Saturday, September 13, 2008

Social Studies Class Test - Important!

Hi students,

As promised, here are some updates for the upcoming class test. The schedules for both my classes are as follow:


Sec 3E4 - Mon, 15 Sep 2008 @ 11.30am - 12.00pm

Sec 3A2 - Tue, 16 Sep 2008 @ 8.30am - 9.00am


The test will just be one Structured Essay Question (SEQ) and its total will be
12 marks.

Please don't forget to revise on Northern Ireland conflict.
You may wish to focus on the factors/reasons contributing to the conflict.

Tips: Remember to answer SEQ in five paragraphs. For instance, if the question ask you to weigh which factors more important:

1st para - State given factor as well as other two factors

2nd para - Describe &
Explain
the given factor

3rd para - Describe &
Explain
another factor

4th para - Describe &
Explain
another factor

5th para -
Explain why one factor is more important than the other OR Explain
that no one single factor is more important than the other as they are all equally important in contributing towards the conflict.

Finally, you may ask... Mr Syed, what is the
difference between Describe & Explain? How do we make sure that our answers reach the Explanation part?

Look at this example, if the question ask: Why is Social Studies lessons exciting?

If you merely
Describe,
your answer will be:

Social Studies is fun because before the start of each chapter, students get a chance to play a game and watch video as a form of teaser activities. These allow students to start a new chapter with some knowledge of the larger theme. On top of that, they are taught on content mastery through interactive learning such as cooperative work and student-centred activities. The teacher will then proceed on to skills-based teaching where he shares the strategies to tackle SBQ and SEQ based on case studies relevant to the subject content. Finally, remediation and the subject blog function as reinforcement for students to retain the information that was taught to them. Hence, this make Social Studies lessons interesting.

Unfortunately, this answer will only get you an L3 (between 4m to 6m out of a total of 12m)

So how can we make sure that our answers reach
Explanation part?

Social Studies is fun because before the start of each chapter, students get a chance to play a game and watch video as a form of teaser activities. These allow students to start a new chapter with some knowledge of the larger theme. On top of that, they are taught on content mastery through interactive learning such as cooperative work and student-centred activities. The teacher will then proceed on to skills-based teaching where he shares the strategies to tackle SBQ and SEQ based on case studies relevant to the subject content. Finally, remediation and the subject blog function as reinforcement for students to retain the information that was taught to them.
By ensuring that the students go through a rigorous learning, the subject is taught to students at a manageable pace and yet enthuses them to become critical thinkers. Hence, students could relate to the content being taught to them resulting them to enjoy each lesson and increasing their interest level towards the subject.

Are you clearer now? If you are, please hit your textbook and notebook now.

If you have any enquiry, I am just a tagboard away. Please submit your query and I will be there to assist whenever I can. Please help to inform all your friends to read this posting as it is extremely important!

Hoping for the best,
Mr Syed

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