Full Description
"These activities will foster participation and critical thinking in the classroom."
—R. Jon Frey, Director of Speech Activities
Aberdeen Central High School, SD
"Cooperative group learning is a powerful approach, and this book provides explicit ideas and guidelines."
—Stephanie van Hover, Associate Professor of Social Studies Education
University of Virginia
Give your students the opportunity to think, discover, and learn together in social studies!
Teamwork helps students strengthen individual retention, improve performance, and promote meaning-making in the classroom. To give adolescent minds practice in critical thinking, the authors use their considerable teaching experience to present more than 40 problem-solving activities that are ready for immediate use in the social studies classroom.
This second edition of Catch Them Thinking in Social Studies demonstrates how to use collaborative learning strategies to fully engage students in meaning-making. Cooperative Problem-Solving Activities for Social Studies, Grades 6-12 offers lessons in five areas of social studies instruction: geography, politics, economics, culture, and history. Each activity includes background information, clue cards, objectives, tasks, and worksheets. This updated edition helps teachers:
Develop students' decision-making, analysis, and communication skills
Foster teamwork and interdependent learning
Construct cooperative problem-solving activities using their own curriculum
Featuring current research and new activities, this hands-on resource helps teachers facilitate cooperative problem solving in social studies and provides teacher tips throughout the book.
Contents
Foreword by Tim Erickson
Preface
About the Authors
Introduction
1. Geography: Time Zones, Maps, and Population Counts
Activity 1: The IBA: Globe Trotting
Activity 2: The IBA: Time Zones
Activity 3: The IBA: Playoff Schedule
Activity 4: The IBA: Satellite TV
Activity 5: Maps of the United States and Canada
Activity 6: Demographics: "Population Shifts"
Activity 7: World Rankings
Activity 8: US Population Clock Projections
Activity 9: World Population Clock Projections
2. Politics: US Political Processes
Activity 10: The President's Cabinet
Activity 11: Apportionment
Activity 12: Apportionment: The Equal Proportions Method
Activity 13: Gerrymandering a State
Activity 14: Gerrymandering a County
Activity 15: The Electoral College and the Election of 1824
Activity 16: "Capitol" Murder: How to Kill a Bill
Activity 17: Coming to America
3. Economics: My Money, Our Money
Activity 18: Interest(ing) Times
Activity 19: The IRS and the Single Taxpayer
Activity 20: The Power of Diversification
Activity 21: Family Matters
Activity 22: Social Security Retirement Benefits
Activity 23: Watch Your Money Grow
Activity 24: Watch Your Money Go!
Activity 25: Mortgage Smorgasbord
Activity 26: To Buy or Not to Buy
Activity 27: Real and Personal Property Taxes
4. Cultures: Mystery From History
Activity 28: Succession to the British Throne (Part 1)
Activity 29: Succession to the British Throne (Part 2)
Activity 30: Royal Surfing (Part 1)
Activity 31: Royal Surfing (Part 2)
Activity 32: Roman Numerals
Activity 33: Mayan Math (Part 1)
Activity 34: Mayan Math (Part 2)
Activity 35: Search for the Zytar (Part 1)
Activity 36: Search for the Zytar (Part 2)
Activity 37: Search for the Zytar (Part 3)
5. History: Perspectives on Past Events
Activity 38: The American Revolution
Activity 39: The Election of 1824
Activity 40: The 1850's
Activity 41: The Roaring Twenties
Activity 42: What's in a Name?
Activity 43: Five Great Presidents
Activity 44: The Headright System
Activity 45: US Population Growth 1790-1860
Index
