Schell and Fisher (2007), in Teaching Social Studies: A Literacy-Based Approach, emphasis the importance of topics, themes, concepts, and Big Ideas. Schell and Fisher (2007), also state that “naturally, we organize information into categories” (p. 75). If we bypassed this organization, chance are great that little understanding will occur. Last night after we had chosen a topic in which to shape our unit around, we too began to categorize our thoughts into a standards cluster. By doing this, our thoughts were put on paper and can easily be expanded on as other thoughts and ideas come about. Our next step will be to find common themes and concepts that exist in our research. We will continue to explore the many aspects present in railroad life and use this information to expand our unit. Essential questions may be used to help assist our students in uncovering the big ideas. Overall, I believe that Chapter 4 has been a great asset in providing information that will assist with the social studies section of our integrated unit.
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