Social Studies Reflection

What were your major SIOP takeaways from this lesson?

This social studies lesson taught me a lot as I had never taught social studies before. One
of my major SIOP takeaways was how important processing text is in social studies. I also
learned how easy integration is with social studies and language arts. Dr. Murray taught us a lot
about choosing texts that improve literacy and teach the students about social studies. Prior to
teaching this lesson, I didnt realize how easy the integration was. Many times teachers explain
that they dont teach social studies because of lack of time. Although time is important,
integration helps save time instead of teaching them entirely isolated and even creates more
connected learning. Another takeaway I had was that I really need to work on my pacing. I really
struggle to fit in all of my activities and I hope that more experience will help me to pace my
lessons more effectively. Along with pacing, I have other areas that need improvement, but also
some areas of strength.
The SIOP component of preparation is a strength of mine in some features but is also an
area of improvement in other features. My use of supplementary materials (SIOP 4) in this lesson
was a strength due to my PowerPoint which included pictures and maps as visuals. The students
were able to understand the environment of the indigenous people because of the map I provided
on the PowerPoint. A big part of this lesson was comparing the two different Native American
tribes which was largely dependent upon their environment. Using the visuals and maps helped
the students to develop a basic understanding before they read the text. Although my use of
supplementary materials was particularly strong, my adaptation of content (SIOP 5) needed
improvement. I provided text on the Native American tribes to the students, but did not have
leveled text for students that were below grade level. If I were to do it again, I would look in my

school leveled library for potential adapted texts on indigenous people. Because I did not provide
an adapted text, one partnership struggled while learning about their tribe. I wish I would have
looked for adapted text so that they could complete the graphic organizer on their own.
Building background was also a strength as I required the students to close their eyes and
visualize their family, classroom, and individual cultures (SIOP 7). This helped the students to
develop a better understanding of culture, which was important because they would be learning
about people who had a very different culture than their own. However, I could have made a
better link to their past learning (SIOP 8) by activating a previous lesson. This was difficult since
they hadnt learned anything about the Native American people before as I was the first lesson of
the unit. In my own future classroom, I will better be able to link new and past learning because I
will be in control of the sequence.
The component of comprehensible input was also a strength in this lesson. This SIOP
component was hard for me to grasp this semester when I started, but I feel as though Im slowly
improving on the features included. I believe I did a good job by slowing my speech (SIOP 10)
down and enunciating my words correctly. In previous lessons, I struggled to slow down my
speech rate and even ended up with a sore throat after only an hour of teaching. After teaching
this lesson, my throat didnt hurt as I varied the rate of my speech but also the tone and volume. I
was able to keep students engaged without yelling! This was an aha moment for me as I was able
to use my voice to engage my students without straining it.
A component I need further improvement in is the strategies component. I did not give
students ample opportunities to use learning strategies (SIOP 13). The only way students were
able to learn information about their assigned tribe was through reading text. If I were to do this
lesson again, I would give the groups a video to watch to supplement the text. That way, the

students would have multiple ways to access the information. Another feature that needed
improvement was my scaffolding techniques (SIOP 14). Prior to letting the students loose with
their texts, I should have performed a think-aloud with one page and demonstrated picking out
the important elements to put on my graphic organizer. This would have helped the students
better understand their task as well as how to pick out key elements to put on a graphic organizer.
Because of the nature of this lesson, interaction was a strength as we did a lot of talking!
The students read with a partner and discussed key elements to include in their graphic
organizers. I noticed that their interaction helped them make sense of the text (SIOP 16). Some of
the students who were more advanced readers were able to talk to some of the struggling readers
and explain the key elements which helped them fully understand their tribe. We also had a lot of
interaction opportunities as we compared and contrasted the two Native American tribes as a
class. The students were engaged and made a contribution as I pulled sticks instead of calling on
students with their hands raised. Although frequent interaction was a strength, I could have
configured my partnerships differently (SIOP 17). One group in particular included two
struggling readers. In the moment, I didnt realize I paired them together but did not want to
change it once the students started. I didnt want those students to feel like I didnt believe in
them although I spent much of the time with that partnership guiding them through the graphic
organizer. In my own classroom, I will not create partnerships on the spot and will ensure that all
grouping configurations support literacy development.
Overall, the component of practice/application needed improvement in this lesson.
Besides the text and graphic organizer, the students did not have any hands-on materials (SIOP
20). I think some adequate hands-on materials for this type of a lesson could have been Native
American artifacts for the students to look at and investigate. This SIOP component is tricky for

me in both language arts and social studies lessons. I wish I knew more about how to incorporate
hands-on activities in these types of lessons.
As with my other lessons, my lesson delivery was strong with an exception to pacing. It
seems that no matter how hard I try, I still cannot get my pacing down (SIOP 26). Similar to my
math lesson, I struggled to fit in a quality closure due to lack of time at the end of my lesson. I
didnt have time for students to complete the entire assessment because of my poor pacing.
Moving forward, I wonder if there are pacing techniques or tricks to keep my lessons on pace. If
so, Id like to learn more about it! Im hoping that pacing will come with experience.
Although I didnt have time for the assessment, my review/assessment component was
stronger than in the past. It still isnt my strongest area, but I did see improvement since the
beginning of the semester. Our closure conversation was deeper as I asked higher-order questions
about the settlers who came to America and fought with the Native Americans (SIOP 28). One
thing I did throughout my lessons, but was most effective in this one, was my use of a stoplight
for self-assessment. Although I used it in my other two lessons, I feel as though the student
responses were more honest because they had had practice (SIOP 30). The stoplight requires the
students to go behind an easel and put a sticky note on the hidden stoplight for their eyes only.
The students put their sticky note with their names on the back wherever they feel they are at the
end of the lesson in regards to the objective. Green means they feel ready to move on, yellow
means they need a little more experience and practice, and red means they didnt get it. Although
I did not get any red responses, I did get a lot of yellows and some green responses. In the past,
the students would mostly put their sticky notes on the green. For this lesson, the students were
used to it and gained more trust in me and responded honestly. Their responses did not surprise
me as I know the students need more than one lesson to learn about the Native American people.

How did you impact student learning in this lesson?

Student engagement and excitement was evident in this lesson. Because of testing at the
end of the year, the students werent receiving as much social studies instruction. This caused the
students to be engaged and thirsting for more. The students elicited great comparisons and
contrasts between the two Native American tribes and wanted to continue learning about them.
Although the students didnt read text about both tribes, their verbal responses showed me that
they truly understood the differences among the two tribes and what a big role the environment
played in those differences. I think the students were able to understand the similarities and
differences because of the graphic organizer. The graphic organizer was effective because it
helped them to organize their thoughts and visually see the different responses in each category.
Similar to the deep discussions, the students were able to articulate at least one difference and
similarity in their short response on the assessment. The students also showed me their
knowledge of the change that occurred with the settlers from Europe came over. Although the
students did well on the assessment, I still think the students need to learn about the other four
major Native American people to get a complete grasp of their lives and their culture. If I were to
teach this lesson again, I would create either a poster or a bulletin board with an ongoing graphic
organizer including all of the six major Native American nations. That way, the students can
compare and contrast along the way to get a deeper understanding of their differences and
similarities and the role the environment plays. I would also leave a map up in the classroom that
shows the division of the six major nations.
Where will you go from here?
This lesson taught me a lot about myself and helped me realize how fun social studies can
be. Although I lack a lot of knowledge, it is exciting to learn about different parts of our world

and teach it to the students. Students really do love social studies which I didnt realize until
teaching this lesson! Looking forward, I know I will make the time to teach social studies on a
daily basis to foster citizenship among my students as they gain a global awareness. My goal
moving forward is to make time for social studies and develop strong, deep lessons as well as
work on my pacing. Next year as a first grade teacher, I hope to pace appropriately so I can
accomplish the lessons I plan and promote student engagement.
Overall, my understanding of SIOP has improved because I have been able to identify
areas for improvement and areas of strength. By doing so, I am able to make goals regarding my
SIOP understanding in order to improve my teaching and make content comprehensible for my
students. Ive learned that I have consistent areas of strengths such as my lesson delivery but
continually struggle in my review/assessment features. Because I am able to identify my
weaknesses, I am able to make specific goals to improve my SIOP abilities. Moving forward, I
am a firm believer of SIOP and understand the value of labeling SIOP features in our lessons as
it forces me to think of my students and make my lessons the best they can be.