Two-Column Notes

Date:
9/6/201
6

Page #

Name: Morgan Niese

Class/Subject: EDTL 2760

MR Title(s): What is Social Studies?

MR Source(s): National Council for the Social Studies. (1992). A vision of powerful teaching
and learning in the social studies: Building social understanding and civic efficacy.
Retrieved from http://www.socialstudies.org/positions/powerful.
The Text Says
I Say
Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)
My notes, commentary

social studies is to help young people

develop the ability to make informed and
reasoned decisions for the public good as
citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic
society in an interdependent world.

communication abilities from language

arts/English and the fine arts to enable
students to express their understanding of
the concept in a personally meaningful
way.

This quote was noted as the primary purpose of

social studies in the reading. I strongly agree
with this purpose because it is very important
for students to learn their purpose as a citizen
in the United States. They need to understand
how to make informed decisions when voting
and when preforming other civic duties as a
citizen of the United States. They need to
realize that their actions now will determine
and shape the future of many generations to
come. Besides understanding the government,
social studies is also there to help the students
understand the history of the world and the
cultures that have developed over time.
Before reading over the national standards, I
never thought that language arts, English, and
fine arts would play an important part when
teaching social studies. But, after a while of
thinking I came to the conclusion that language
arts, English, and fine arts would be a great tool
to teach social studies. Allowing the students
to read and analyze a document would give the

The more accurately the K-12 social

studies program addresses the
contemporary conditions of real life and of
academic scholarship, the more likely such
a program is to help students develop a
deeper understanding of how to know, how
to apply what they know, and how to
participate in building a future.

students the opportunity interpret and

understand the document in an easier way.
Also, creating skits from an historic event or
even an event happening now may draw the
students interest more. A topic might be more
interesting to them if they are able to act it out.
This also might help the students to remember
the information for a longer period of time.
I like this quote because it is very important for
teachers to accurately present social studies to
their students. It is important to do so through
real life situations and academic scholarship
because it will allow the students to understand
the material in a better way. This will give the
students a better understanding of how to
apply what they know to their life and how to
use that knowledge to build a better future for
themselves and the common good. It will allow
the students to become knowledgeable of their
surroundings when they graduate and live on
their own.

Connections to previous MR: Comparisons are made in the next two-column notes about the state
standards for social studies.