Essential Disciplinary Practice Alignment

This section models activities related to the following Essential Disciplinary Practices (EDPs):

EDP 1 - Developing questions for social science inquiry.
EDP 3 - Collect, interpret, evaluate, and apply information from primary and secondary sources to better understand and create historical narratives, distinguishing between fact and opinion.
EDP 6 - Constructing well-reasoned and logically coherent explanations, arguments and solutions related to complex social issues.

It is important to utilize pedagogical strategies that incorporate critical thinking and student voice when teaching about civic engagement and citizenship. This section examines three pedagogical strategies that you can use to purposefully teach about these social science concepts.

Step 1: Watch

Watch the narrated presentation below to learn more about three evidence-based pedagogical strategies that inspire critical thinking and engagement. These strategies are ways to teach using the Essential Disciplinary Practices (EDPs) outlined in the 2024 Social Science Standards. While watching, consider how you could use the strategies in your class. To learn more about the EDPs, read the factsheet below.

Select the link to view the PDF in the previewer, or download the PDF by selecting the download button.

PDF - Essential Disciplinary Practices Factsheet

Narrated Presentation: Pedagogical Strategies that Promote Critical Thinking and Civic Engagement

(7:45 min, CC) - Transcript

Step 2: Reflect

Brainstorm how you might apply the pedagogical strategies you learned about in the video to teach about civic engagement. We will delve into additional examples later in the module. For now, review one of the social science standards listed below and select a standard that most aligns with the grade level you teach. Examples can be found in the factsheet above.

6/7.C.IR.8 - Evaluate the effectiveness of different methods of resistance available in pluralistic democracies to combat misinformation, indifference, and discrimination.
8.C.CE.14 - Evaluate the historical and contemporary means of attempting to create more inclusive societies, including the importance of advocacy and activism related to the expansion of justice, equality, and equity for historically underrepresented individuals and groups.
HS.C.CE.17 - Explain how active citizens and political or social movements can affect the lawmaking process locally, nationally, and internationally.

After selecting a standard, we invite you to capture your response to the following reflection question in your Journal Space: How could you use critical thinking and inquiry-driven learning, document analysis or argument construction in a unit covering this standard? What content would you use to address the standard?

To learn more about the research-based approaches that guide the teaching and learning of the 2024 Social Science Standards, review the narrated presentation in Module A.2 about Instructional Elements below.

PPT - Instructional Elements for Teaching Oregon's 2024 Social Science Standards