Texas Social Studies Framework - Department of Geography ...

Chapter 3: Making Connections through Social Studies
Other subjects can also contribute to a unit on the U.S.
Constitution. Mathematics provides the tools to create
time lines, gather national and regional statistics, and
create graphs to interpret the data. A unit can provide
students with the opportunity to apply English language
arts and reading skills of research and writing as students
consider the material produced by convention delegates
and the audiences addressed. Connections with fine arts
provide a means to consider the influence of national and
international art, literature, and culture on the writers of
the constitution and the citizens of the United States. The
sectional differences Thomas Jefferson described when
he compared people in the North to people in the South
(Bowen, 1986, p. 92) become easier to understand when
students consider point of view, differences in science
and technology, and fine arts (see Figure 10).
High School World History
The growth of large cities near the end of the Neolithic
Age marks a major turning point in world history.
Examples usually included in a study of this era are the
Egyptian, Sumerian, Indus Valley, and Shang civilizations.
Figure 11 illustrates how the eight social studies
strands contribute to an understanding of this time
period. TEKS in the history strand invite attention to this
urban revolution and the beginning of civilization. While
these TEKS requirements offer some important ideas to
students, the study of these civilizations can be enriched
by instructional planning that includes TEKS from other
strands. The TEKS from the geography strand point to
the importance of locating the places and regions where
these great civilizations took root, interpreting information
contained on maps, and analyzing the effects of
physical and human factors on the growth of civilizations
in these places. Economics adds value to the study of
these early civilizations by focusing attention on the
economic and social factors that led to the rise of these
civilizations. The development of important ideas in
math, science, and technology and their influence on the
development of these early civilizations can be selected
from the science, technology, and society strand. TEKS
from the social studies skills strand can contribute to
students’ understanding of how archaeologists have
helped us learn about these early civilizations and
provide guidance in how students might report the results
of their study in writing or as a computer-based multimedia
presentation.
Classroom educators can make connections across the
curriculum as they plan instruction, thus assisting
students in drawing relationships between and among
17
17
history, geography, economics, and other strands. When
this happens, world history becomes much more than a
progression of independent and unrelated facts. It
becomes more than things that just happen for no
apparent reason. World history begins to make sense.
Events have causes and, in turn, they cause other events
to occur. World history becomes a great, marvelous story
of human experience rather than just another school
subject.
Figure 12 illustrates how the TEKS for English Language
Arts and Reading, Fine Arts, Health, Mathematics,
Science, and Technology Applications can support the
focus of a social studies unit on early civilizations. Ideas
and skills learned in these subjects can provide students
with additional ideas, skills, and perspectives as they
attempt to understand the important developments that
occurred during this significant period in world history.
CONNECTIONS BETWEEN IN-SCHOOL AND
OUT-OF-SCHOOL EXPERIENCES
Educators have long recognized that learning occurs both
inside and outside the classroom. When there is a conflict
between the knowledge and skills learned in school and
out of school, educators frequently feel frustrated,
especially because experiences out of school can exert a
more powerful influence than can in-school experiences.
When learners see few connections between life in
school and life outside of school, learner motivation lags
as they see little value in the things learned in school.
Many educational researchers and classroom educators
have searched for the solution to this conflict through
their study of motivation and their concern over making
the school subject relevant. Efforts to remedy this
problem sometimes result in the trivialization of content
or in lessons that are fun, but have little learning value. A
more productive approach to this problem might involve
a holistic approach to curriculum development and
instructional planning that gives consideration to connections
between the formal learning that occurs in school
and the informal learning that occurs in the family and
community (Hatcher and Beck, 1997). Figure 13 provides
some examples of resources from outside the
classroom that can support the TEKS-based social
studies instruction. Additional ways that parents and
informal educators such as museum staff can become
active participants in social studies instruction are
considered in Chapter 8.