Even a teacher's potential first reaction to the phrase "broke the
rules of war" in the chart about depth and breath in education might be,
"oh I know what that means"â€"a state violated a treaty or a ceasefire,
perhaps. (Wiggins & McTighe, 2000, p. 102, Figure 7.2) However, the innate
absurdity of the phrase in the example, highlighted by stressing the
construction of the phrase in a chart, rather than tucking it into the
middle a paragraph, suggests that by giving the assignment about uncovering
the connotative and denotative meanings in such a phrase as "broke the
rules of war" can also be a pedagogical toolâ€"for one's students as well as
one's self as a citizen and as a teacher. (Wiggins & McTighe, 2000, p. 103-
Another, similar verbal "uncoverage" idea for a unit devoted to a
state content standard or competency regarding mastery of language and
vocabulary in social studies could be the phrase of "military
intelligence," often called an "oxymoron." What is an oxymoron' Why is
military intelligence called an oxymoron, in the media and historically,
and is it really an oxymoron' Who originated this phrase or joke and it is
Also, one could ask, from a psychological perspective, what is
"intelligence'" What do the students consider intelligenceâ€"is it being
book-smart' Or street smart' Or a combination of the two' The
examination of what is meant by "intelligence" by students and
psychologists of education alike is not only a social science issue, but
one that is emotionally near and dear to many student's hearts in school,
and to try to research the use of the word, and its antonyms such as
"foolish," might be useful in a classroom context to do this with common
stories about "fool's journeys" in literature and myth. This gives as a
well a better emotional and intellectual understanding in terms of how the
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