Social
Studies Lessons for High School is designed for social studies teachers to use with their government and history courses. It was developed in response to a shift in education throughout our country: a move away from rote memorization and toward the critical thinking skills necessary for many of the new performance assessment programs.
Each lesson will enable teachers to teach seven specific critical thinking skills in a step-by-step process. The information has been adapted for old media and new media formats. Web sites will be provided that will allow teachers to choose the most appropriate resource for the selected activity. All selections can be copied for classroom use. Teachers may adapt activities to allow students to complete assignments via the web.
Bob
Black is former Teachers Network web mentor. He is a social studies teacher at the Harbor City Learning
Center, located across the street from the historic Edgar
Allen Poe House in Baltimore, MD.
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Problem
Solving  |
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Template
Explanation
There are many situations in which citizens must develop a plan for solving a particular problem. Here is a
step-by-step process which analyzes the problem, identifies the various options, evaluates the
options, implements a solution, and evaluates the results.
Model for Solving
Describe the problem.
What other information do you have about the problem (people, issues, resources)?
What is your goal in solving the problem? List all possible solutions/options.
List the positive and negative aspects for each option.
Choose a solution and explain your plan for implementing it.
How does the solution meet the goal listed above?
How were you able to solve this problem?
