given a set of geometric shapes. Using traits of the shapes, students will organize the geometric shapes into different groups.
2. In science, students might be given a set of rocks. Using traits of the rocks, students organize the rocks into different groups (such as as sedimentary, metamorphic,  and igneous).
3. In reading, students might describe characters within a story. Using the traits, students might organize the characters into those with positive social traits and those who have negative social traits.

What sources will students use to learn about culture?
The sources that students engage with will be traditional (secondary sources written as sentences) or nontraditional (artifacts, primary sources, images, media, infographics, ...). With traditional sources, students are transferring and reapplying reading skills to make sense of the content. With nontraditional sources, students are applying analytical processes the "look and think." (For more information on this idea, view my blog post on traditional literacy and visual literacy.) When students engage with sources about a culture, the first thing we must understand is that there is no source that will tell you everything about a culture. Every source only reveals a limited amount of information. Sometimes a source reveals a significant amount of information about culture, and sometimes a source reveals much less...but no source will tell you everything about a culture. 

How do I support students in classifying the information within sources?
As students engage with sources, we have to give students a purpose. There are teachers who might call this looking at the details within a source through a lens, and it may sound like this: "When you read this source, look for details that help you to understand _____________." This is where precision with instruction is critical. Social scientists identify elements of culture. Culture is the BIG IDEA, and the elements of culture are the DETAILS. Elements of culture, the categories that students will pay attention to when classifying the information they learn, might include:

1. Belief Systems - Details that help a student understand the belief systems of a culture include information about religion, government, social/gender roles, class systems, and holidays/celebrations.
2. Daily Life - Details that help a student understand the daily life of a culture include information about food, clothing, houses/shelter, language, and activities for recreation or sport.
3. Economic Activities - Details that help a student understand the economic activities of a culture include products/goods, services, trading partners, occupations, and forms of transportation.
4. Forms of Artistic Expression - Details that help a student understand unique forms of artistic expression include information about theater, dance, music, literature, stories, or legends.
5. Technology - Details that help a student understand aspects of technology within this culture's particular time or place include information about anything that has been created to make their life easier. 

What are concrete examples of students using sources to classify the information?
First, consider how you want students to organize their information.
Option: They might have a tree map where each branch is related to an element of culture.
Option: Students might have five pieces of paper where they capture information about each element of culture.
Option: Students might be working on a collaborative Google presentation where the presentation has five unique sections based on elements of culture.
The method students use to capture this classified information is entirely up to you, but the goal will still be the same...engage with sources and classify information found within the sources within their appropriate element of culture.

1. If students are exploring the Aztec culture, they might use this lesson called Aztecs Find a Home. This lesson allows students to understand why Aztecs (and modern day Mexico) have the symbols of an eagle, a cactus, and a snake. These symbols are connected to stories and legends. Learning about these symbols helps students to understand how the Aztecs express themselves artistically and how these legends share something about them as people. These symbols also express ideas about Aztec belief systems. In looking at this lesson, students are able to classify their learning to explain different elements of Aztec culture. Students might also analyze Aztec codices and this will allow students to make inferences about their belief systems and daily life. Students might analyze this primary source, How the Aztecs Raised Sons as Warriors, and they'll find out more about belief systems and daily life. Remember, one source may reveal insights about different elements of culture, but it will not tell students about every element of culture. 
2. If students are exploring the Inca culture, they might access this video on the Inca Creation Story. This will provide details that inform students about the Inca belief systems. Students might experience this lesson on Inca Communication and they can extract details about daily life. Teachers might also gather a set of primary source images, analyze one image at a time, and ask, "After analyzing this image, what details might we infer related to the elements of culture?" 

In the end, we are helping students to look extract details from different sources and classify those details based on the unique element of culture. We are helping students to to make connections between the content they read (or infer) from sources and we are helping them to classify their ideas in ways that help them to further understand the nuances of culture.

The next step...comparing one culture to another culture, or comparing one culture to an individual's culture. Here's my blog post on comparing cultures (look to the bottom and start at Step 2). 

Economic Change Over Time: Beginning in the Colonial Era

When students explore units of study based on the colonial era, we want them to understand significant concepts rather than simply gather random facts. Concepts help to hold facts and knowledge together. A significant concept for young historians to explore involves examining how economic institutions, such as our customs and practices, have changed over time. Economic interaction among people is based on understanding how people of any time or place try to answer one central question:  How will individuals/communities interact to acquire and exchange goods and services? How do we get what we want and need? Notice how the following section shows how economic systems developed over time. For the sake of showing the development, I'll indicate that each step in economic development is a PHASE.

What are the phases of economic development?
Phase 1: Subsistence Living/Barter & Trade

In our nation's past, individuals were independent in making goods and growing crops that they wanted or needed. Eventually, it made sense for individuals within a community to interact by bartering and trading with each other. The trade typically involved goods so that participants in the interaction could acquire what they wanted or needed.  In the early colonial era, sometimes Europeans traded with Native Americans and sometimes they traded with each other. If an individual or family was living in an isolated location, they may have embraced subsistence living, which means an indevidual or family supported themselves.

Phase 2: Specialization and Community Interdependence: The Development of Trades
As communities developed, individuals recognized that it’s inefficient to be individually responsible for all goods and services.  This led to interdependence, specialization of trades, specialization in the development of goods, and specialization in the growth of agriculture.  Citizens created interdependent economic communities as they brought goods and services to the economic marketplace.  NOTE: Within European colonies, specialization related to agriculture created demand for a labor force, which is one main reason that indentured servants and slaves can be viewed as "economic variables" within economic development. For further information…

Phase 3: Regional Development and Intercolonial Trade
Regionally, different goods and services were developed due to physical geography, local resources, and regional skill sets.  Teachers often study the different regions with students.  One way of examining colonial regions involves analyzing how they developed uniquely to participate in a larger North American marketplace. The nature of interdependence across the colonies developed as individuals/communities traded within the larger North American marketplace. NOTE: Slavery appeared early-on in the colonial era. While students see slavery as a the mistreatment of people, students should understand the economic reasons for slavery. Slavery, while viewed today as a shameful practice, developed in conjunction with the growth of regional economies (especially in the Southern colonies).  Slavery resources can be used in a way to highlight its economic perspective and its human (or inhumane) perspective.

Phase 4: Mercantilism and the Triangle Trade
Mercantilism stipulates that in order to build economic strength, a nation must export more than it imports.  To achieve this favorable balance of trade, the English passed regulatory laws exclusively benefitting the British economy. These laws created a trade system whereby colonists provided raw goods to Britain. Britain then used the raw goods to produce manufactured goods that were sold in European markets and back to the colonies.  As suppliers of raw goods only, the colonies could not compete with Britain in manufacturing.  English ships and merchants were always favored, excluding other countries from sharing in the British Empire’s wealth. To transport finished goods back to the colonies, ships made various stops which was known as the Triangle Trade. For further information…

Today: Free Trade
As a final evolution of economic interaction, the North American colonies began to desire greater economic freedom and the opportunity to trade freely throughout the world. They wanted out of the mercantilist system. (In the future, free trade for the newly established nation, the United States of America, is one result of the American Revolution.)  Students will explore free trade and the market economy during their study of the American Revolution.

What does this look like with 5th graders?
As teachers, we are going to pull as many primary sources as possible. Primary sources are at the heart of history instruction. Here are some ways to use primary and secondary sources (including simulations) to help students understand economic change over time.

Questions to guide inquiry:

• How has economic interaction changed over time?
• How did people interact with each other to get what they wanted or needed? How and why did that develop and change over time?

1. Phase 1: Subsistence Living/Barter & Trade - Students use this lesson from National Geographic on Trade in the 1600's to understand early barter and trade. This might be paired with a video on economics in Jamestown. Students might also play a version of this bartering game. Teachers facilitate a conversation that helps students see how people in this era of economic development depended on each other to get what they wanted and needed.
2. Phase 2: Specialization and Community Interdependence, the Development of Trades - Students initially investigate these primary source newspapers and these ads for goods and services to find out what goods were traded in the colonial marketplace. Students divide into teams of two and investigate trades that developed within colonial communities and then participate in an economic meet-and-greet using this sheet. After finding out about the different trades, students might engage in learning about interdependency through a method similar to this one on the colonial workers web. Teachers facilitate a conversation that helps students see how this era is a change from the previous era. This era embraced a more complex form of economic interdependence. In addition, invite students to consider why this change in economic interdependence took place.
3. Phase 2 Extension: Indentured Servitude and Slavery as Part of Economic Development - Students can investigate how indentured servants and slaves were connected to economics. Begin with exploring this indenture contract (a primary source) and then shift into this lesson on indentured servitude that comes from the Council on Economic Education. Extend the learning to look at this lesson on slavery's connection to the colonial economy. Teachers should facilitate a conversation that connects indentured servants and slavery to the changing colonial economy.
4. Phase 3: Regional Development and Intercolonial Trade - Teachers frequently have information in their classrooms or on video that explains the unique trades for each region (South - tobacco, Middle - bread basket colonies, Northern - cod and timber). Learning about these unique aspects of economy allows students to consider how people in the colonies needed specific goods that came from different regions. This phase of economic development means that all of the colonial regions were interdependent. Teachers might facilitate a conversation that helps students see how today's economy involves the exchange of goods that come from different locations in the United States. When students make this connection to modern economic interdependence, they're transferring the concept to a modern example.
5. Phase 4: Mercantilism and Triangle Trade - Students might engage in this mercantilism simulation. Students can then analyze this interactive map of the Triangle Trade and pair it with this primary source letter and this primary source legislative act. Last, students might engage in this consumer revolution imports lesson to see where we are today. Teachers facilitate a conversation that connects this phase with the expanded range for trade, which is the start of global trade.

What skills or discipline-specific thinking practices might I elevate?

Our goal in education is to create experiences so students practice the skills and thinking practices of real-life practitioners. In this case, we often land on the skills and thinking practices of historians. With the above resources, some skills and thinking practices might include:

• Analyze and gather evidence from primary and secondary sources. Secondary sources can include simulations. (When analyzing sources, students are either transferring and reapplying reading skills or incorporating analytical processes. See my blog post on Traditional Literacy and Visual Literacy for guidance on how to do this.)
• Analyze charts maps and graphs.
• Create timelines.
• Explain why economic institutions change over time.
• Describe how physical features influence the development of economic institutions.

How can I extend this learning and ask students to transfer this concept in authentic ways?

We want students to transfer their learning. You might invite an elderly member of the community into the classroom and ask them to explain what it was like to access goods and services long ago. Today, students are aware of Amazon and malls, but hasn't hasn't always been the case. Even today, we are a changing economy and the future of how we exchange goods and services is unknown. Students might make predictions about how the future of economic exchange will continue to change and develop.

Social Institutions of the United States: Change Over Time Starting with the Colonial Era

     As young historians, students examine change over time beginning with the earliest days of European colonization in North America. State standards highlight that students should be able to describe the development of social and political institutions.

What are social and political institutions?

People are different in every era.  Our modern social beliefs and norms evolved over time and they're connected to our nation's past. Who we are today is related to who we were in the past. Investigating the social beliefs and norms of the colonial era allows students to understand “what life was like long ago”, thereby providing historical context so students can explain how we have changed over time. Socially, we want students to explore a variety of social beliefs and norms. This might involve investigating gender roles, norms for adults or children, and the creation of class systems in our past and present.    We also want students to recognize that different beliefs have always been a part of our society and they have also changed over time. Scientific beliefs and practices have changed over time...so have religious beliefs and practices. Events such as the Enlightenment and the Great Awakening provide unique insight into our nation's scientific and religious history. Through a social lens, students are able to understand that we have modern social beliefs and norms that have changed over time...and the present is connected to the past. Some things change, some things stay the same. (Think about ordering A Day in the Life to help students develop social context of the colonial era.)

Second, we have developed beliefs and norms related to governing ourselves. Historians describe this as political change over time. Today, we have certain political beliefs such as 1) a limited government elected by the people and informed by the people, 2) embracing conflict and compromise as we collaborate to create political change, 3) government guided by a constitution, and 4) a balance of power and authority grounded in checks and balances.  Our beliefs of today have evolved over time and they’re connected to our nation’s past. In the past, the Mayflower Compact was one of the first forms of collective agreement established so citizens would be connected around common beliefs, rules and laws.  In colonial New England, there was little distinction between faith and community. Therefore, meetinghouses were built by the communities and used by everyone for both religious worship and town business related to governing citizens. This reflects the beginning of a democracy. For many colonies, the election of officials began to take place...a practice that was new and elevated the value of citizen input in government.  The way we operate today evolved over time.  To facilitate students in learning about this form of change over time, we look at the colonial era through a political lens.

What does this look like with 5th graders?
As teachers, we are going to pull as many primary sources as possible. Primary sources are at the heart of history instruction. Here are some ways to use primary and secondary sources to help students understand social and political change over time:

Questions to Guide Inquiry:

• What social and political institutions (customs, beliefs, and norms) existed for people of North American in the 15th-17th centuries? How and why did they develop and change over time?
• Why do historians use primary and secondary sources to construct understanding of the past?

1. Students use a secondary source to investigate the big picture of life in the past with the book If You Live in Colonial Times by Ann Mcgovern. Students use different portions of the book to explain how life has changed over time and why.
2. Students investigate the roles of men, women, and children in the past with the secondary sources in this lesson (Lesson: What was everyday life like in colonial Virginia?) Discuss how roles have changed over time and why.
3. Students investigate social class in the colonial era with the primary and secondary sources (Social Class in Colonial America). Teachers might also use this site. 
4. Students investigate a year in the life of a colonial farmer with a primary source (A Year in the Life of Thomas Minor). The language is tough but students can get the gist of this citizen's patterns of life. Students compare this person's patterns with the yearly patterns of a modern citizen or farmer and discuss how things have changed over time and why. 
5. Students investigate rules of the past with this primary source (Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation). Discuss how rules have changed over time and predict why. 
6. Students investigate one community's rules through primary sources (Rules, Rules, Rules). Today, we create rules for different communities. Students might describe how rules have changed over time and why. 
7.  Students investigate communication in the past with this lesson using primary sources (Colonial Newspapers and Communication). Analyze the sources and discuss the topics that were "newsworthy" in the past versus today. Discuss how we share information today versus in the past. Discuss why these changes have taken place.
8. Students investigate the items that people have in their homes through this lesson using probate inventories (How do we know about Colonial life?) Discuss what we might infer about the daily life from analyzing the inventories. Students create a list of what they have in their home and discuss what it tells them about life today. Discuss why things have changed over time.
9. Students investigate how students new to a culture are educated through this primary source based lesson (Indian Boarding School). Discuss what school looks like today for students new to the United States. Discuss why things have changed over time.
10. Students investigate medicine and science of the past by examining primary source artifacts. (Explanation of Apothecary and make sure you access the slideshow at the bottom of the page).  Students explain how the tools and approaches to medicine have changed over time and why. This is AWESOME!
11. Students investigate how our knowledge of science and our response to illness has changed over time. Use this primary source lesson on Smallpox Inoculation. 
12. Students investigate the Salem Witch Trials with this dot game from TCI. In the past, people were questioned if they had beliefs that differed from common religious beliefs. Today, we try to have a society that separates church and state. The way we address differences in belief looks different today as compared to the past.

What skills or discipline-specific thinking practices might I elevate?

Our goal in education is to create experiences so students practice the skills and thinking practices of real-life practitioners. In this case, we often land on the skills and thinking practices of historians. With the above resources, some skills and thinking practices include:

• Analyze and gather evidence from primary and secondary sources. (When analyzing these sources, students are either transfer and reapplying reading skills or incorporating analytical processes. See my blog post on Traditional Literacy and Visual Literacy for guidance on how to do this.)
• Create timelines. (Students can create a simple timeline that shows the social and political aspects of past and the present. Students might also add predictions about the future if they want.)
• Explain why social and political institutions change over time. ("Institutions" are norms, beliefs, and structures we've created as people in a society. Therefore, students are explaining how our social and political norms and beliefs have changed over time. There are so many options for kids showing this in creative ways including creating short videos and skits.)

How can I extend this learning and ask students to transfer this concept in authentic ways?

Social education is based in developing students who are going to be educated, involved citizens in our communities. We might consider some of the ways that we might make this learning relevant. Here are just a few ideas.

• Invite members of a homeless shelter to come speak with the class.  Find out about challenges they face in supporting homeless people and how people can become involved in change. Use this as an opportunity to help kids consider the actions they might take to be part of social change.
• Invite a social worker to come in and speak with the class about challenges faced by people of diverse ethnicities. Use this as an opportunity to help kids consider the ways they might share ideas and influence change.
• Invite a local leader to come in and speak about the value of parks and community centers in people's lives. Encourage these leaders to talk about their future projects and how they hope those future projects support social development for the people in a community.
• Invite some grandparents into the classroom to speak about their life experiences and how they've noticed social change over time. Use this as a launching off point to ask students, "When you look at the world today, what social changes do you think need to take place? What steps can you take to influence change that matters to you?"

Using Multiple Sources to Examine Important Changes in Metropolitan Communities

In modern social studies learning, we use topics to expose students to broader concepts. In the past, the topic was most important....today, helping students to see how a topic connects to a concept is critical. When students are able to make this conceptual connection, they're able to see the bigger picture.

In my school district, 3rd graders are engaged in a unit where they explore change over time in the Denver Metro area. Conceptually, we are hopeful that students begin to understand that all places change over time for a variety of reasons. The unit has a goal that states students will understand that people, events, and developments influence change to metropolitan regions (and its communities) over time. To help students uncover this understanding, best practice instruction encourages teachers to embrace inquiry and possibly provide some essential questions to discuss within our learning. Essential questions might include:

• How has Metropolitan Denver changed over time? How has Metropolitan Denver stayed the same over time? Why does a city stay the same AND change over time?
• What are "important" changes that we might want to see within Metropolitan Denver? What is an "important" change within a community?
• How do members of government, leaders, and citizens support the development of Metropolitan Denver (and communities within this region)?

As social scientists, we want students to engage with resources that allow them to construct learning. One way to explore this learning is to gather resources related to one type of change that has taken place. As students engage with various sources, we want them to apply critical thinking skills. Learning targets might include skill statements such as:

• Students will be able to identify the big ideas and supporting details communicated within a source (teachers from the old days call this "taking notes").
• Students will be able to ask questions when reading sources (including charts, maps, graphs, and infographics).
• Students will be able to identify how people influence or help with "important" changes.
• Students will be able to use evidence from sources to explain if a change is "important."
• Students will be able to use chronology and compare the past to the present when describing how a Metropolitan area changes over time.

Knowing these goals, we might select a set of sources based on any example of important change. Here are some "important" changes that have taken place in the Denver Metro Area and sources that can be used to help students construct their understanding of the change.

• The Denver B-Cycle program was implemented in the Denver Metro area with the influence of citizens and government officials. 
• Source: Infographic on Biking and Health
• Source: Denver B-Cycle Video
• Source: Article from LiveWell Colorado about the B-Cycle Program
• Source: List of Benefits with Bike Sharing
• Source: Pictures of Denver Bike Sharing
• Source: PDF folding map of Bike Sharing Locations
• Source: Chart - Bike Sharing Takes Off Around the World
• Transformation of the South Platte River was done with citizens and government working together. 
• Source: Article with Pictures
• Source: PDF of the partnership with the nation's Urban Waters Federal Partnership
• Source: Pamphlet from Arapahoe County about the project
• Source: Article from the Denver Post (2010)
• Source: History of the South Platte River
• Source: YouTube video "The South Platte Needs Your Help" (5:30)

Once students have examined a type of change, they might...

• identify additional changes that would benefit a metropolitan region
• identify other examples of change within a metropolitan region
• describe how they (as citizens) can influence change within a metropolitan region

Geography: Students Identifying Opportunities and Constraints in a Place

When geographers look at the big idea of human and physical interaction, they consider 1) how the physical landscape impacts people or 2) how people leave their mark on the physical landscape. To skillfully apply more discrete thinking to the concept of human and physical interaction, students apply the skill of identifying how the local geography provides opportunities and/or places constraints on people. This skill appears in various ways throughout a student's education from preschool through 12th grade and this thinking is part of the national geography standards. (Geography Standard 15: How Physical Systems Affect Human Systems)

To monitor student achievement of this goal, we have to consider what this thinking looks like before we can start to answer the question, "What students artifact would reveal that the student is able to apply this type of thinking?"

What is "Opportunity" in a Particular Place?: Opportunities exist in situations where something can be done.  The national geography standards help teachers to break down this idea.

1. Opportunity exists when characteristics of the physical environment enable people to thrive and prosper. Some characteristics to consider include climate, water, plants, animals, or landforms. 
• How might different aspects of the climate in this location create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper in this place?
• How might the availability (or location) and abundance of water in this location create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
• How might the plants in this place create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
• How might the animals in this place create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
• How might landforms in this place create opportunities for people to thrive and prosper?
2. Opportunity exists when a place offers activities for people because of the physical environment.
3. Opportunity exists when communities of people can take advantage of the physical environment.
• How might a community harness the water supply in this place?
• How might a community harness the soil to create farming or gardens in this place? What crops might grow effectively?
• How might a community develop recreational activities in this place?

What is a "Constraint" in a Particular Place?: Constraints exist in situations where people are limited or restricted in some way. The national geography standards help teachers to break down this idea.

1. Constraints exist when landforms within a physical environment limits human activities. Sometimes features such as mountains, forests, deserts, the slope of hills, or flood plains limit people. These might limit the growth of agriculture, human settlement, or the ability to develop transportation systems.  
• How might different landforms limit what people can do in this place?
• How might the construction of shelter be limited by the landforms or the physical features in this place?
2. Constraints exist when the climate limits human activities. All climates limit people in some ways, including cold/polar climates, rainy climates, dry climates, or equatorial climates.
• How do facets of climate limit people in this place?
3. Constraints exist when people must adapt their transportation routes due to the physical environment.
4. Constraints exist when environmental hazards are common in a location and those hazards limit people. For example, some locations have many tornadoes, earthquakes, sand storms, hurricanes.
• How do naturally occurring weather conditions limit people in this place?
• How do the behaviors of people change in response to environmental hazards?

What is "Adaptation" connected to Opportunities and Constraints in a Particular Place?: When people adapt to the conditions of a local physical environment, they are taking a "constraint" and turning it into an "opportunity." Kids might think of the phrase, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." 

What artifacts might students create to show their ability to think this way? This is where the teacher gets to embrace creativity based on the interests of students and the tools available for students to create. As long as an artifact reveals that a students can embrace the thinking, any artifact works.

Analyzing Primary Sources to Develop a Deep Understanding of Perspective

As we all know, teachers of 21st century students are developing classrooms that are part of a paradigm shift in learning. We are not teaching students geography, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of geographers. We are not teaching students economics, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of economic reasoning. We're not teaching students civics, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of active citizenship. And...we're not teaching students history, we're teaching them to apply the skills and processes of historians.

The historical process is significantly connected to the analysis of primary sources. The sources of history allow students to engage with the artifacts and ideas of the past. When students engage with primary sources, it becomes quite obvious that sources reveal perspectives about people, events, and ideas. Since primary sources are created by people in the past, they capture the perspective of an individual (or group) and invite students to ask, "If I were to analyze other primary sources, what other perspectives might appear?"

While primary source analysis is a foundation for historical thinking in all grades, the concept of perspective appears significantly in grades 5 and 6. (In addition, the same concept appears within reading but might appear as point-of-view.) This is no coincidence and the cognition of students in intermediate grades develops in ways where they can begin to see how different people might "view" people, events, and ideas.

The following two videos were created in a 5th grade classroom (Chicago) and the instructional approach might help teachers to consider how this type of learning can play out within any intermediate classroom. Teachers might consider how to elevate perspective when students examine slavery during the colonial era (5th grade) or when students study the era of European exploration and the collision with early cultures in the Western Hemisphere (6th grade). These are just two opportunities where perspective can be explored and there are obviously many more opportunities to explore this concept since history is based on exploring the perspectives inherent within primary sources.

Analyzing Perspectives through Primary Sources, Part 1: Getting Started 

from Expeditionary Learning on Vimeo.

Analyzing Perspectives through Primary Sources, Part 2: Sharpening and Synthesizing 

from Expeditionary Learning on Vimeo.

Knowledge: Use it Skillfully, Use it Conceptually

Social Studies has a challenging past where a student's ability to repeat factual content was valued. In our modern society, factual content is at an individual's fingertips. For this reason, a 21st century learner must be able to use information in different ways. This implies that learning in social studies might be simplified into a three-step process.

1. Learners acquire knowledge

2. Students make sense of knowledge through applying it skillfully

3. Students make sense of knowledge through applying it to explain concepts

Let's expand on these ideas just a bit.

How do learners acquire knowledge?

• One of the most traditional ways that learners acquire knowledge is through the use of traditional texts (textbooks, articles, non-fiction books, and video segments). We ask students to apply literacy skills through capturing the big ideas and supporting details. We might also provide students with a question (or questions) that can be answered through engaging with the traditional text. 
• Students might also acquire content knowledge through the analysis of non-traditional texts (primary sources, charts, graphs, maps, images, and infographics). This approach is critical for 21st century students who live in a world where they engage with a multitude of non-traditional sources. 
• Students might experience classroom simulations, direct instruction, or other lessons that are designed to build content knowledge. 

How do learners apply knowledge skillfully?

• First, we must recognize that we are not teaching students history, we're teaching them to engage in the thinking practices of historians. We are not teaching students geography, we're teaching them to engage in the thinking practices of geographers. We are not teaching students economics, we're teaching students to apply economic reasoning. We are not teaching students civics, we're teaching students to engage in the thinking practices of informed citizens. 
• When we think of student work, we must consider their work as artifacts that allow us (the teachers) to see that they have the ability to show thinking. Student work, or artifacts of thinking, are designed based on what students should be able to do. These statements (found in Stage 1 of curriculum planning tools) are the skills of a historian, the skills of a geographer, the skills of an economic thinker, and the skills of an informed citizen. 

How do learners apply knowledge to explain concepts?

• First, we must recognize that concepts are the big, broad ideas of a discipline. In curriculum, they are the organizing concepts and the big ideas. 
• Concepts are also the ideas that come from a learner when they use knowledge to explain essential questions. Since essential questions are broad and based on a student's interpretation and understanding, we must be aware that students will provide evidence (content knowledge) to explain their ideas...and student answers will vary.