Teaching strategies

There are many useful teaching strategies to support effective teaching in social sciences. This
section contains a variety of graphic organizers; cooperative learning ideas; tools and resources for
writing and presenting information; and ideas for oral and visual activities.

 Graphic organizers
This section has a wide variety of graphic organizers such as charts, webs, diagrams, maps, templates, grids, and wheels
to help students organize and display information and their findings.
 Cooperative learning
Explore these group and team activities in which students have opportunities to work together to achieve shared
learning goals.
 Writing and presenting information
This section includes links to suggestions for written activities, such as essay and paragraph writing, questionnaires,
surveys, graphic organizers, and descriptions.
 Using oral and visual activities
These links to information about oral or visual forms of literacy are useful for teaching and learning in social studies. This
includes the use of pictures, photos, drawings, audio conferences, booklets, biographies, and interviews.
Graphic organizers
This section has a wide variety of graphic organizers such as charts, webs, diagrams, maps, templates, grids, and wheels
to help students organize and display information and their findings.

Cause & Effect Diagram

The cause & effect diagram is the brainchild of Kaoru Ishikawa, who pioneered quality management processes in the
Kawasaki shipyards and in the process, became one of the founding fathers of modern management. The cause and
effect diagram is used to explore all the potential or real causes (or inputs) that result in a single effect (or output).
Causes are arranged according to their level of importance or detail, resulting in a depiction of relationships and
hierarchy of events. This can help you search for root causes, identify areas where there may be problems, and compare
the relative importance of different causes.
Causes in a cause & effect diagram are frequently arranged into four major categories. While these categories can be
anything, you will often see:

 manpower, methods, materials, and machinery (recommended for manufacturing)

 Equipment, policies, procedures, and people (recommended for administration and service).

These guidelines can be helpful but should not be used if they limit the diagram or are inappropriate.
The categories you use should suit your needs. At Sky Mark, we often create the branches of the
cause and effect tree from the titles of the affinity sets in a preceding affinity diagram.

The C&E diagram is also known as the fishbone diagram because it was drawn to resemble the
skeleton of a fish, with the main causal categories drawn as "bones" attached to the spine of the fish,
as shown below.
Cause & effect diagrams can also be drawn as tree diagrams, resembling a tree turned on its side.
From a single outcome or trunk, branches extend that represent major categories of inputs or causes
that create that single outcome. These large branches then lead to smaller and smaller branches of
causes all the way down to twigs at the ends. The tree structure has an advantage over the fishbone-
style diagram. As a fishbone diagram becomes more and more complex, it becomes difficult to find
and compare items that are the same distance from the effect because they are dispersed over the
diagram. With the tree structure, all items on the same causal level are aligned vertically.

To successfully build a cause and effect diagram:

1. Be sure everyone agrees on the effect or problem statement before beginning.

2. Be succinct.
3. For each node, think what could be its causes. Add them to the tree.
4. Pursue each line of causality back to its root cause.
5. Consider grafting relatively empty branches onto others.
6. Consider splitting up overcrowded branches.
7. Consider which root causes are most likely to merit further investigation.

Other uses for the Cause and Effect tool include the organization diagramming, parts hierarchies,
project planning, tree diagrams, and the 5 Why's.

 KWLH Technique

The K-W-L-H teaching technique is a good method to help students activate prior knowledge. It also
helps them to insight how the KWLH method to utilize during reading activate as well as post-reading
activate.The K-W-L-H stands for:

 K - Stands for helping students recall what they KNOW about the subject.
 W - Stands for helping students determine what they WANT to learn.
 L - Stands for helping students identify what they LEARN as they read.
 H - Stands for HOW we can learn more (other sources where additional information
on the topic can be found).
Sample K-W-L-H
Title: The Life of Dinosaurs

What We Want to How Can We Learn

What We Know What We Learned
Find Out More

Dinosaurs are large.
Dinosaurs are dead.
They lived a long time ago.
There is a movie about
dinosaurs.
An archaeologist has an
Research
How long ago did they exciting life.
live?
Museums
Dinosaurs eat plants and
Why did they die? some eat meat.
Field Trips
How do we know what Some dinosaurs were
Archaeological digs
they looked like? gigantic, but had small
brains.
Videos
Who are the people
who study dinosaurs? Fossils uncover dinosaur
Internet computer search
traits.

Categories of Information
we expect to use:
A. Size
B. Career
C. Eating Habits

Adapted from Strategic Teaching and Reading Project Guidebook. (NCREL, 1995, rev. ed.).

 Mind maps
 Thinking map

The Thinking Maps Learning Community (TMLC) is an online hub focused on improving
student achievement through the effective use of Thinking Maps

 Venn diagram
Venn diagram Basic
Description: Two items linked by characteristics or attributes.
Uses: Describe and compare attributes and characteristics of items (things, people, places, events, ideas, etc.)
Critical Questions:
What items do you want to compare? What characteristics do the items have in common (intersecting portion)?
How are the items similar (the same) and different (non intersecting portion) based on the characteristics?
Suggestions: Venn diagrams are useful as a graphics organization tool when comparing two things
(and particularly for use with younger children). Simple Venn diagrams are used, in which no more
than two curves intersect at a common point. Shared characteristics are listed in the overlapping
section allowing for easy identification of which characteristics are shared and which aren't. String or
colored yarn can be used to make circles on the floor and manipulatives and pictures are strongly
encouraged.

Programs like SmartDraw and Microsoft Powerpoint allow for the drawing of Venn diagrams on PCs.
And you can draw your own here.

A useful tool to start children writing about what is similar and what is not. A better tool to use is the
Double Cell Diagram. See also Venn Diagram Expanded for comparing three items. More on Venn
diagrams.
A Venn diagram serves to organize students' thoughts, and is labeled according to the topic at hand
and the aspects that need to be compared and contrasted. Due to their relatively simple structure and
visually effective nature, Venn diagrams are considered to be an indispensable educational
technique, equally useful for both children and adults. Most teachers prefer to use a Venn diagram as
a pre-writing activity in order to help students categorize the knowledge they have already gained.
Having classified all the similarities and differences, students are able to make an in-depth analysis of
the topic and draw a well-grounded conclusion.

Venn diagrams can be successfully applied to a wide range of subjects. For instance, students can
compare and contrast several cities and their climates during a Geography lesson, organize various
animals or different cell structures in Biology and study the character traits of different protagonists in
works of twentieth century Literature. The key point is to determine the objects that need to be
compared beforehand. The more aspects that are included in a Venn diagram, the more
comprehensive the analysis is. To optimize the process you can use various colors and shapes.
Originally, Venn diagrams were made using simple circles; however, triangles and quadrangles can
be also used, especially when constructing several diagrams at the same time. If used correctly, this
graphic tool makes the teaching and learning process a lot more interesting and effective.

 Fishbone diagram
The change that is being analyzed forms the head of the fish. Reasons for the change go
along the ribs of the fishes' backbone. Supporting evidence or relevant key terms go along the
riblets.

 Photo analysis – 5Ws

The teacher gives a photograph to each group of students to analyse what it portrays. The
students read the caption and then write a sentence for each of the 5Ws in the following chart,
followed by a detailed sentence about the photograph. For example, 'I think these refugees'
lives have been affected because I can see ...'
My group used photo number:
The photo showed:
Photo analysis – template

Step 1. Observation

1. Study the photograph for 2 minutes. Form an overall impression of the photograph and then
examine individual items. Next, divide the photo into quadrants and study each section to see
what new details become visible.
2. Use the chart below to list people, objects, and activities in the photograph.

Step 2. Inference
Based on what you have observed above, list three things you might infer from this photograph.

Step 3. Questions

A. What questions does this photograph raise in your mind?

B. Where could you find answers to them?

Designed and developed by the Education Staff, National Archives and Records Administration,
Washington DC 20408.

Sketch map

This map was designed for a journey from Auckland to New Plymouth. It is a sketch map and not
intended to be geographically accurate, but it outlines some key physical features of the region.
Structured overview

A structured overview is exactly that – an overview of a topic, organised in a structured, hierarchical,

graphic manner.

 Start with the topic/subtopic heading at the top of the page.

 Determine how many subheadings are going to form the next layer down and organise them
across the page.
 Link the heading to each subheading with a line.
 Determine how many sub-subheadings or key terms each subheading requires, and organise
them across the page.
 Link each subheading to its set of terms with a lighter/thinner line.

A structured overview is a form of concept map . It may be more appropriate to use a concept map
rather than a structured overview when organising the results of students' brainstorming
 T-chart
A T-chart is a means of organising information. You may have two columns or more,
depending on the information the students are organising and the learning outcomes.
Students are to read text, listen to text, view video, view images, and so on to identify the key
points and then enter them in the correct column of the T-chart.
Refer to Cubitt et al (1999, p.52).
An example of a T-chart
Students complete this T-chart while listening to group presentations about 'being Polynesian
in pre-European times'.

Cubitt, S., Irvine, R., Dow, A. (1999, p.52). Top Tools for Social Science Teachers. Auckland:
Addison Wesley Longman. www.pearsoned.co.nz

 Who knows who – grid

Students are each given a grid. They are then required to move around the class to find a
different student to respond to each square of the grid. The students write the name of a
different person in each square and their answer or response as requested. Using the grid on
an OHT and having the teacher fill in all the names of respondents for each square can
complete a whole class sharing.
Refer to Cubitt et al (1999, p.24)

An example of a who knows who:

 Cubitt, S., Irvine, R., Dow, A. (1999, p24). Top Tools for Social Science Teachers. Auckland:
Addison Wesley Longman. www.pearsoned.co.nz

 Consequences wheel
Place the idea, belief, or event in the centre circle (for example, relating to crime and
punishment). Divide the outer circle into as many segments as you need. A consequence or
effect of the belief on people's lives goes into each segment. Consequences may be positive
or negative.