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Pilot Teams |
War Experiences Ted and Jim spent one meeting reviewing the Social Studies benchmarks for their unit. Their basic plan was to have Ted’s students in Applying Technology make a documentary as part of an investigation that Jim’s students in World History would do. Ted had been unfamiliar with the Social Studies benchmarks, but because he was a veteran of the Vietnam War and his father was a veteran of World War II, he was able to give considerable insight about connections between the benchmarks and the project of examining various veterans’ war experiences. For example, one standard is “Judging Decisions from the Past;” Ted felt veterans from different wars would have plenty to say about government decisions to enter wars. Reflecting on the Core Democratic Values, Ted had numerous suggestions about links students could find between the ideals of Truth, Life, Liberty, The Pursuit of Happiness, Common Defense and a veteran’s war experiences. Jim had already been excited about linking Social Studies with Applying Technology; Ted was now more excited about linking technology with Social Studies.
Winter This team, after much discussion, decided to have students investigate ways that other northern regions around the world have minimized the impacts of winter on humans. They thought perhaps it would be useful if students understood that winter has to do with a period of low solar input. As the team reviewed benchmarks in the four content areas, the conversation was rich and rapid. The Science teacher would have students design experiments to assess temperature differences when a heat source is direct or indirect; the Mathematics teacher would have students look for patterns in astronomical data at different latitudes to compare day lengths. The Social Studies teacher would look at maps to relate temperatures to latitude, while the English teacher would read Jack London’s short story, “To Light a Fire” to help students understand the very human impact of reduced heat from the sun. The team found these rich connections to be exciting, and went on to look for connections on other topics within their unit.
These are some reasons teachers found value in a benchmark review:
Understanding intent of benchmarks