The teaching strategies used for this lesson will differ in the Math and Social Studies classrooms. The instruction will differ because, although working together on a joint project, the Math learning goals are very different from the Social Studies learning goals. Within the Math classroom, the teacher is seeking to engage her students in a deeper study of such concepts they have learned. Students will be able to discover real-world applications for mathematical concepts learned over the course of the school year. In the Social Studies classroom, students will apply those same mathematical skills to design and depict an animation or game to show their understanding of events surrounding the Civil War.
Technological/Pedagogical Connection
In both the Math and Social Studies classrooms students will be engaged in complex cognitive tasks. In the Math classroom, students will be asked to apply their understanding of math concepts like number sense, equalities, trigonometry, and geometry. Students must apply their understanding of these concepts when building and creating animations or games. Similarly in Social Studies, students will be required to apply their learning about specific content to the project. Students will re-create the events surrounding Pickett’s Charge by designing a game or animation. In order to successfully do this, students must be well versed in and understand the causes and effects related to this event in history. Engaging students in tasks steeped in application and critical thinking related to each content area is the pedagocial focus of this project.
Using Scratch itself incorporates technological knowledge into this project. Not only are students learning to use a new type of technology, but they are learning to manipulate the technology through programming language and computational thinking. Because Scratch fosters this type of thinking and 21st century skill, the technological knowledge is deeply intertwined with the pedagogical knowledge. The technology will be the catalyst for the application of and critical thinking about Math and Social Studies concepts.
Content/Technological Connection
The content from both math and social studies will truly come alive through technology in this project. From the math perspective, students will be able to see and experience mathematical concepts in a real-world setting, and will be able to utilize those skills to create a product. One key effort in teaching today is helping kids see how information learned in school applies to their real life. This task is especially difficult in math. Through Scratch technology students will be able to see how math is used for many purposes in the real world. Not only will students be engaged in using math to create animations or games, but they will also be able to see how many of their most-prized possessions (video games, phone applications, websites, etc.) come to life through programming. The technology of Scratch itself will make this real-world connection to the content possible.
Technological and content knowledge blend from the social studies perspective as well. The culminating activity for this project is an animation or game representing the events surrounding Pickett’s Charge. Students must have a solid understanding of the social studies content in order to successfully represent the details of Pickett’s Charge. They will be required to effectively use the technology to depict and show their knowledge and understanding of the content taught in class. In social studies classes, kids often see reenactments of historical events, and are sometimes asked to re-create them in various ways. By asking students to create a game or animation from scratch, using Scratch, the technology is allowing students to have a totally new experience with the content.
Pedagogical/Content Connection
This project was built upon the foundation of fostering interdisciplinary connectedness between two content areas; math and social studies. The catalyst for creating this type of learning partnership is the technology itself. In this case, Scratch is the glue that will connect the application of math and social studies content. This particular project requires that students use and apply what they have learned in both math and social studies. The project acts as an assessment piece for both content areas, and the pedagogical strategies utilized come as a result of using Scratch as the medium. Similarly with content knowledge, teachers will be looking to see how students use and apply the content taught.
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