Hi there! I am moving from second to third next year and am thrilled! I have previously taught grades K, 1, and 2!! When I taught 1 & 2 we taught one week of Science and then one week of Social Studies.. and then kept alternating. One year my team lead suggested we do a day of Science then a day of Social Studies, etc. What is best for third grade? Should both subject be taught every day or do you suggest rotating? Thanks so much in advance!
I teach 4th, but we found it was too crazy trying to do both and even alternating weeks. We got our P to agree to allow us to do 1 semester of Sci. and on of Social Studies. It works out much easier. This year we're blocking so the kiddies will get both each day...
In our inclusion class, my co-teacher taught one and I taught the other. We would not teach an entire unit but just a lesson from the unit (each unit had about 4 lessons in each), and alternate that way. After each section of the unit we would give a quiz, to eliminate the need to have a big chapter test at the end.
We teach a unit of each from start to finish and then switch. We have 2 3rd grades at my school. For the past 3 years, I've taught SS to both classes and she has taught the science. Our "homerooms" would swap 1/2 way through the trimester. This had advantages because we were able to really focus on our specific content. The downside is that the science units need more time than the SS. This year we are planning to team for both subjects. She'll take the lead for science and I'll take the lead for SS. I'm excited about it. I would highly recommend focusing on one subject at a time.
Thank you all so much for the help!! I will certainly just focus on one subject at a time! Thanks again! Looking forward to 3rd grade!!!!
I'm glad to hear this from others--I'm planning on alternating between science and S.S. units next year. Besides the benefits for the kiddos, I know my teaching will be much better if I'm able to focus on one unit at a time! (Not to mention eliminating the chaos of trying to fit too much into too little time everyday--I figure I'll spend at least as much time on each subject, if not more, by doing it this way...)
I rotate back and forth between Social Studies and Science. Since every single Science lesson is hands-on, they can be time intensive. There's no way to do both subjects every day. Instead, I will teach Science three times one week, and two times the next week, alternating between Science and Social Studies. I've found that, with our particular Science curriculum, it's typically easier to teach it back to back Monday through Wednesday instead of doing a MWF rotation, because so many lessons span several days. Perhaps that could work for you too!
We have prep teachers, one for science and one for social studies, so our students get each subject everyday. For instance, on Monday I teach them social studies and the prep is science with another teacher. Then on Tuesday, I teach science and a prep teacher teaches social studies.
I think it works better for younger elementary students to focus on one or the other each day, and rotate every few days. Social studies is one that I notice gets the least amount of focus in my district. One thing I'd say is to try to find ways to integrate your social studies or science into other subjects you cover more regularly. This works well especially when you're covering chart and graph skills in math. In reading and language arts, you can have them read some social studies fiction or nonfiction text. Be a little creative!
We also do one unit at a time. So, I will start the year with teaching a social studies unit on map skills and then move to a science unit afterwards. We have more ss units anyway...lol.
