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PIH Design Principles

1.

SCAFFOLDED
INSTRUCTION

  • All students can perform at a higher level with structure and support
  • Hard Scaffolds are support planned in advance based on typical difficulties (ex. handouts)
  • Soft Scaffolds are support based in the moment, provided by the teacher based upon learner responses

Work must seem worth the effort for the students, this should include a connection to the larger world for the student

2.

AUTHENTICITY

3.

MULTIPLE
INTELLIGENCES

From Gardner, this is about how the student connects to the world around and helps us plan for the richness & complexity of tasks, multiple activities, multiple media, multiple perspectives

Effective group-work design promotes:

  • Healthier classroom environments
  • More complex learning for all students
  • Task requires varied talents and group effort
  • Distributed intelligence for deliberation

4.

COLLABORATION

A Model for Units

1: The Question

A PIH Question, Central Question, and Lesson Focus Question provide a foundation of the Unit and help determine what the lessons will focus on and how the Culminating activity will look.

2: The Grabber

This is the first activity of your unit and really sets a tone for the whole unit. It should demonstrate that the learning is connected to students' lives and concerns.

3: Content

This is where Authenticity comes into play. Lessons should provide a rich source of materials (ex: visual, audio, maps, etc.), sources (primary a n d secondary), and real-life tasks (types of thinking).

4: Multiple Perspectives

Learning is best for students in well-supported, complex environments and bringing in multiple points of view and perspectives to provide the best classroom for higher order thinking and learning.

5: Culminating Activity

The Culminating Activity should be a larger public deliberation over the content and the students' work is at the center and ideally connected to the individual assessment. This can include activities like hearings, strategy meetings, press conferences, and museum exhibits.

PIH Curriculum Matrix

Note: This curriculum matrix is an evolving document intended to stimulate dialogue among members of the PIH community as we attempt to conceptualize the organization of the social studies curriculum around fundamental, persistent issues. Ultimately, we hope to have a completed matrix for both U.S. and World History with links to model curriculum units for each topic-specific question. Many of these questions apply to other social studies subjects as well. We welcome and encourage discussion, suggestions, and contributions as we build this conceptual model together.

Persistent Issues in History: Major Question Areas with Examples of Topic Specific-Questions for Selected History Topics

Persistent Issue Potential Topic Area Topic-Specific Question
I. What actions are justified in the interest of the welfare or security of the community? i. Cold War Who was most responsible for the rise and escalation of the Cold War?
II. What standards must be met to give leadership legitimate authority? ii. Washington’s Presidency Was the Washington Administration justified in the actions it took to exert national authority over states and individual citizens?
Ill. When are citizens justified in resisting governmental authority? iii. African-American Civil Rights Movement What strategies should civil rights activists pursue to continue the struggle for a more just, equal society after the death of Martin Luther King, Jr.?
IV. What should society do to promote fairness and justice for people who live within its jurisdiction? iv. Reconstruction Were Reconstruction policies the most appropriate means for the government to establish freedom and equality for former slaves following the Civil War?
V. What is the best way to distribute a society’s resources? v. Chinese Revolution of

1949

 How successful were the policies of Mao Zedong in producing a better quality of life for Chinese citizens?
VI. When is a nation justified in intervening in the affairs of another nation? vi.      Cold War – Latin America

 

 Was the U.S. justified in intervening in the political affairs of Latin America?