Alabama Social Studies SS24.S.1a
The Standard
- SS24.S.1
- Describe the development of sociology as a social science field of study.*
Explain the contributions of important figures in the field of sociology, including Émile Durkheim, George Herbert Mead, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and W.E.B. Du Bois.*
2024 Alabama Course of Study: Social Studies · Sociology Overview
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students connect each thinker to a distinct way of studying society. They use those ideas to explain a familiar situation, such as school rules or group membership.
What Mastery Looks Like
- They connect Durkheim to social cohesion and Mead to the self shaped by interaction. They connect Marx to class conflict and Weber to social action and bureaucracy. They connect Du Bois to racial inequality and double consciousness, then use two thinkers to explain one school situation.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may mix up Durkheim's focus on group patterns with Mead's focus on everyday interaction. They may treat Marx's account of class inequality as the same as Du Bois's work on race, or think Weber studied only rules.
How to Assess It
- Exit ticket: Match the five thinkers to social cohesion, self through interaction, class conflict, social action, and double consciousness. Then use two thinkers to explain different parts of a school dress code debate.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs five thinker cards and five idea cards to match, then have them place a school dress code example under two thinkers.
Ask students to write two sentences: How might Marx and Du Bois explain different patterns in school discipline data?
Play five rounds of a clue game: read an idea aloud, then have teams name the thinker and defend their choice.
Display a photo of a cafeteria line; students label formal rules Weber might study and shared habits Durkheim might study.
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Printable SS24.S.1a Worksheet
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Related Standards
- SS24.S.2
Explain methods and tools of research used by sociologists.*
- SS24.S.1b
Identify and explain tenets of sociology, including functional integration, power, social action, social structure, and culture.
- SS24.S.5c
Investigate and explain the impact of psychological theories that influence sociology, including Erikson’s Psychosocial Development, Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral ...
- SS24.S.3
Compare and contrast the three major sociological theories: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction.*
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