Essential Questions...

These are arranged according to Wiggins & McTighe's "Six Facets of Understanding."

Explanation:

What are some sources for information on climate change?

What might I find in the editorial page of a newspaper (facts or opinions)?

Interpretation:

Is this author trying to inform or convince her audience?

Does a correlation between lots of cars and increasing temperatures mean that cars cause high temperatures?

Application:

How could I use statistics to convince (or even trick) someone?

Can I make information clearer by making a chart or graph?

Perspective:

Why do some people not want to use "cleaner energy"?

What do farmers think about cheap food prices?

How might new information make scientists change their mind about nuclear power?

Empathy:

Did people really believe the earth was flat? Why?

Why does this author want to change our minds?

Self-Knowledge:

How can I know am getting the best information?

Am I being affected by "pseudo-information"?

Clarifying Content Priorities

My topic is unintentionally vast, and I'm thinking I will have to hone it down (or reign it in) as I work. For now, am sticking with

Evidence & Truth

Worth Being Familiar With:

For this lesson unit to work, students must have at least a casual knowledge of the types of writing and the way information is typically presented (including charts, graphs, captions, and other features of nonfiction) in:

*newspapers,

*textbooks,

*magazines,

*television (especially news shows),

*Websites (especially informational sites like Wikipedia, news outlets, and child-intended sites).

Important to Know and Do:

Skills children will gain or improve through the lesson unit are:

*discriminating between facts and opinions

*determining authors' purpose(s)

*finding/gathering reliable evidence

*demanding justification and clarification when confusion arises.

Big Ideas & Enduring Understandings:

"Prove it to me!"--simply hearing or seeing information is not the same as understanding and believing it.

Greetings! I am Dave C., and I am a graduate student in Meredith College's Education Department.

This is a 'blog that I've created for my Social Studies & Arts Methods class; it will feature information about those topics, as well as other entries about education in general, and anything else that seems important to me.

Hope you enjoy reading!