In perusing the exemplars, you should also note that the fourth grade task, “I’m Somebody—Who Are You?” emphasizes social studies skills and processes rather than content. A teacher may need to spend more time in preparing and facilitating learning of such complex procedural knowledge if students are to acquire skill in completing authentic social studies tasks. Classroom lessons on chronology, making and interpreting maps, and reading and interpreting primary sources may require similarly complex approaches and strategies.

The “Outcome/Indicator Activity Match” at the beginning of each exemplar indicates the relationship of specific activities, and/or steps within activities, to the grade 4-5 outcomes and indicators. Please note that part of an indicator may be used to design or create a specific step or activity and to measure student achievement. Remember, an activity completed by the students at an earlier grade may be a building block toward mastery of the content or skill prescribed. For instructional purposes, the indicators for each outcome are not definitive. You may use other indicators of achievement for all or part of an outcome.

You will probably find the format of the lesson exemplars somewhat different from any that you have used. There is a Student Booklet that contains most of the activities that students will complete. Please remember that the intent of this booklet is to mirror the MSPAP assessment process, not to provide a required format for your teaching. An exemplar, like a lesson plan, is only a beginning. It provides a model or guide for the instructional decisions you must make based on your knowledge of the students you teach, the school’s policies, the content of the designated curriculum, and a variety of other factors.

Please look at the contexts of the tasks with a critical eye. One tenet of performance- based assessment and instruction is that students work within a context that establishes a realistic and authentic purpose for the product or performance they are expected to complete. Those provided in the exemplars may need to be changed or modified depending on the location of your school or any of the factors mentioned in the previous paragraph.

The use of fiction to teach social studies concepts is gaining in popularity and practice, and this is reflected in the exemplars. The teachers who wrote them were encouraged to use a variety of materials, both fiction and non-fiction, both primary and secondary sources. No teacher should rely on a single type of source. This has also been true of MSPAP at the third and fifth grade levels.

These exemplars are the result of the best efforts of some of the best teachers in the state of Maryland. They reflect high standards for both teachers and students. They will probably engender much discussion of both content and process, and that is both appropriate and encouraged.