Two-Column Notes

Date:

Page #

Name: Daniel Carter

Class/Subject: EDTL:2760

What Is Social Studies?

MR Source(s): National Council for the Social Studies. (1994). What Is Social Studies? Expectations of
Excellence: Curriculum Standards for Social Studies. Washington, DC: NCSS, 1-3.
Ohio Department of Education. (2010) Ohios new learning standards: Social Studies Standards.
Retrieved from http://education.ohio.gov/getattachment/Topics/Ohio-s-New-Learning-Standards/SocialStudies/SS-Standards.pdf.aspx
The Text Says
I Say
Notes (key concepts, direct quotes, etc.)
My notes, commentary

ODE 4

Ohios social studies content standards

incorporate history, geography, government and
economics in order to prepare students to be
participating citizens.

NCSS 1

NCSS has recognized the importance of educating

students who are committed to the ideas and
values of our democratic republic and who are able
to use knowledge about their community, nation,
and world, along with skills of data collection and
analysis, collaboration, decision-making, and
problem-solving.

I believe that these things are very important to

producing a well-rounded member of society. Personally
I think that social studies is one of the more important
subjects in school because you will have to use it in life
and if you try to avoid it you miss a chance to make a
positive difference in your community.
This goes along with the Ohio Department of Education
statement above but goes a little more in depth on what
needs to go in to make a successful student. I believe
that those that are successful and can comprehend all
the fields of social studies have the potential to impact
communities more than those that excel in other
subjects. Not saying that the other subjects are less
important because they are all important and we need
them as a modern functioning society, but as a societal
impact overall I believe that social studies has the
greatest ability to do so. I think it could have huge
positive changes if we started changing the way
Americans think and see the world.

ODE 4

Specifically, social studies:

Helps students develop the ability to make
informed and reasoned decisions for
themselves and for the common good;
Prepares students for their role as citizens
and decision makers in a diverse,
democratic society;
Enables students to learn about significant
people, places, events and issues in the past
in order to understand the present; and
Fosters students ability to act responsibly
and become successful problem solvers in
an interdependent world of limited
resources.

I firmly believe that social studies is the glue that holds

other characteristics together to form an educated well
rounded person. I think that social studies is what
makes a smart individual wise, what I mean is you can
have high intelligence but social studies makes you look
deeper and from a perspective that otherwise you might
not, and suddenly you get a full picture and might give
you some insight on why things happen. With an
introspective look at the world you can use a deeper
knowledge on possibly how to fix certain problems.

NCSS 1

Social studies programs help students construct a

knowledge base and attitudes drawn from
academic disciplines as specialized ways of viewing
reality.

This is the essentially the Ohio Department of Education

statement above just boiled down. Its what the
programs teach you then using academic disciplines to
see what and why the world is how it is.

NCSS 3

The more accurately the K12 social studies

program addresses the contemporary conditions of
real life and of academic scholarship, the more
likely such a program is to help students develop a
deeper understanding of how to know, how to
apply what they know, and how to participate in
building a future.

This is really the summery for both documents for why

social studies is important, its the similar to the Ohio
Department of Educations philosophy of Ohios new
learning standards, Ohios social studies content
standards incorporate history, geography, government
and economics in order to prepare students to be
participating citizens. (ODE pg.4)

Connections to previous MR: The two documents are concerning after reading the last article Why Kids Dont Like
Social Studies. Social studies is a key tool to in todays complex world and in order to build a better community,
nation, and world you need to have a good understanding of social studies, without it we as citizens could be taken
advantage of and/or not take advantage of the benefits of living in a democracy. The drive the succeed in social

studies might be hard because its hard to make a career out of it but it is still very important to everyday life outside of
a career and to just ignore it is just shooting yourself in the foot. Personally I think there is a correlation to the lack of
enthusiasm about social studies and how the country is at this moment both politically and socially.