DEMYSTIFYING THE HONORS COURSE FOR SOCIAL STUDIES

Presented at the North Carolina Social Studies ConferenceFebruary 12 & 13, 2015

Michelle McLaughlinSocial Studies Consultant

North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

What are some common myths or misconceptions people generally make about advanced learners (honors level students)?

When It Comes To Getting The Facts About Teaching Honors Level Students… Who Can You Call?

Some Common Myths About Advanced Learners

Myth: Advanced learners are good at everything.

Myth: Advanced learners don’t need special programs as they will be able to perform at high levels regardless.

Myth: Advanced learners enjoy independent work and are motivated to complete projects.

Myth: All children are gifted.

Myth: Teachers challenge all the students, so gifted students will be fine in the regular classroom.

Reality: Advanced learners vary in their abilities to perform just like any other group of students.

Reality: Because advanced learners are gifted they require programs which meet those needs in order to capitalize on their abilities and support them in their continuance of high levels of performance.

Reality: Just like their peers, advanced learners are not always motivated or enjoy doing independent work. Even the most learning-oriented advanced learners given the most challenging of independent projects, needs help sustaining motivation.

Reality: Although it’s true that teachers try to challenge all students, they are often unfamiliar with the needs of advanced learners and don’t know how to best serve them. The National Research Center on Gifted & Talented found that 61% of classroom teachers had no training in teaching advanced students, and thus their classrooms did not provide challenging work for advanced learners.

Reality: While all children are special and deserving, not all children have exceptional academic gifts that require additional support in school.

Here is a fantastic idea for extending A topic,

challenging and enhancing skill ability &

adding A level of complexity to content!

Link http://www.biologycorner.com/worksheets/videos/mythbusters_storymap.html

Fantastic Resource: Check It Out & Try It!

What Should A Honors Course

Look Like?

What Do You Think?

Which Of The Choices Listed Do You Think Should Be The Key Criteria When Planning To Demonstrate How A Honors Level

Course Differentiates Itself From The Standard Level Course In North Carolina?

The Answer Is…E. Surpassing The Minimum Specified Standards

A. The Advanced Topics And ContentB. Accelerated Pacing C. Academic Rigor D. High Expectations And Critical ThinkingE. Surpassing The Minimum Specified Standards

Standard Level Honors Level Advanced Placement

Course content, pace and academic rigor follow standards specified by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study (N.C.S.C. O. S.) with occasional content enrichment where appropriate.

Course content, pace and academic rigor put high expectations on the student and surpass standards specified by the (N.C.S.C. O. S.) Such courses demand a greater independence and responsibility. Honors courses are NOT college-level courses.

Advanced Placement courses are college-level courses. The level of rigor should go beyond the level of instruction and learning found in an honors level course and be equivalent to the level of rigor outlined in a freshman level college course.

Academic Course Levels As Defined In North Carolina State Board Policy

Your corner assignment will be based on the color of your index card.

You may find these stages of teaching at -http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/SSDL/CartoonsTeaching.html

Verbs Used To Describe This Teaching Style

Impart

Convey

Inform

Input

Drill Direct

Give

Tell

You may find these stages of teaching at -http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/SSDL/CartoonsTeaching.html

Verbs Used To Describe This Teaching Style

Push

Persuade

Mold

Train

Shape

Demonstrate

You may find these stages of teaching at -http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/SSDL/CartoonsTeaching.html

Verbs Used To Describe This Teaching Style

Offer & Suggest

Point The Way

Help

Initiate

GuideLead

Facilitate

Explore

You may find these stages of teaching at -http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/SSDL/CartoonsTeaching.html

Verbs Used To Describe This Teaching Style

Enable

Bring Out

FosterNurture

EncourageCultivate

AdvisePlant

You may find these stages of teaching at -http://www.longleaf.net/ggrow/SSDL/CartoonsTeaching.html

MEANINGFUL LEARNING

ACADEMIC RIGOR

HONORS LEVEL RIGOR

How is the honors level course differentiated for advanced learners?

(Activity)

MEANINGFUL LEARNING

ACADEMIC RIGOR

HONORS LEVEL RIGOR

Write an essay on how the economic prosperity of the 1920s was actually a contributing factor to the economic depression of the 1930s.

Use information from 5 different primary source documents to write an essay on how the depression of the 1930s resulted from the economic prosperity of the 1920s.

Write a proposal in hindsight outlining how the nation can correct/fix its economic recession in October 1928 to prevent the Stock Market Crash of October 1929.

Develop a storyboard outlining the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Use the storyboard to emphasize actions that could have prevented the event altogether.

Analyze evidence from declassified documents of the Departments of State and Defense to determine if the political decisions of both U.S. and Cuba played a role in leading to the Cuban Missile Crisis. Use information from your analysis to propose a reasonable argument for how the Crisis could have been avoided. Be prepared to articulate your findings and your argument in a seminar setting.

The Prospect Theory predicts that when individuals perceive themselves to be experiencing losses at the time they make a decision, and when their probability estimates associated with their principal policy options are in the moderate to high range, they will tend to make excessively risky, non–value maximizing choices. Use the Prospect Theory to analyze the Cuban Missile Crisis to determine if the evidence for the Cuban Missile Crisis supports this prediction for the most important decisions made by both Khrushchev and Kennedy.

Soul Train Scramble Share Out

Soul Train Scramble Share OutMEANINGFUL

LEARNINGACADEMIC

RIGORHONORS LEVEL RIGOR

Read the recommendations Alfred Mahan made in the late 1800s referencing the United States becoming an imperial power. Put his recommendations into your own words and then present an argument on why the U.S. should not pursue his recommendations.

Prioritize the recommendations made by Alfred Mahan referencing the United States becoming a world power in order of 1 being the most important and the number of your final recommendation choice being the least important. Once you have your ranking write a statement justifying your priorities.

Research a current position that the U.S. has taken in regards to a global interaction and interdependence. Tell what would happened if the U.S. applied Mahan’s recommendations to current international planning.

Outline the procedural flow of how a bill becomes a law. Describe the significance of the process in terms of checks and balances and separation of powers.

Research a current issue and come up with your own proposal for a law in regards to that issue. Using a flow chart map out this proposal from birth to either a successful or unsuccessful outcome.

Compare the Communications Act of 1834 and Executive Order 9066 and make an assessment about the effectiveness of checks and balances system and the separation of powers as applied to both.

I

Extensions Advanced Topics Additional

Essential Standards

Additional Clarifying Objectives

Curriculum & Content

Beyond The NCSCOS Goals

& Objectives

How should the content and curriculum of the honors level course go beyond what is taught in the standard level course?

An Example of an Extension that might be added to a Honors American History Course

Extension example 1:• An Honors American History course might include the case study of “The

Passing of the Frontier: Did it have to happen in order to advance America politically and economically?” A case study in history should bring together the two complementary attributes

essential to historical comprehension: chronology and historical inquiry. The teacher’s explanation of the design of a case study should detail how the case study is constructed around one or more value tensions i.e., common wealth versus private wealth, law versus ethics, diversity versus unity, common good versus individual rights, freedom versus equality and isolation versus international involvement.

Extension example 2:• An Honors American History course might include the advanced study of “The

Frontier as a leading influence in shaping American life.” A choice may be to have advanced students study the “Thesis” by Frederick Jackson

Turner in terms of exploring the author, the “Thesis” in its entirety, writings and arguments proposed by critics of the “Thesis”, and various topics and concepts that can be studied beyond the expectations of the standard level course such as: social democracy, growth of political democracy, safety valve for workers, individualism, invention, etc..

An Example of A Way To Extend An Honors Level Course Using A Topic

Instructional Decisions For Lessons & Learning Experiences

How will the honors level course be taught to differentiate for the needs of advanced learners?

Methods of Teaching Materials Used to

Teach Strategies &

Practices Used to Teach

Units Lesson Plans Assignments

How will these methods and materials be used to teach the honors level course in greater depth and complexity from the

standard level course?

Let’s Explore Some Assignments

1. Read Letters by the Federalists (Excerpts from Rufus King to Timothy Pickering in 1803 and 1804 and the Inaugural Address by Thomas Jefferson and participate in a class seminar). The question of focus for the seminar is Did Federalist oppose the Louisiana Purchase for practical or political reasons?

2. Using information from 10 primary source documents your knowledge of political and social history and geography, answer the questions that address the philosophies of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X follow each document. Then use the documents and your answers to write an essay for this DBQ question: Martin Luther King and Malcolm X: Whose Philosophy Made the Most Sense for America In the 1960s?

3. Contact a veteran who fought in a war or a military “operation”, and ask permission to interview them about their opinions and experiences as a soldier during the conflict. Generate your own interview questions and get them approved prior to the interview.

4. Visit a local town hall or city council meeting and write a paper about your experience.

5. Students will research and evaluate the historical accuracy of the film Glory or of a scene in the film and, where inaccuracies are found, students can theorize about the filmmakers' reasons for making the change from the facts.

6. Students will participate in an academic lecture given by a guest speaker.

Each Person Has One of the Following 6 Assignments.

Read Your Assignment And Decide If Your Assignment Would Be At A Standard Level or Honors Level.

Brain Stimulator

If you were an assessment what type of assessment

would you be and why?

Type your one answer into a Padlet note by going to this internet address - http://padlet.com/mmclaughlin81/ko51q0fkpuvh

Your assessment choices should be designed around practices, strategies and tools used to provide on-going feedback to both the teacher and the advanced learner, in order to develop instruction that has a greater depth and complexity than the standard level course and improve student learning.

Your assessment should be about the learning. Therefore assessment in the honors course should be…1. “for the learning” (to help the teacher make instructional

decisions for the advanced learner) 2. “of the learning” (to allow both the teacher and the

student information about how the student is doing)

If your assessment choices are focused on how students are graded, the types of tests, quizzes, essays, DBQs, research, using rubrics, and performance tasks that you give...

You are missing the mark!

Why Do You Assess Students In An Honors Course?

Questions Anyone?

There are some frequently asked questions (FAQs) that teachers often have about HONORS LEVEL COURSES. Let’s take a moment to hear some of yours…

Thank You For Attending

For Ideas & Support On Designing Your Honors Social Studies Course Refer To The Tools and Resources On The Social Studies Honors Wiki…

http://honorsimplementation.ncdpi.wikispaces.net/SOCIAL+STUDIES+HONORS+SUPPORT+WIKI

For Social Studies Specific Questions Contact… Michelle McLaughlin michelle.mclaughlin@dpi.nc.gov NCDPI K-12 Social Studies Consultant

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