CHAPTER 8 ASSESSMENTS
PLANNING UNITS, LESSONS, AND ACTIVITIES
I. MULTIPLE CHOICE (CHOOSE THE ONE BEST RESPONSE.)
1. The text author suggests that well-planned social studies units are almost always integrated
units. Why is this?
a. Social studies learning almost always requires reading and writing.
b. Social studies integrates history, the social science disciplines, and sometimes the
humanities.
c. Many social studies units are animated by inquiry.
d. Both A & B.
2. Planning for social studies instruction asks teachers to take on what roles?
a. Curriculum planner and assessment planner
b. Activity planner and resource planner.
c. Skill planner and knowledge planner.
d. Both A and B.
3. Which of the following is an initial step in planning a social studies unit?
a. Studying the curriculum guide.
b. Developing learning activities.
c. Reflecting upon personal histories and developing a unit around them.
d. Creating a list of all the social studies topics to be studied.
4. Well-stated objectives allow teachers and students to:
a. Create a unit of study as it unfolds.
b. Develop units based upon individual interests.
c. Clearly understand how instructional activities relate to the purpose of study.
d. Create a scope and sequence of learning activities over the elementary grades.
5. Objectives should not describe the activity students will engage in but the:
a. Ways in which students will experience the social studies unit.
b. Purpose for having students engage in the activity.
c. Skills students must demonstrate in order to engage in the activity.
d. Knowledge students must have in order to complete the activity.
6. Organizing subject matter involves deciding on the focus of study and:
a. Integration with other content areas.
b. Determining the particular ideas and skills that have priority.
c. Creating a corresponding theme.
d. Providing a rationale for the study.
7. An objective’s “scope” should be:
a. Neither too small nor too great.
b. Unmeasurably small.
c. Unmeasurably large.
d. Large enough to include everything you plan to teach.
8. What is formative assessment as defined by the text?
a. Finding out what students are (and aren’t) learning as the unit goes along.
b. Assessment used to form an evaluation.
c. Informal assessment used to make final judgments about student performance.
d. Performance based assessments used for grading student progress.
9. The text states three objectives-related instructional movements that are part of every lesson
plan. Which of the following is NOT one of them?
a. Getting ready.
b. Work-study.
c. Summary and assessment.
d. Building group relationships.
10. What is a simulation as defined by the text?
a. A teaching strategy that relies on direct instruction.
b. A way to organize student thinking about a concept.
c. A strategy designed to reconstruct some characteristics of a real situation through
experience.
d. A learning theory that relies on limiting student discourse and activity.
II. DATA-ORGANIZATION CHART
Complete the chart below with information drawn from the chapter.
Units, lessons, and activities: What’s the difference?
Definition
Example
Unit Plan
Lesson Plan
Learning Activity
III. SHORT ANSWER
The author of the text states that when used by good social studies teachers, a learning activity is
a means to an end, not an end in itself. Explain what this statement means and then give two
examples of activities and the ends (purposes; objectives) they could help students achieve.
IV. EXTENDED RESPONSE
Assume that you are in the middle of an interview for a teaching position in an elementary
school. The principal has asked you to describe and justify your approach to planning units in
V. DISCUSSION
Discuss the following issue with a group of classmates. Then, use one of the rubrics found in
Chapter 3 to assess your participation. Or, dramatize a school meeting that includes several
members of this parent group and several teachers discussing the issue below.
The teachers in your elementary school have been asked by a group of concerned parents to
justify the use of construction activities in social studies units. These parents worry that such
CHAPTER 8 PLANNING UNITS, LESSONS, AND ACTIVITIES