3 Simple Strategies for Assessing Social Studies Learning Without the Stress

Kirsten 0:09

This is The Social Studies Teacher Podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm Kirsten of The Southern Teach, an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies. I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Kirsten 0:47

Hello there, everyone, and welcome to another episode of The Social Studies Teacher Podcast. Today, we are going to talk about something that's essential in every classroom, but can often feel overwhelming assessing student learning. Whether you're teaching US history, your state's history, geography, civics, evaluating what your students know doesn't have to be stressful to you or to them. So in today's episode, I will be sharing with you three simple strategies for assessing student learning that are effective and low stress ready to take the pressure off and make assessment more manageable. Let's dive in.

Kirsten 1:29

All right. Let's talk about those simple strategies to assess social studies learning without the stress. Let's start with a classic - quizzes, but we're not talking about long, high pressure quizzes. Instead, I'm recommending quick, low stakes quizzes that allow you to get a snapshot of student understanding without causing them or you unnecessary stress. These could be short, multiple choice questions, matching questions, or true false questions that are reviewing key concepts. Keep it simple, about five to 10 questions. You can do these at the end of a lesson or as a warm up to the next day to see what students retain from the previous day. The beauty of these quick quizzes is that they are easy to grade, and students aren't stressed because they know it's just a small check in not a major test. Another option is to try exit tickets at the end of the lesson. Ask students to answer one or two questions on an index card or a sticky note or a piece of paper before they leave. For example, if you're teaching about the Civil Rights Movement, you could ask what was one key goal of the movement, or who was a prominent leader during this time. These short responses give you immediate feedback on what students are absorbing. All of my guided curriculum units include exit tickets for virtually every lesson, with two multiple choice or short answer questions on a half sheet of paper. And all of my daily passages include a seven question multiple choice quiz for each topic. And of course, as always, I'll make sure to link both of those in the show notes and in the description where you're listening to this episode.

Kirsten 3:12

All right, let's talk about strategy number two, another stress free way to assess social studies learning is through creative projects. This type of assessment allows students to demonstrate their understanding in a more engaging way, and it gives them the opportunity to express what they've learned creatively. Plus projects tend to feel less like a test and more like a fun activity. For example, you're teaching about geography, how students create a map that includes key landforms or regions or cities that you've been discussing, or if you're covering a historical event like the American Revolution, you can have students create a life size timeline with important events, or even a newspaper article reporting on a key battle or event. Group projects are also a great option. Students can work together to create a presentation or a skit about a historical figure or a historical event. This collaborative approach not only lowers individual pressure, but it also helps students build teamwork skills while reinforcing what they learned. The key with projects is to set clear guidelines and provide a rubric so students know exactly what is expected. This makes grading easier for you and ensure students stay focused on the learning objectives. All of my guided curriculum units include a project for each unit on a variety of topics. There's a westward expansion board game, there's a Mission and Presidio project, community research project and much more. It's flexible, because students can pick the modality for some of the projects. They can present by a slide show, using poster board, podcast episode, video, whatever they decide. And it changes up throughout the year when you complete each uni t and a rubric for each of them are included. Icing on the cake for that.

Kirsten 5:03

All right, let's go into the third strategy. The last that I have for you is informal assessments. This is a great way to measure student learning without the formality of tests or quizzes. One of the simplest strategies is to use class discussions during or after a lesson, ask open ended questions like, how do you think people felt during this event, or why do you think this law was important during this time? Encourage students to share their thoughts, opinions and ideas. These discussions not only give you insight into their understanding, but they also help students develop critical thinking and communication skills, and you can pre plan these questions, or you can just kind of in the moment. Whenever it comes to you, you can say it. When I was student teaching, this is what we were taught to do during a read aloud, is to ask questions throughout the story, pause and ask a question. It could be something similar to that. Another informal assessment option is journaling. At the end of a lesson or unit, you can ask students to write a brief reflection on what they've learned. You can ask questions like, What was the most surprising thing you learned today? Or, how does this event relate to something happening in the world today? Journals are a low pressure way for students to express their thoughts and demonstrate their knowledge, and it also gives you valuable insight into their understanding. All of the mini lessons in the guided curriculum units that I have include a let's discuss question at the end of the slideshows with an open ended question. This is a great way for a class discussion on their thoughts and opinions, and the guided notes provide a space where they can record their own individual answer after discussing.

Kirsten 6:46

Kirsten 7:33

Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.