In order to teach History-Social Science in an elementary classroom, a teacher must

have wide set of knowledge of U.S. and California History. The vast majority of college
courses I have taken at California State Dominguez Hills covered the historical experience of
the U.S. and California so I expect to teach similar subjects to elementary students. I noticed
that since History can be a tedious subject for students, teachers should create interesting
activities to spark their interest. With my knowledge on California and Americas history, I
plan to implement many fun and engaging activities for students to do during class time. As a
future teacher, I will catch the excitement of thinking, questioning, and discovering answers
about the world now and in the twenty first century.
Classes like LBS 375, HIS 301, and HIS 100 prepared me well enough to teach an
elementary Social Studies course. As a 4th grade substitute teacher, I was able to teach a
creative lesson on California history to the 4th graders. I felt so confident teaching them a
lesson on the pony express riders and the gold rush due to the History college courses I took at
California State Dominguez Hills. I recall doing skits with Professor Resnick for HIS 301 and I
applied that to my Social Studies lesson for the students to do. They reenacted the life of pony
express riders in the 1850s through skits and the students definitely had a better understanding
of what they experienced during that time. Thanks to my professors at CSUDH, I am now able
to apply some of the techniques they taught me and will continue to create interesting History
lessons for my students.
The area of History Social Science that I feel well prepared for the most is California
History. I was fortunate enough to take Professor Cheek for LBS 375 (The California
Experience) and learn so much from her. She gave us informative and interesting assignments
about how California shaped throughout the years and that helped me expand my knowledge

on the state of California. I have taught several Social Studies lessons for 4th grade and have
been creative with the lessons I created because I know so much about California History now.
Writing DBQs for her class taught me so much about the history of the great state of
California and has prepared me to be a great teacher in the near future.
The area I feel a little less prepared for is Political Science/Government. I actually
really like government classes, but I feel like there is so much more information for me to learn
on that subject. I was fortunate to take Professor Resnick for United States History because she
gave her students great insight on how the US. transformed into the nation it is now. However,
I felt like the class was rushed throughout the semester so every week the class was on a
completely different time period. If I had to teach a US. course, I would feel okay about it, but
not completely confident. On a scale of 1-10, I would give myself a 7 for how well prepared I
am on that subject. I just need to learn a little bit more on US. History to give me enough
knowledge and boost of confidence to teach a class full of students.
I truly enjoyed doing the California map assignment because I learned information
about the radius of where I live. The map assignment consisted of looking up demographics for
the area in which I live in and other locations that were racially segregated. It was interesting to
learn what areas were predominantly Asian, Caucasian, or Hispanic because it made realize
that division among races still exists. Some communities are wealthier than others due to
peoples educational background and job occupation. The family tree is another artifact that
needs to be included in my portfolio because it depicts my ancestral background and family
history.
The work samples I have in my portfolio demonstrate my learning in History-Social
Science in various ways. My map assignment portrays my understanding and knowledge of the

demographics of California. The assignment required me to do research and find out

information that I had no background of so it was interesting to see some statistics. I gained so
much knowledge through the map assignment that it opened my eyes on what or who lives
around me. The work samples connect to my personal experiences in the learning of history
social science because many demographics (like race, gender, education, income level) applied
to me based on my location. I had a better understanding of not only Southern Californias
history and background, but the whole state of California as well.