Visual Mapping:
For this chapter, we had to construct a visual map to represent what we learned in the chapter. This is my visual map of what I read and learned from chapter 8. My "visual picture" in the middle is 4 puzzle pieces. They spell out the title of the chapter. I thought drawing a puzzle pieces would be appropriate because when teachers create units, there are different pieces of the unit that they have to put together like putting together a puzzle. Unit planning involves both the teacher and students. Thats why I put this at the top because these people are the focus of unit planning. I then branched of to the 3 evaluation criteria. The 3 main evaluation criteria that are used when planning social studies units include: significant, coherence, and relevance. Significance means that the criteria is important to the subject topic and to the students needs. Coherence is when students question and gain a skill of understanding for the topic. Relevance is when the topic is relatable to students and they can reflect on.
The next branch is about focus units. There are the descriptive-focused units, thinking skills-focused units, and conceptual and thinking skills-focused units. Descriptive focus units focus on students gaining of knowledge they learned. Thinking-skill units focus on the skills that are to be learned and gained from the lesson. Conceptual and thinking skills have students focus om instructional strategies.
The next branch contains the two types of units: theme units and issue & problem-solving units. Integrated units are units that incorporate other school subjects with the main subject that is focused on. The chapter provided 16 steps in order to develop integrated units. This was another branch I included. These steps are:
1) Gathering ideas
2) research the topic
3.develop focus questions
4.incorporating special needs accommodations.
5. develop learning outcomes.
6. categorize learning outcomes
7. create an idea web
8. develop rationale and goal
9. begin KWL chart
10. develop learning objectives
11. develop assessment plan
12. develop lesson plans
13. integrating technology
14. implementing the unit
15. evaluate student learning
16. reflecting on the unit.
Brianna-
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, your blog is so cute, interactive, and fun! Great job! I chose to comment on this post because it stood out to me that you not only showed your visual map and explained it, but you also provided steps for visual mapping. I think this is extremely useful because sometimes visual maps can look confusing. By providing steps, I think that students engaging in this activity will be able to make sense of the assignment. Also, providing directions ensures that every student will follow the same procedure but the best part about visual mapping is that each map varies with each student. Different interpretations of topics are a great element to bring to the classroom in order to foster a collaborative and meaningful Social Studies experience! I will definitely be using the steps you provided should I ever carry out this activity with students, if you don't mind! Thank you!
-Courtney