building literacy in social studies

Building Literacy in Social Studies:

Building Literacy in Social Studies Kirsten Weber, Jesse Holthus , Whitney Shanklin

Why are social studies texts so difficult to comprehend?:

Why are social studies texts so difficult to comprehend?

Slide 3:

Texts lack relevance Texts are loaded with abstract concepts, technical vocabulary, and biased points of view Teachers also will assume comprehension and supplement only superficially

Read like a historian:

Read like a historian The nature of reading students are asked to take part in is not simplistic We ask them to synthesize, analyze, and interpret These texts are multi-faceted and complex

Immersion:

Immersion Strategies are provided to help progress students from novice to expert reader These are meaningless if we do not actively plan for students to read.

Slide 7:

We must engage students in reading activities! Avoid memorization! Reading should help build one’s voice, not silence it.

Multiple Sources of Information:

Multiple Sources of Information Varied sources of information will require a lot of reading. This is fine. Don’t be scared to have your students read! Even if your students are not high level learners!

Vocabulary Knowledge:

Vocabulary Knowledge There are appropriate strategies and inappropriate strategies Sounding it out and looking it up are inappropriate

Slide 10:

They suggest that it would be better for students to read independently. Exposure plus graphic organizers should work well to enhance student vocabulary knowledge They offer many specific strategies to help progress students along the continuum from partial concept knowledge to full concept knowledge

Slide 11:

Teaching democracy must start with a democratic class room Rows and columns do not translate well Use PODS!

Slide 12:

Civic Transmission is easy Create projects that facilitate democracy in the real world

Slide 13:

Senior Studies Programs

Slide 14:

Model UN

Key Strategy::

Key Strategy: The Three-Column Note Headings and Bolded Words Visual information Personal Notes

Part 2 – Strategies:

Part 2 – Strategies Three chapters focusing on strategies Textbook Literacy Reading Primary and Secondary Sources Newspaper and Magazine Literacy

Positives of the strategies:

Positives of the strategies Every lesson has an introductory activity Puts each lesson into context without being explicit in nature Good graphic organizers Good reproducables Strategies cover wide variety of types of literacy Great use of investigative tools Great use of organizational tools being applied to texts Helps social studies teachers make sense of specific types of texts i.e. analyzing essays

Negatives of the strategies:

Negatives of the strategies Strategies are presented only through example lessons No generality – might be tough to navigate with own materials Steps in strategies are very wordy Need editing to make more practical Could use more quick reference points – bullets, lists, etc Some strategies could use better practices Lack of adaptations for diverse learning groups ESL students, IEP’s, etc Focus on literacy aspect, not Social Studies content Some graphic organizers need some work to make better use of information being organized

Critique :

Critique We like the civic transmission ideas, however: May be in impractical Time constraints, administrative support We like a focus on purposeful and meaningful reading Immersion, practice, texts with content purpose and literacy purpose Recognition of difficulties that are unique to social studies Again, wide variety of approaches to tackle the numerous types of literacy social studies may encounter

Critique cont’d.:

Critique cont’d. The book strays from a strategy focus, at times Civic transmission through democracy, classroom management, etc. Some strategies may not be challenging to all students Strategies need close examination, at times