Texas Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills
8th Grade Social
Studies
Laure Owens
Angelo State University
Texas Assessment of Knowledge
and Skills
8th Grade Social
Studies
Texas has long been at the forefront in the testing
of its students, but with the implementation of the Texas Assessment of
Knowledge and Skills (TAKS™), additional subject areas have been included in
traditional testing mandates.
Specifically, science and social studies have been added to the
established testing areas of reading, writing, and mathematics. These two areas have also been included on
the Grade 11 exit-level test as part of Texas high school graduation
requirements. Teachers in the subject
areas of science and social studies are guided by the Texas Essential Knowledge
and Skills in understanding the TAKS™ as a TEKS’ based assessment. As is expected, these teachers are scrambling
for increased resources and information to assist them is accomplishing these
new testing standards.
Recently,
Region XV Educational Service Center in San Angelo, Texas received technology
funding as part of the “No Child Left Behind” act. This federally-funded grant entitled,
“Technology Applications Readiness Grants for Empowering Students and Teachers”
(TARGET2) was requested by the region to target 8th grade Social
Studies teachers in Region XV. The region
grant is titled, “Social Studies Teachers Reaching Outstanding New Goals” (S2TRONG). This grant partners an 8th grade
Social Studies teacher with another teacher in their district who is proficient
in technology. The overall goal of the
grant is to “stretch expectations for
teacher lessons and student products to demonstrate content standards that
focus on higher order thinking skills, analysis, synthesis or evaluative
conclusions.”
As a technology teacher in my school district, I have
partnered with our 8th grade Social Studies teacher to assist him in
the planning and implementation of the many sources we have been supplied with
through this grant. Some of these
sources are available through subscription-only, but a large majority is
available to the general public. These
sources contain up-to-date online resources for all Social Studies teachers,
but most specifically, target the TEKS for 8th grade Social
Studies. Currently included are general
information, online interactive websites, and specific lesson plans for
different TEKS objectives. This
partnership of technology and classroom teacher has allowed us to produce
several interactive lessons that integrate technology into the Social Studies
curriculum and infuse a new angle to reach the 8th graders in our
school district. In addition to using
the foundation provided by Region XV, we have been provided the opportunity,
through extensive professional development within our district, to construct
our own list of additional sources which has allowed us to publish several
lessons related to specific parts of the TEKS such as the “Constitutional
Convention” and “Creating the Constitution.”
The S2TRONG
grant is a four-year program with the second year beginning this summer in our
continuing development toward an overall Social Studies product. Funding for the third and fourth year is, of
course, contingent upon appropriations to the state as well as successful
implementation of the prior year’s funding.
This has been a very energetic and enjoyable program for me, as an
educator, as I am able to use my skills honed in my Master’s program as a
technology integrator. Needless to say,
I have also learned a tremendous amount about 8th grade Social
Studies curriculum.
Included
below are many online sources to guide the 8th grade Social Studies
teacher. Some of the resources are
specific to 8th grade, but others can also be utilized by 10th
and 11th grade Social Studies teachers.
SSC – The Social Studies Center
http://socialstudies.tea.state.tx.us/
This website assists educators in their
efforts to align the key elements of curriculum, instruction, and assessment
into a coherent system that can be implemented to enhance student achievement
as measured by classroom, district, and statewide assessments. It is maintained by the Texas Education
Agency.
My eCoach Online
eLibrary
http://my-ecoach.com/online/elibrary.php
This website is the foundation for our grant
work. This link accesses the free, copyright-friendly
resources and projects for teachers and students. Includes an advanced search feature where
specifically 8th grade Social Studies resources and projects can be
accessed.
Grades 6-8 Social Studies WebQuests
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/matrix/6-8-Soc.htm
This is a matrix listing of WebQuests submitted for
use by educators in their Social Studies curriculum. This listing is very specific to the
individual grade-levels.
Social Studies in Action
http://www.learner.org/progdesc/series166.html
This video library for K-12 teachers shows a variety
of effective social studies lessons and techniques for K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12
classrooms.
Digital History
http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/
This is an excellent online source for Social Studies
in general. It has a wide range of
digital sources such as textbooks, essays, timelines, multimedia presentations
and encyclopedia references.
The Library of Congress
An enormous website with every type of Social Studies
information you can imagine related to the United States Congress.
The Citation Machine
http://www.landmark-project.com/citation_machine/index.php
Citation Machine is an interactive Web tool designed
to assist teachers and students in producing reference citations for crediting
information from other people.
References
Texas Education Agency. (2004). Student Assessment Division. Retrieved on July 15, 2004, from the
Texas Education Agency: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/index.html
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