Social Studies Case Story

Dilemma

Mrs. Jones, a fourth grade teacher, is concerned that her students' diverse reading abilities prevent them from understanding social studies material and achieving the standards set for fourth grade. She is frustrated that she only has 45 minutes per day for social studies instruction.

She has 29 students—14 girls and 15 boys. Her students represent a heterogeneous mix of backgrounds and abilities. She has seven students who have identified disabilities and an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Of these seven students, four have a specific learning disability, two have speech and language disabilities and one is blind. Four other students are English language learners. In addition, there is a great diversity of reading ability across the classroom population, particularly in the areas of decoding, comprehension and language. Mrs. Jones' dilemma is how to help all students achieve the social studies lesson goals given the short time period and the widely diverse skills levels of students.

Setting

Mrs. Jones teaches in a school that has made a commitment to focus on improving students' reading skills by increasing the allocation of instructional time for reading. The faculty is philosophically committed to inclusion. Therefore, her students represent a diverse mix of backgrounds and include:

• Students with specific learning disabilities
• Students with speech and language disabilities
• English language learners
• Students who have widely diverse reading abilities
• One student who is blind

Her fourth grade classroom is equipped similarly to the other elementary classrooms in her district in terms of instructional materials, computers and access to the Internet. She teaches in a suburban district located northwest of Chicago. The district has a total school population of 11,500 students of which approximately 1,500 have identified disabilities. The district has set a goal to upgrade facilities built between 1969 and 1985 to provide appropriate technology for instructional use and faculty/staff support.

Classroom

Teacher

Mrs. Jones is a veteran teacher in the district. She has taught in this school for 11 of her 14 years of teaching at the upper elementary level. She holds a master's degree in elementary education and specializes in reading and language arts.

When the school made a commitment to the inclusion of students with disabilities in the general education classrooms, she fully supported that initiative. She attended several summer workshops on inclusion and attends the IEP meetings for each of the seven students in her class who have identified disabilities.

Class Profile

The 29 students in Mrs. Jones' class are very diverse in their reading abilities. The students are organized into four homogeneous reading groups for the daily reading instruction. Instructional time for reading is 90 minutes per day. Mrs. Jones has one paraprofessional in her classroom to support her. An itinerant vision teacher also spends several periods a day in the classroom working with the student who is blind.

Resources

Mrs. Jones' fourth grade class is typical of an elementary school in the district. She has two computers in her classroom available for teacher and student use. These computers have broadband Internet connections and are equipped with standard software for word processing, spreadsheet manipulation, graphics processing and RFB&D’s AudioPlus® CDs. There is a complete encyclopedia available, both in print and electronic formats. In addition, Mrs. Jones also has two playback devices for RFB&D’s AudioPlus CDs.

The Media Center is equipped with six desktop computers with Internet access and RFB&D’s AudioPlus playback software. There are also six playback devices for RFB&D’s AudioPlus® CDs. Students use the print version of the district-adopted social studies textbook. Each student has a copy of the textbook. A paraprofessional is available for 30 minutes per day during the reading instruction time. An itinerant vision teacher works with the student who is blind on academic assignments in the classroom allowing the student to remain included in the daily lessons.

School

Mrs. Jones teaches in a school in which the faculty made a philosophical commitment to inclusion. In addition, the faculty has adopted a commitment to focus on improving reading skills by increasing the allocation of instructional time for reading and language arts and, therefore, reducing time allocations in other subject areas.

Goals

Mrs. Jones’ goal is to engage her students in doing research on the physical and topographical characteristics of a region in order to draw a map. She is particularly interested in structuring her lesson to help students become more proficient in doing research and to improve their ability to learn social studies text material.

Standards

Mrs. Jones knows that she must create goals and objectives to articulate and plan steps toward meeting prescribed standards and that she must clearly communicate these learning goals to her students.

• Standard 2: How to use mental maps to organize information about people, places and environments in a spatial context
• Knowledge Statement 3—The location of major physical and human features in the United States and on Earth
• Standard 5: That people create regions to interpret Earth's complexity
• Knowledge Statement 2—The similarities and differences among regions
• Standard 12: The processes, patterns and functions of human settlement
• Knowledge Statement 2—The factors that affect where people settle

Lesson Goals

Mrs. Jones designs instructional goals for the unit that are linked to the standards and are specific to content and learning activities.

UDL Approach

Students will:

• Map the political, topographical and natural resources of a selected state
• Compare patterns across the maps

• Present results to demonstrate understandings of the state and resources

Objectives

Mrs. Jones writes instructional objectives for individual lessons to specify student expectations and clarify steps toward meeting the goals under the standards.

The objectives provide students with more flexibility by allowing them to choose materials and final products with which they are comfortable. For example, when collecting information, students may choose:

• Standard print materials such as textbooks, encyclopedias and newspapers
• Web-based content such as geography web pages and online newspapers
• Digitally recorded content, such as RFB&D’s AudioPlus CDs
• CD-ROMs such as multimedia encyclopedias

• Make a traditional oral presentation
• Create a video
• Design an original presentation using a software program such as Microsoft PowerPoint
• Build and explain a three-dimensional map

• Digitally recorded texts such as RFB&D’s AudioPlus books on CD
• Various means and materials that students can use to create a map. Examples include: (a) draw a map; (b) create a map with clay, etc.; (c) create a map electronically with computer tools (GIS); (d) have students verbalize for others the details of what to place on a map and where.
• Accessible materials for students to review/research

Introduction

Summary/Reflection

• Provide students with options for presenting information (e.g., presentation may be written, oral, video or visual).
• Provide scaffolds and alternate means of collecting information for audience as students make presentations (e.g. recording, notes, response questions).
• Provide alternatives for writing a compare/contrast chart (e.g., oral, pictorial, digital).

Assessment

Mrs. Jones understands that assessing student progress is a more comprehensive practice than simply preparing and giving a test. She knows that it is necessary to observe her students and provide feedback as they write and to provide flexible structures, such as rubric scoring, to assess her students' progress. Mrs. Jones ensures her assessments:

• Are designed to adjust to many individual differences
• Focus the questions on exactly what teachers are trying to find out
• Are flexible in presentation, expression, supports and engagement

This reduces common errors introduced by single-mode fixed assessments such as tests. This flexibility allows Mrs. Jones to align her assessments more closely with her teaching goals and instruction, which enables her to assess her students more accurately.

Observing and Recording

Mrs. Jones will:

• Monitor cooperation in working groups and student roles. Provide instruction, scaffolds and feedback.
• Observe and record students’ use of alternative resources such as RFB&D’s AudioPlus books. Determine if students require further instruction in effectively using materials.
• Observe and record learner use of notes and resources when completing the map.
• Observe and record student note taking, using constructed or open-ended formats. Indicate type and accuracy of notes. Determine need for further instruction.
• Check map contents, organization and presentation with prepared scoring rubric.

Evaluate Performance

Mrs. Jones frequently uses tests and student products to evaluate students' understanding of new content. She will:

• Evaluate the constructs measured in the published test. Determine if there is a match of the lesson evaluation procedures to the lesson standards and goals.
• Evaluate the accessibility for all learners in the class if this measure is determined adequate for the learning goals.
• Consider alternate means of delivery, such as providing a digitally recorded version of the test, administering an oral test, providing untimed sessions, etc.