Social Studies K to 1
Applications of Social Studies

Prescribed Learning Outcomes

It is expected that students will:

• collect information from a variety of sources and experiences
• draw simple interpretations from personal experiences, oral sources, and visual representations
• identify and clarify a problem
• present information using oral, visual, or written representation
• identify strategies to address problems

To view the prescribed learning outcomes for Applications of Social Studies in other grades click on an icon below.

Applications of Social Studies provides students with a framework of developmental skills and processes that will be used throughout the curriculum.
• Have each student collect or draw pictures of tools (technologies) that he or she uses daily. Ask the class to brainstorm categories for the tools. Create a class Big Book on tools, using the categories as the sections in the book.
• Ask each student to bring a "surprise bag" to class. Have the class ask questions to guess the surprise. Invite students to share with the class stories about their surprises. Guide students in expressing themselves in complete sentences.
• Provide students with pictures of people interacting and ask what these images mean to them. Ask questions to guide student interpretation. (e.g., How do you think the characters feel?)
• As a class, brainstorm problems regarding roles and responsibilities, then select a problem (e.g., taking turns in a class centre). Have students discuss and suggest possible solutions to the problem (e.g., "I think ----------‚‚‚‚ because ----------‚‚‚‚ "). The class could then select some solutions to try out.
• Ask each student to draw two pictures: one of a real-life event and another of a pretend situation. Have them give explanations for each.
• Set aside a portion of Circle Time to share problem situations (e.g., littering). Collect class problems in a variety of ways (e.g., mailbox, chart) over a period of time. Ask individual students to select and present a problem situation. The class can then discuss and identify several ways to solve the problem.

Suggested Assessment Strategies

Assessment at this level should focus on evidence of growth in students' abilities to discuss, collect, record, and interpret data.
• Have students create All About Me posters by collecting and recording visual and written information about themselves. Encourage students to use parents, siblings, friends, and grandparents as sources of information. Invite students to present their posters to the class. Look for evidence that they are able to:
• collect information from more than one source
• present their information clearly
• Brainstorm problems that may arise in the classroom (e.g., taking turns, sharing materials). Have students self-assess their abilities to identify solutions to problems by drawing their responses to sentence stems such as:
• A problem I have in my classroom is ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
• This is a problem for me because‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
• One new solution I could try is‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
• I will know this solution worked when ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ . Ask students to implement their solutions and then to self-assess their actions by drawing in response to sentence stems such as:
• I tried my new solution when‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
• What I hoped would happen was‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
• What happened was ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
• I would (would not) use the same solution again because ‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚‚ .
• After students identify several ways to solve problems, ask them to collect evidence of people in their class using problem-solving strategies. Record the data on a class chart and note the extent to which students are able to identify problem-solving strategies.