LDC in Middle SchoolScience and Social

StudiesSt. Bernard Parish Public Schools

Gena AsevadoRyan Scully

Before Common Core

Science instruction Social Studies instruction

Current State of Affairs

How do we design curricula to meet demands of Common Core and our state requirements?

Solutions with LDC—Science “Scientists don’t just “do” science; you

can’t do scientific work without being a regular reader of scientific articles…in research, you need to have read enough textbook material to read scientific material with skill…your conversations with other scientists are important, but those conversations simply don’t go into as much depth as you get from reading.”--Jeff Hall, Astronomer, Lowell Observatory

Solutions with LDC—Social Studies

“History with its flickering lamp stumbles along the trail of the past, trying to reconstruct its scenes, to revive its echoes, and kindle with pale gleans the passion of former days.”

--Winston Churchill

A Module—Science

Genetic Advances: The Moral and Ethical Dilemma

Close-up on a Mini-Task: Genetics

What skills? Transition to Writing

What instruction?

Quick-Write: Write about the many types of ethical issues that we have encountered when reading excerpts from the books, scientific materials and from the film, “My Sister’s Keeper.”

An Instructional Strategy—Small Group Discussion

1. Quick-write2. Small group discussion3. Note-taking

What Results?

What Results?

A Module—Social Studies

Reconstruction: Success or Failure?Did Reconstruction do enough to provide equality for ex-slaves? You will read three articles from Footsteps magazine, analyze two political cartoons, and view a short video about Reconstruction and write an essay explaining whether or not you think the federal government did enough after the Civil War to provide equality for ex-slaves.

Close-up on a Mini-Task: Reconstruction

What skills? Active Reading

What instruction?

Short Constructed Response: Summarize the article, “The Freedman’s Bureau” and use the following questions to write a detailed summary. What is the most important who or what in the article? What is the most important thing about the who or what?

An Instructional Strategy—Collaborative Strategic Reading Active Reading Process:

1. Students work in differentiated partners2. Model, model, model!

Key Components: 1. Previewing the text2. Clicking and Clunking3. Finding the Gist: Who or what is the author

writing about? What is the most important thing about the who or what the author is writing about?

4. Summarizing the text

What Results?

What Results?

Compelling Evidence

Perspective in Science Perspective in Social Studies