Download Prior Knowledge in the Social Studies Classroom

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Prior Knowledge in the Social Studies Classroom
Grace Cardwell
27 November 2012
EDCI 5724
CONTENTS
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Prior Knowledge in the
Social Studies Classroom
References
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Rubric
I. Introduction
While we would like to think that everything our students know about social
studies they learned from us, their current teacher, this is usually not the case.
Students will enter our doors on the first day of school with preconceived notions,
often called prior knowledge, which will affect their overall academic performance
in our class and others. Especially in social studies, it has been found that when
students learn effectively, they are not just absorbing, but constructing their own
knowledge from year to year. So as teachers, we must take what has already been
learned and help students to connect it with the new curriculum we will teach.
Teachers of history should aim to transform lectures and textbooks from mere
accounts into scaffolds that help students construct historical meaning
(Committee on How People Learn, A Targeted Report For Teachers, 2005, p. 181).
Prior knowledge is crucial, not only in learning curriculum, but in
appreciation of a subject (which in turn, reinforces performance). Not only will
student participation increase when they feel they know something about the
topic, but opportunities to expand on their prior knowledge will grow during the
interactions with classmates and the teacher (Larson and Keiper, 2011, p. 224).
Understanding to what degree students have learned history in previous years
becomes instrumental in how any teacher should go about their job. It is perhaps
one of the most powerful components of how teaching and learning happen in
schools today.
This paper aims to illustrate the impact of prior knowledge in the social
studies classroom by way of a project I conducted with two secondary aged
students. Below is a note on the Methodology used and the Participants involved.
Following this is a discussion of my findings, as well as instructional implications
for my own teaching.
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II. Methodology
This project involved two participants and two separate 30-40 minute
interviews. It was designed to shed light on the importance of students’ prior
knowledge when it comes to social studies, as well as how it affects their
classroom experience and overall comprehension of the subject. I conducted a
structured interview in two parts – the first of which involved students placing
photographs from across history along a continuum, and the second involved
students answering some basic questions about their experiences with history.
This second part also assessed student knowledge about significant historical
people and events.
For Part I, the Photograph Activity, I chose images that were mainly of
different peoples or groups participating in different events across history. I
chose a few pictures from the Ancient age, some from the Middle Ages into the
Renaissance, one from 19th century America, and the remainder from the 20th
century, both here and abroad. I kept in mind that the students I would be
interviewing had only completed the first semester of World History I, and would
likely have to rely on information learned in their middle school classes for some
of the pictures. Students were instructed to place images they thought to have
occurred longest ago on the left, and more recent ones to the right. Images were
introduced one at a time, and I told students that the image could go before the
picture, after the picture, or in between. After each image was introduced, I asked
the student why they thought to place the image there, and recorded their
answers. (To see the images used, See Appendix C.)
During Part II, the Interview Protocol, I asked students first about how they
felt about history on the whole, as well as about the job of historians, the
importance of sources, and what they considered to be the most historically
significant events, people, and documents. I then asked them some questions on
content, which involved 4 main topics – The Civil War, World War One, World War
Two, and the Great Depression. Before I began each section of the interview I
made it clear to them that some of the questions would be outside of their
knowledge, and it was fine to say they were unsure or didn’t know. I also assured
them that the interview had nothing to do with their current history class or
grade, and that their answers would remain completely anonymous.
III. Participants
Participants for this activity were two 10th grade boys from a World History
I classroom that graciously volunteered to help me out. I was informed by their
teacher that they were average-to-high achieving students, both of which probably
enjoyed history enough, but wouldn’t pick it as their favorite subject. Both of
these students volunteered because they had block-long study halls that day, and
had let me know they had time to spare. For the purposes of this paper, I will
refer to the first student I interviewed as ‘Student A’ and the second as ‘Student
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B.’ I enjoyed getting to know them briefly, and discovered some interesting
insights from my meeting with each of them.
IV. Findings and Evidence
1. Students are affected by their teacher’s personality, preferences, and
instructional style more than they may be aware of.
Anyone who is a teacher knows the job is full of seemingly endless
responsibilities. There is a responsibility to the school to get students to a certain
standard of learning, and a responsibility with other teachers to create an
environment that fosters student growth and achievement. But perhaps the most
important responsibility is to the students. We must be aware that learning does
not begin when students walk through the doors on the first day, and certainly
doesn’t end when they leave. As the Committee on How People Learn, A Targeted
Report For Teachers (2005), explain, “Teachers are not the only impetus for
changing ideas, but it is part of our job as teachers to act as if we were” (p. 81).
Teachers from a student’s previous year will be the main source of their prior
knowledge for the next year, and thus teachers have a responsibility to be both
excellent teachers of content and first-rate role models. In these interviews I found
that these students’ World History teacher had made quite an impact on them.
In my first interview, I realized that many of Student A’s answers involved
content from his current history class, World History I. With his first semester
almost over, they had covered through the Ancient World and were beginning the
spread of religion and into the Crusades. He was able to identify pictures from
this era with ease, and talk about them with greater confidence than other
pictures. Elements of World History I also appeared when he was discussing the
most historically significant events and women in history, bringing up elements I
didn’t expect, like the rise of Islam and Cleopatra (See Appendix A: Part I #2, #9,
Part II #6). He even discussed them in a very similar way as his teacher would – it
was clear that he was remembering these elements in the same way that the
information was originally delivered to him.
Later, during the Interview portion, this Student A included Ronald Reagan
in his ‘three most historically significant people’ and as his answer for ‘the one
person throughout history he would like to go back and talk to’. On the surface,
anything could have accounted for his decision, but I know from observing his
classroom for a few days that this teacher is a huge Ronald Reagan fan, often
referencing something about his policies or his overall “cool movie star”
personality. When I pressed the student for details about his choice of Ronald
Reagan, he could give me little historical evidence for his choice, leading me to
believe this was mostly his teacher’s influence (See Appendix A: Part II, #7, #10).
My second interview also showed evidence that this teacher had made a
large impact on prior knowledge, not only with the content he taught, but with his
teaching style and friendly personality. When I asked Student B about his
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preferences toward history, he answered that he used to think history was boring,
but is beginning to favor it more now that he has his teacher. (See Appendix B:
Part II, #1). Through my observations of this class, I can confirm that his teacher
does an excellent job retelling early World History to his students. He speaks in a
familiar fashion, pauses for questions often, and encourages diverse thinking and
points of view. I should note here that Student B also included a higher-thanexpected number of World History I references in the Interview section (see
Appendix B: Part I #12, Part II #6 #7 #8 #9). I could easily tell that the prior
knowledge they were currently gaining was equally, if not more, about the way the
content was delivered as it was about the content itself.
2. Students are likely to remember only the basic components historical events
and people, which were perhaps learned via memorization in earlier grades.
From what I observed, these students were able to give me a very basic
account of historical events. While I assured them at the beginning that I knew
that they hadn’t taken World History II or American History in high school yet,
they were familiar enough with the basic components of these events to give me
the main points. It was when details were asked of them that they couldn’t
necessarily deliver. When it came time to ask about topics outside World History
I, the students demonstrated what Wong and Wong (2009) call a “surface only”
knowledge – they lacked the same level of deep comprehension and appreciation
for it (p. 12).
When I asked the students about the Civil War, the World Wars, and the
Great Depression, they could recall approximately when they were and what had
generally happened. Their answers revealed to me that when they had last
learned these (likely 7th grade, or maybe earlier), they were products of
memorization. Most components of the events had been saved to their long term
memory, but some important details were left missing. For one example, both
students had trouble coming up with long term consequences after wars were
over (See Appendix A: Part IV, #1 #2 #4). These students couldn’t recall the
terms and events with as much detail as I had seen during prior parts of the
interview, where their responses were open-ended.
I also got the feeling that these topics weren’t quite as interesting to them.
Despite the fact that they both included World War Two as one of the most
important historical events, they were not as eager to talk about it. They gave me
the basics and not much more. A few times they had trouble remembering terms
that they once knew (See Appendix B: Part IV, #1 #2 #3). For these questions,
their prior knowledge seemed to be based on rote memorization, in sharp
contrast with material from their current class, where I had seen evidence of
connections and engagements.
3. Students are likely to remember smaller details of history if they are
sensationalized, controversial, or otherwise interesting to them.
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I noticed that while both students were able to identify for me the major
themes of history, they were also able to recount, in some cases with much
detail, stories about lesser known people or events. Teachers’ can often become
so engulfed in their instructional objectives that they eventually begin to neglect
what their students are interested in learning. According to Cruz and Thorton
(2009), “This is not because adolescents lack interest in social matters; in fact
interest in topics covered in social studies usually peaks during adolescence, as it
is a time of dealing with issues of identity formation and understanding how
people relate to one another” (p. 46). This was very evident in my interviews with
these students.
After the Photography Session with Student A, I asked him to choose the
picture that was most interesting to him. He ended up selecting the image of
Hungarian citizens sweeping money into the street during the Inter-war economic
collapse of Eastern Europe (Appendix C, Picture 8). Right after that part of the
interview was over, he had actually asked me if I could explain what was
happening in the photograph – there were enough context clues for him to place it
correctly, but he was obviously curious as to why the people would be sweeping
money into a storm drain. I explained to him the concept of inflation and the
impacts of World War I on the economy of Eastern Europe. I also told him about
another famous photograph where a German woman is burning money in a stove,
and explained to him that during this time, burning the money was cheaper than
buying the firewood itself. For a brief second he looked at me in disbelief, and
then laughed, commenting on how odd that must have been (See Appendix A:
Part 1, #12 #13).
My second interview also gave insight to the importance of student interest.
When discussing significant women, at first Student B had trouble thinking of
any, but then recounted a story (probably one that he had just learned) about an
ancient Roman Emperor, Justinian, and his wife Theodora. The story involved a
plan to desert the empire, a marital spat, and Theodora’s role in saving Rome. Up
until this point, this was the most detailed response I had gotten from him. So far
he had given me descriptions that were mostly accurate, but fairly short. This
one, he seemed eager to tell me and even encouraged me to ask his teacher
about this woman if I wanted to know more about her. (See Appendix B: Part II,
#8).
When asked who he would go back and talk to throughout history, he chose
the man who famously ran from Marathon to Athens – an interesting story, but
not one you hear much after a brief mention as part of a discussion on Ancient
Greece. He said would ask him how he trained and what made him want to
attempt this feat. As I pondered this answer, Student B mentioned to me that he
had recently run his first half-marathon, and that being on the track team was
currently a big part of his life. Because running meant a lot to him, he was
interested in the story of the man who ran the first “marathon” thousands and
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thousands of years ago. This would probably be something he would remember
throughout his academic career.
V. Instructional Implications
Be aware of the influence you have and the impression you will make.
Teachers enter the field for a variety of reasons. Whether it is about loving
children, or just your content area, every teacher will make a certain impression
on their students, affecting their prior knowledge about the content and social
studies itself. These students were both benefitting from the way they are
currently being taught history, which involves a structured but familiarly delivered
lecture, complimented with student involvement. By letting his students enter in
to the discussion, their teacher encourages the flow of different points of view and
new information, as well as increasing the exchange between student and teacher
(Larson and Keiper, 2011, p. 211). This way, students feel they have a role to
play in what they learn, and also begin to trust their teacher as a relatable
confidant.
During the interviews, these students seemed to recount the information to
me in the same way they had learned it, and had obviously benefitted from their
teacher’s style. From my observations of him, I noticed that he speaks like he
wants to be there and makes history as interesting as he can to his given
audience. He often asks for students’ feedback as well as their emotions and
opinions about certain matters. Throughout my field experience and especially
after these interviews, I know that these are strategies worth using in my
classroom.
Appealing to student interest will enhance prior knowledge better than rote
memorization.
Not all of history is interesting, and not every topic will have students
talking and asking questions. But teachers certainly have a role to play in making
history interesting to learn, and teachers going the extra mile to make history
appealing will resonate with students in the coming years. Of course, certain
aspects they will have to commit to memory, but history can be so much more
than memorization. The way the information is taught will have an impact on the
way it is remembered. When I asked these students looked back to their previous
years in history classes, they were able to give me the basics, but not many
details. The exception was when they found the subject interesting, appealing, or
somehow connected to their personal lives. As a teacher of history, a subject
often perceived as boring or irrelevant, it is up to us to make it as attractive and
engaging as possible.
When students have the opportunity to learn about issues that are
controversial or exceptional in some way, I noticed they are much more likely to
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not only remember them, but want to talk about them. This information stayed in
their minds in a different and more meaningful way than the information they
were just told to memorize. For my teaching, I like the idea of introducing or
closing class with an interesting or “lesser known” fact about whatever the topic
was for that day, and even incorporating it into the curriculum. Though these
facts probably won’t appear on their SOL tests, they will resonate with students,
helping them to remember information and, hopefully, learn to enjoy history as a
subject.
VI. Conclusion
Appealing to student’s prior knowledge will mean different things to
different teachers. For me, it is about taking what students already know and
making it a part of what you have to teach them. Teachers are creators of prior
knowledge, and must remember their impact on students’ futures. This impact is
not only a product of what is taught, but how. At the same time, teachers are
recipients of prior knowledge, and must keep in mind that the students they will
teach are no means blank slates.
After conducting these interviews, I realize that prior knowledge involves
both remembering content knowledge and appreciating the subject itself. I
noticed that these students, with a teacher they were fond of and respected, were
more likely to absorb and remember the information they learned from him. In
previous classes, either their teacher was not as committed to these students, or
simply did not make the material relevant or interesting enough for them. When
the subjects were made appealing or stood out to these students in some way,
their discussion of them changed – they could give me more details about events
and people, and talked about them with greater interest. Their opinions about
history changed dramatically, and it was all due to the way that the information at
hand was originally learned. The prior knowledge they were gaining was the main
shaper of the way they were relating history in school thus far. And from what I
could tell for these impressionable but smart young men, this will continue to be
the case.
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References
Committee on How People Learn, A Targeted Report For Teachers. (2005). How
Students Learn: History, Mathematics, and Science in the Classroom. Donovan,
M. Suzanne & Bransford, John D. (Eds.). Washington D.C.: The National
Academies Press.
Cruz, Bárbara C., & Thorton, Stephen J. (2009). Teaching Social Studies to English
Language Learners. New York: Routledge.
Larson, Bruce E., & Keiper, Timothy A. (2011). Instructional Strategies for Middle
and Secondary Social Studies: Methods, Assessment, and Classroom
Management. New York: Routledge.
Wong, Harry K., & Wong, Rosemary T. (2009). The First Days of School: How To Be
An Effective Teacher. Mountain View, California: Harry K. Wong Publications,
Inc.
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APPENDIX A - INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
PART I
(1) Hieroglyphics
(2) Underground Railroad
• This one looks like the Underground Railroad, which I know comes after
ancient Egyptian and hieroglyphics, which were in the B.C. time.
(3) Moon Landing
• I know this was in 1969, after the Civil War and slavery
(4) Martin Luther
• This reminds me of the medieval times by the way the people are
dressed – I don’t know exactly what this guy is doing, but it looks like
medieval times.
(5) Great Depression
• This is the Great Depression – I think people are in lines at a soup
kitchen, - this was after slavery but before the moon landing.
(6) Concentration Camps
• These children are in concentration camps – so World War Two – which
is before the moon landing, but not by much.
(7) La Pieta
• (Placing it before hieroglyphics) – I’m not sure, but I think this is
Abraham and Isaac, after the story where God asked him to slay his son.
I think it is ancient art.
(8) Inter-war inflation
• I don’t know what this picture is, is that money they are sweeping into
the storm drain? I will guess this is around the time of concentration
camps.
(9) Ancient Greek soldiers
• These are Greek hoplite soldiers, they belong in the ancient part, but
after hieroglyphics.
(10)Berlin Wall
• I don’t know what this is, but I think it is right around World War Two.
Correct Order – (1)  (9)  (7)  (4)  (2)  (8)  (5)  (6)  (3)  (10)
Between each: Why did you think to put that one there? See above.
(11) Was this hard or easy? What things made it easy or hard?
• Pretty easy, I could tell what most things are from what is shown in the
picture, they are recognizable big events in history.
(12) Which pictures do you think are the most interesting? Why?
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The one with the inflation between the wars (after I had explained to him
the background of inflation and why it happened). Seems like you would
never see something like that happening today, but it didn’t happen that
long ago! That’s really weird.
(13) PICK ONE: How do you think your life would be different if you had been alive
at this time?
• For the Inflation picture – Life seemed pretty bad if they were sweeping
money like that instead of picking it up, so pretty crappy.
(14) FOR ONE: What do you think about people during this period, what was their
life like?
• People were probably worried about how money was valueless.
•
PART II
Interview Activity
1. Among your school subjects, where would you rank history in terms of your
interest over the years (top, middle, bottom)? Why?
• Where 1 is extremely boring, and 10 is your favorite subject of all time: I
would give it an 8. I like history usually because I understand it. My
favorite is Math, though.
2. What is history?
• History is keeping track of what has happened in the past.
3. Why do we study history? What is your favorite historical topic/period? Why?
• We study history so we can look at trial and error of people in the past,
we analyzing what has happened before us and use information from
the past and help determine events of the future
4. What do historians do?
• Record what history is happening now. When I asked: “Just now?” He
answered: Yes, mainly.
5. What is a primary source? A secondary source?
• Something to rely on for information about a subject. A secondary
source is something written about a subject.
6. What do you think are the three most historically significant events in history?
Why?
• Discovery of Islam because it changed religion, Chris Columbus
discovery of America because it was a whole new world that they didn’t
know was there, and WWII because it was the biggest global event ever.
7. Who are the three most historically significant people in history? Why?
• Chris Columbus for discovering the other side of the world, Hitler
because his policies caused WWII, and Ronald Reagan because of his
foreign policies.
8. Who are the three most historically significant women in history? Why?
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Cleopatra because she was one of the first women to be respected as
royalty, Susan B. Anthony because of women’s rights, Harriet Tubman
because she helped escaped slaves on the Underground Railroad.
9. What are the three most historically significant documents in history? Why?
• Bill of Rights because it gives us freedoms, Monroe Doctrine because it
began America’s involvement with foreign policy, and the Declaration of
Independence because it was the most important document for
Americans.
10. Imagine that you could meet and talk with someone from the past. Who
would it be?
• Ronald Reagan
What questions would you ask them? Why? Because you can't actually do that,
how could you find out the answers to your questions?
• What made him decide to run his foreign policy I that way, how he
brought back motivation for jobs back in America. I would find the
answers to these questions on the internet.
11. Have you ever seen a film or TV show, outside of school, on a historical topic?
If so, what was it? Did you wonder if it was historically accurate? Did you do
anything to check on its accuracy?
• Yes, I’ve seen 300, Gladiator, and The Patriot, I don’t know if those count,
but I would say they are based on historical events. Yes I have wondered
about how accurate they were, and a few times I have checked on the
internet the historical accuracy on the internet.
12. Do you ever discuss things that happened before 1975 with your friends? If
so, what topics?
• Yes: Woodstock, sometimes we will debate politics of then versus now.
•
PART III
About Government
1. Among your school subjects, where would you rank government & civics in
terms of your interest over the years (top, middle, bottom)? Why?
• Civics is ok, but I like World History better. I like learning about the
world outside of America, and civics is usually boring.
2. Why do we study government and civics?
• So citizens know the role of government in their lives.
3. What is democracy? What other types of government are there?
• In a democracy, people have the rights, or people control the
government. Other types are communism, republic, monarchy, anarchy,
democratic republic…
4. What are the main features of the American political system? (Probe for
branches of government, functions of government, etc.)
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•
5. What
•
6. What
•
In America, it is a democratic republic, meaning we don’t elect people,
we vote for people to elect people for us, in the electoral college. There
are three branches: Executive, Legislative, Judicial, and two political
parties, Democrats and Republicans, and the one in charge runs the
government.
are the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our country?
People have all the rights in the Bill of Rights – like freedom of speech,
press, and expression. Citizens have responsibility to support the
country.
role does the government play in your everyday life?
The government passes laws, but none that are constitutional.
PART IV
About Other Subjects
1. When did the American Civil War take place? Who was involved? What were the
causes? Why is this event significant? What were the effects of the war?
• (After I told him he could give me a range) Between 1820 – 1890. I was
between the North and the South, or the Confederates and Yankees. It
was important because Americans fought Americans. It was fought over
slavery, and the fact that the south thought they should be a different
government. Effects: The south lost.
2. When did World War I take place? What were the causes? Who was involved in
this war? What were the names of the opposing sides? Where was this war fought?
When did the United States become involved? Why? What were some of the effects
of the War?
• It started in 1911, and was Germany vs. everybody else, or Germany
versus us and the French, I can’t remember the names of the two sides.
The U.S. got involved in the middle of the war. After it was over,
Germany loses a lot of land and power.
3. When did World War II take place? What were the causes? Who was involved in
this war? What were the names of the opposing sides? Where was this war fought?
When did the United States become involved? Why? What were some of the effects
of the War?
• WWII was in the 1930s. It started when Germany invaded Poland. I
don’t remember the names of the opposing sides. War was fought in
Europe and Asia, basically everyone thought that Hitler had gotten too
big. The U.S. entered after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. It ended in
splitting Germany into two sides and the Cold War started.
4. When was the Great Depression? What were the causes? How did the
Depression impact the lives of people? Whom did the Great Depression affect?
Where did the Great Depression occur? How long did the Depression last? In what
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ways did people and the government try to overcome the problems of the
Depression?
• The Great Depression started in 1929, when the stock market crashed,
Americans became jobless and hungry, and many had to go soup
kitchens. No one had any money. Occurred only in America, and mainly
urban cities. It lasted until Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who
started programs. I can’t think of any ways the people or government
tried to overcome the problems of the Depression.
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APPENDIX B – INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
PART I
(1) Hieroglyphics
(2) Underground Railroad
• This one looks like ancient Egypt, and I don’t know what the other
one is but there is a gun in it, so I know that’s later.
(3) Moon Landing
• The moon landing I know was after slavery, there was way more
technology.
(4) Martin Luther
• This looks familiar, maybe Renaissance people?
(5) Great Depression
• The people waiting in line makes me think of the Great Depression,
which was before the moon landing.
(6) Concentration Camps
• The barbed wire makes this look like concentration camps from
WWII, so after the Depression.
(7) La Pieta
• The art style looks ancient, even though I don’t know who those
people are.
(8) Inter-war inflation
• I am not sure what’s happening there, but looks like around the
same time as concentration camps, so maybe this is also during
WWII.
(9) Ancient Greek soldiers
• I can tell by the way people are dressed and the weapons they are
holding that these are ancient warriors
(10)
Berlin Wall
• This looks like people trying to get over the Berlin Wall, which was a
result of WWII.
Correct Order – (1)  (9)  (7)  (4)  (2)  (8)  (5)  (6)  (3)  (10)
Between each: Why did you think to put that one there? See Above.
(11) Was this hard or easy? What things made it easy or hard?
• It was not as difficult, there were clues in each picture, but sometimes I
didn’t know where to place it before or after other ones that I thought were
the same time period.
(12) Which pictures do you think are the most interesting? Why?
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• The picture of the Pieta is interesting because it looks like it was difficult to
make and makes me wonder about the style of art during that time.
(13) PICK ONE: How do you think your life would be different if you had been alive
at this time?
• If I had lived during the Depression, my parents wouldn’t have been able to
afford things, and I would probably not be in school, I would probably be
trying to find work.
(14) FOR ONE: What do you think about people during this period, what was their
life like?
• There was no technology, people spoke a different language, and it was
more about the city state than the individual rights.
PART II
Interview Activity
1. Among your school subjects, where would you rank history in terms of your
interest over the years (top, middle, bottom)? Why?
• I don’t like civics at all, I always thought it was boring, but this year I like
history more because I have Mr. Bishop, I like the way he teaches.
2. What is history?
• History is the study of the past.
3. Why do we study history? What is your favorite historical topic/period? Why?
• To better understand what’s happening now and not make the same
mistakes of previous years. Or follow precedent if another society had done
well. I think WWII is the most interesting because it was so revolutionary.
4. What do historians do?
• Historians study the past and put it in to context of today.
5. What is a primary source? A secondary source?
• A primary sources is a source that comes directly from the period, a
secondary sources is a source written more recent times about something
in the past.
6. What do you think are the three most historically significant events in history?
Why?
• The Birth of Christ, because it sparked a whole new religion which is still
around today, the rise of the Roman Empire because it influenced and
constructed a lot that built Europe and eventually America, and WWII
because biggest world war and had a huge death toll. It also shaped many
European societies.
7. Who are the three most historically significant people in history? Why?
• Jesus – shaping Christianity
• Muhammad – starting and bringing prominence to Islam
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Adolf Hitler – WWII would have been different or maybe not have happened
without him.
8. Who are the three most historically significant women in history? Why?
• Well we don’t learn much about women, especially not in ancient times.
But I would Harriet Tubman because she freed many slaves, Rosa Parks
because helped start women’s rights and civil rights movements, and
Justinian’s wife, Theodora who helped Justinian to save the Eastern Roman
empire. At one point Justinian thought he wasn’t fit to rule anymore and
packed up all of his possessions and planned to run away, but Theodora
told him that wasn’t ok with her, and that he would have to stay, so she is
basically the reason that part of Rome survived.
9. What are the three most historically significant documents in history? Why?
• The Peace Treaty for WW2, because it stopped the war and crippled
Germany to where it couldn’t happen again, Hammurabi’s Code - it was
brutal but it was the first codified law, and the Rosetta Stone because it
allowed us to translate hieroglyphics.
10. Imagine that you could meet and talk with someone from the past. Who
would it be?
• The man who ran the race from Marathon to Athens.
What questions would you ask them? Why? Because you can't actually do that,
how could you find out the answers to your questions?
• He died when he finished it, but I would ask what he did to train to be able
to sprint that far and why he wanted to do it. There are probably places on
the internet where you could find that.
11. Have you ever seen a film or TV show, outside of school, on a historical topic?
If so, what was it? Did you wonder if it was historically accurate? Did you do
anything to check on its accuracy?
• Saving Private Ryan, I have wondered about accuracy. I have never looked
anything up, I have heard things about it though.
12. Do you ever discuss things that happened before 1975 with your friends? If
so, what topics?
• My best friend loves history so he talks about it a lot, but with normal
people, I never talk about it. One time on a road trip we talked about two
battles in Roman history.
•
PART III
About Government
1. Among your school subjects, where would you rank government & civics in
terms of your interest over the years (top, middle, bottom)? Why?
• It would rank very low, I’ll do it but I don’t like it because it’s boring.
2. Why do we study government and civics?
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So the masses are educated enough to make a decision about voting and
things about government. Some people will identify with only one political
party but not know what it stands for.
3. What is democracy? What other types of government are there?
• We are a representative democracy, the people decide who rule. Other
types are totalitarian, communism, socialism, fascism, dictatorship, egotarianism, monarchy, and the one where there’s two kings.
4. What are the main features of the American political system? (Probe for
branches of government, functions of government, etc.)
• There are three branches – the judicial, president, Senate and the House of
Representatives – I don’t remember the real names. They keep power
balanced – anyone can run for any office, we can vote, and there are parties
but you don’t have to be affiliated with one.
5. What are the rights and responsibilities of citizens in our country?
• Right to vote, freedom of speech, media, gather and protest, bear arms. We
have a responsibility to vote, uphold community, and be well educated in
politics.
6. What role does the government play in your everyday life?
• The play a role in the school system, regulation of the economy, and where
you live.
•
PART IV
About Other Subjects
1. When did the American Civil War take place? Who was involved? What were the
causes? Why is this event significant? What were the effects of the war?
• Happened sometime during the 1800s, and was between the North and
South, or the Union and…something that starts with C. It was fought over
slavery: the North didn’t like it, the south did. Also about economy and
plantations. It was important because it abolished slavery in America, and
was the first time anyone seceded from Union, we should study it to not
make the same mistakes.
2. When did World War I take place? What were the causes? Who was involved in
this war? What were the names of the opposing sides? Where was this war fought?
When did the United States become involved? Why? What were some of the effects
of the War?
• Took place in the early 1900s. Italy and Fascism teamed up with Germany,
and Russia. They wanted their ideas to spread. For outcomes, Germany
and Italy were weakened, most areas involved were devastated. The Great
Depression also took place during and after it.
3. When did World War II take place? What were the causes? Who was involved in
this war? What were the names of the opposing sides? Where was this war fought?
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When did the United States become involved? Why? What were some of the effects
of the War?
• Took place in the 1940s, and started with Germany invading Poland. The
sides were the Big Three, I don’t remember the official names. The U.S.
entered when Japan attacked Hawaii. Outcomes were Germany being
incredibly weakened, it lost land, the economy in drain and the government
was nothing. There was a split between U.S. and Russia, and it set us up as
more industrial country where we had to manufacture more weaponry.
4. When was the Great Depression? What were the causes? How did the
Depression impact the lives of people? Whom did the Great Depression affect?
Where did the Great Depression occur? How long did the Depression last? In what
ways did people and the government try to overcome the problems of the
Depression?
• Happened in the 1930s. The 1920s were good years, then the stock market
crashed, then living conditions sucked, there was no food, and a lot of
starvation and suicides. In the United States it centered on east coast and
New York and it hurt farmers and mid—West and central America. I’m not
sure about west coast. It lasted about a decade, when the war started, and
the draft. Women started manufacturing, which gave more people jobs and
got the economy back on track.
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APPENDIX C – IMAGES
(1)
(2)
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(3)
(4)
21
(5)
(6)
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(7)
(8)
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(9)
(10)
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Grace Cardwell
Prior Knowledge Interview Paper
Scoring Guidelines
Circle appropriate grade and highlight indicators to support choice and provide
comments
A= 145 - / + :
o Paper is based on an outstanding range of images that are explicitly linked with social
studies content/themes- very good chronology—over time- not just 20th century.
o Detailed and thorough notes or transcription of the interviews are provided as appendices
and referenced/cited in the text.
o Outstanding introduction provides context for the study, background of students and
detailed explanation of procedures and purpose
o Clearly details 2-3 main findings/insights/conclusions regarding students’ knowledge in
terms of social studies content that are clearly tied to key readings.
o Identifies and fully develops 2-3 appropriate instructional implications/and details
specific model strategies and examples to support student growth that are clearly tied and
clearly supported by key readings.
o Cites a variety of professional resources (4-7) and uses APA format.
o Effectively organized essay (introductory and concluding paragraphs, paragraphs with
main ideas and general supporting details).
o Control of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting.
o Supporting vlog post is clear- focused in terms of synthesizing the paper and connects to
future practice
Comments:
I tried to organize the paper into a few clear thoughts that I gleaned
after conducting the interviews, and thought I did a good job linking
to the interview transcripts. If I were to rewrite this paper I might have
worded some sections differently to make sure I got the point I was
trying to make across. I also would have included a few more
references. Overall though, this paper achieves what I intended and I
am happy with it.
B = 135-/+:
o Paper is based on strong range of images that are explicitly linked with social studies
content/themes.
o Notes or partial transcription of the interviews are provided as an appendices and
referenced/cited in the text.
o Strong introductions provide context for the study, background of students and detailed
explanation of procedures and purpose.
o Partially details some findings/insights/conclusion regarding students’ knowledge in
25
terms of the social studies content that are moderately connected to key readings.
o Partially identifies and details some instructional implications and strategies for student
growth and supported by key readings.
o Cites some professional resources (2-4).
o Organized essay (clear introductory and concluding paragraphs, paragraphs with main
ideas and general supporting details).
o Few errors in citation style, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting.
o Supporting vlog post is somewhat focused and attempts to connect to future practice
Comments:
C=125-/+:
o Paper is based on a limited range of images that are linked with social studies
content/themes.
o Partial notes of the interviews are provided as appendices with minimal referencing in
text.
o Weak introduction with minimal contextual details.
o Explanation of findings/insights/conclusions or implications unclear or incomplete, and
not clearly supported by evidence
o Minimally identifies and details instructional implications and strategies that are supported
from texts- (strategies are weak and not aligned)
o Minimal use of professional sources. (1-2)
o Essay includes some organization (introduction and conclusion, paragraphs focused on
single topics).
o Several errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting.
o Vlog post is weak in terms of content and reflection
Comments:
D: =115-/+.
o What introduction?
o Poor choice of images.
o Minimal notes of interviews.
o Conclusions or implications are inaccurate or inappropriate.
o No use of professional sources.
o Essay lacking in organization (no introduction or conclusion or paragraphs not focused on
single topics).
o Numerous errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting.
o Vlog—what vlog
Comments:
F: 0
Essay not completed according to guidelines.
Based on the quality of work I reserve the right to designate +’s and –‘s