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Thursday, December 1, 2016
References
Essential strategies for literacy in social studies. (2016). Integration of Literacy in Social Studies.
Retrieved December 01, 2016 from Greece Central School District http://www.greececsd.org
/files
/1361/Essential%20Strategies%20for%20Literacy%20in%20Social%20Studies.doc
Evans, M. B., & Clark, S. K. (2015). Finding a place for CCSS literacy skills in the middle school social
studies curriculum. Clearing House: A Journal Of Educational Strategies, Issues And Ideas,
88(1), 1-8. Retrived December 01, 2016 from EBSCO http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/detail
/detail?sid=3a3ddaa8-0485-40a2-9fa7-668164767b4a%40sessionmgr4006&vid=0&hid=4110&
bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=EJ1048186&db=eric
Ogle, D., Klemp, R. M., & McBride, B. (2007). Building literacy in social studies : strategies for
improving comprehension and critical thinking. Alexandria, Va: Assoc. for Supervision and
Curriculum Development. Retrieved December 01, 2016 from EBSCO
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/detail
/detail?sid=2d3df564-caaa-4cb9-8975-ea8a796d2fe3%40sessionmgr107&vid=0&hid=126&
bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU%3d#AN=191913&db=nlebk
Reading in the history classroom. Teachinghistory.org. Retrieved December 01, 2016 from
Teachinghistory.org
http://teachinghistory.org/issues-and-research/research-brief/25421
Watson, A. (2015). Integrating Social Studies into Literacy
Routines. Retrieved December 01, 2016, from http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/social-studies-in-literacy-routines
Further information
Now of course we have only begun to scratch the surface of all the different ways we can practice literacy skills in the social studies classroom. This blog could be 60000 posts long if I had the time (and will power).
If you are still looking for more information or ideas I recommend checking out the following sites:
http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/social-studies-in-literacy-routines
http://teachinghistory.org/issues-and-research/research-brief/25421
http://www.greececsd.org/academics.cfm?subpage=1361
I hope that you have found some useful information and interesting ideas on this blog. There are new strategies emerging all the time, and as teachers is important to keep experimenting with new ideas so we don't get stuck in a rut.
Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or ideas!
If you are still looking for more information or ideas I recommend checking out the following sites:
http://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/social-studies-in-literacy-routines
http://teachinghistory.org/issues-and-research/research-brief/25421
http://www.greececsd.org/academics.cfm?subpage=1361
I hope that you have found some useful information and interesting ideas on this blog. There are new strategies emerging all the time, and as teachers is important to keep experimenting with new ideas so we don't get stuck in a rut.
Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, or ideas!
Strategy #5: Anticipation Guides
The 5th and final strategy we will discuss on this blog is suggested by Marianne Bristow Evans and Sarah Clark.
Evans and Clark assert anticipation guides as a way to build the skills of citing textual evidence when analyzing a reading.
The two describe the activity as follows:
"A teacher-constructed anticipation guide requires students to predict whether a given statement is factual and then identify and cite statements within a given text that confirm their decision. Using the anticipation guide will also provide opportunities for students to analyze primary and secondary sources. Before reading, students read several statements about key concepts presented in the text and then choose to either agree or disagree with each of the statements. As they read the text, they must search and analyze the text for information that will either confirm or negate their predictions. In doing so, students are actively reading “through a cycle of prediction, reaction, and reevaluation” (Evans and Clark, 2015)
Evans and Clark assert anticipation guides as a way to build the skills of citing textual evidence when analyzing a reading.
The two describe the activity as follows:
"A teacher-constructed anticipation guide requires students to predict whether a given statement is factual and then identify and cite statements within a given text that confirm their decision. Using the anticipation guide will also provide opportunities for students to analyze primary and secondary sources. Before reading, students read several statements about key concepts presented in the text and then choose to either agree or disagree with each of the statements. As they read the text, they must search and analyze the text for information that will either confirm or negate their predictions. In doing so, students are actively reading “through a cycle of prediction, reaction, and reevaluation” (Evans and Clark, 2015)
The above picture is the example of an anticipation guide given by Evans and Clark (Evans and Clark, 2015).
This strategy is great because it encompasses pre-reading, during reading, and post reading. For pre and during the students will fill out the worksheet as explained by Evans and Clark. Then for the post-reading it is up to you as the teacher how you want to handle it. My suggestion would be to go over the questions and for each one ask the student who volunteers: which answer they choose before reading, and why did they choose that one? Which answer did they choose after reading, and where did they find the evidence to support that answer?
Strategy #4: Biographical Research
This strategy once again is suggested by Angela Watson.
Watson asserts that biographical projects are a great way to teach students research skills as well as synthesizing skills (to create a product from their research). She feels that by allowing the student to choose a person that interests them they will be more excited to conduct the research (Watson, 2015).
A biographical research project can be conducted in any way that you feel will be best suit the needs of your students. Of course you could have them write a standard biographical essay about them, or you could allow the student to take a more creative approach like writing a poem about the person, or dressing up as the person and giving an oral report about them to the class (Watson, 2015). This is a great way to teach your kids research skills, writing skills, oral presentation skills, reading skills, note taking skills, citation skills, as well as develop an interest in learning about various people in history.
I personally have done a few of these biographical research projects on people such as Jacqueline Cochran, Jacqueline Kennedy (can you sense a pattern), Joe DiMaggio, and Teddy Roosevelt. I can honestly tell you all that I did my research on Jacqueline Cochran in 3rd grade and 12 years later I still remember it so fondly. I make a large paper doll of Jacqueline, dressed up like her (she was a pilot) and got to tell my class about her. I have similar fond memories about the other people I researched as well because of the creativity my teachers allowed me with my projects. I made a Joe DiMaggio out a soda bottle, baseball, and a picture of his face (this was also accompanied by an essay), and I made a clay model of Teddy Roosevelt (as well as an essay), but the creative aspects of these projects made me excited to do them and made them still memorable even a decade later.
Allow your students creativity in these projects and they won't even notice the research, reading, writing, oral, computer skills they are building with it. It has the ability to be a great, fun learning opportunity for all.
Watson asserts that biographical projects are a great way to teach students research skills as well as synthesizing skills (to create a product from their research). She feels that by allowing the student to choose a person that interests them they will be more excited to conduct the research (Watson, 2015).
A biographical research project can be conducted in any way that you feel will be best suit the needs of your students. Of course you could have them write a standard biographical essay about them, or you could allow the student to take a more creative approach like writing a poem about the person, or dressing up as the person and giving an oral report about them to the class (Watson, 2015). This is a great way to teach your kids research skills, writing skills, oral presentation skills, reading skills, note taking skills, citation skills, as well as develop an interest in learning about various people in history.
I personally have done a few of these biographical research projects on people such as Jacqueline Cochran, Jacqueline Kennedy (can you sense a pattern), Joe DiMaggio, and Teddy Roosevelt. I can honestly tell you all that I did my research on Jacqueline Cochran in 3rd grade and 12 years later I still remember it so fondly. I make a large paper doll of Jacqueline, dressed up like her (she was a pilot) and got to tell my class about her. I have similar fond memories about the other people I researched as well because of the creativity my teachers allowed me with my projects. I made a Joe DiMaggio out a soda bottle, baseball, and a picture of his face (this was also accompanied by an essay), and I made a clay model of Teddy Roosevelt (as well as an essay), but the creative aspects of these projects made me excited to do them and made them still memorable even a decade later.
Allow your students creativity in these projects and they won't even notice the research, reading, writing, oral, computer skills they are building with it. It has the ability to be a great, fun learning opportunity for all.
Strategy #3: Web Quests
This strategy is suggested by Angela Watson.
Stepping away from the traditional idea of literacy as just reading texts and stepping into the world of 21st Century literacy where our students will be expected to know how to effective use the internet, we have the web quest.
Watson describes web quests as an "interesting" way for kids to find information (Watson, 2015).
Basically a web quest is an online scavenger hunt where students will explore a website (or multiply websites depending on how you want to do this) in order to find information to answer the questions given to them. This is a great way to improve kids research skills as well as their computer literacy, and not to mention kids love being able to use technology.
For example of what a single website web quest might look like check out this website, which is a great web quest for teaching kids about the Ancient Americas.
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/AA/aaflashfront.htm
If you want to make your own custom web quest, Symbaloo is a great tool to help you do so. You can house many different websites into one clear and easy to navigate web page.
For an example check out this symbaloo for the 6th grade Egypt unit made by Windsor Knolls Middle School teacher Deborah McCadney.
http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/egypt23
Stepping away from the traditional idea of literacy as just reading texts and stepping into the world of 21st Century literacy where our students will be expected to know how to effective use the internet, we have the web quest.
Watson describes web quests as an "interesting" way for kids to find information (Watson, 2015).
Basically a web quest is an online scavenger hunt where students will explore a website (or multiply websites depending on how you want to do this) in order to find information to answer the questions given to them. This is a great way to improve kids research skills as well as their computer literacy, and not to mention kids love being able to use technology.
For example of what a single website web quest might look like check out this website, which is a great web quest for teaching kids about the Ancient Americas.
http://carlos.emory.edu/ODYSSEY/AA/aaflashfront.htm
If you want to make your own custom web quest, Symbaloo is a great tool to help you do so. You can house many different websites into one clear and easy to navigate web page.
For an example check out this symbaloo for the 6th grade Egypt unit made by Windsor Knolls Middle School teacher Deborah McCadney.
http://www.symbaloo.com/mix/egypt23
Strategy #2: History Event Chart
This strategy is suggested by teachinghistory.org in which the unnamed author of the article cites the research of Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan of the University of Chicago.
This strategy is designed to help students summarize the event they are currently reading about. During their reading the students will take note of the who, what, when, where, why and how of the event (teachinghistory.org, 2016). This strategy will not only help students with their summarizing, but will help them learn to read for the important details in a more complex reading.
Example: for you convenience and understanding I have thrown together a quick example of what this strategy will look like.
Event: The Black Power Salute
Who: Tommie Smith (USA), Peter Norman (Australia), and John Carlos (USA)
What: Tommie and John bowed their heads and raised their fists in a black power salute during the playing of the national anthem after receiving their Olympic medals for the 200m dash. Peter Norman wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights pin in solidarity.
When: 1968
Where: the Mexico City Olympics
Why: Tommie and John were a part of the OPHR, which sought to use the Olympic platform to draw attention to the unfair treatment of black Americans that continued despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
How: bowed head, raised fists, wore black socks and no shoes, wore African necklaces.
As the teacher it is up to you to decide how you would like the students to fill out this information. You could have them just write in their notebooks like the example above, or you could create a graphic organizer for them to fill out. The choice is yours of course.
This strategy is designed to help students summarize the event they are currently reading about. During their reading the students will take note of the who, what, when, where, why and how of the event (teachinghistory.org, 2016). This strategy will not only help students with their summarizing, but will help them learn to read for the important details in a more complex reading.
Example: for you convenience and understanding I have thrown together a quick example of what this strategy will look like.
Event: The Black Power Salute
Who: Tommie Smith (USA), Peter Norman (Australia), and John Carlos (USA)
What: Tommie and John bowed their heads and raised their fists in a black power salute during the playing of the national anthem after receiving their Olympic medals for the 200m dash. Peter Norman wore an Olympic Project for Human Rights pin in solidarity.
When: 1968
Where: the Mexico City Olympics
Why: Tommie and John were a part of the OPHR, which sought to use the Olympic platform to draw attention to the unfair treatment of black Americans that continued despite the passage of the Civil Rights Act.
How: bowed head, raised fists, wore black socks and no shoes, wore African necklaces.
As the teacher it is up to you to decide how you would like the students to fill out this information. You could have them just write in their notebooks like the example above, or you could create a graphic organizer for them to fill out. The choice is yours of course.
Strategy #1: Current Events
The first strategy I want to talk about is suggested by Watson. This strategy is to set aside a few minutes everyday to talk about current events in the world.
How? Watson suggests each week selecting 1 student to bring in a current article to discuss with the class (but also encouraging all students to bring something in at any time if they come across something that interests them. She is also sure to point out the importance of showing the students how to use and access newspapers (both print and online) because how can we as teachers expect them to find articles if they don't know where to look (Watson, 2015).
This is a great tool to encourage students to be aware of what is going on in the world around them currently, while secretly also having them practice their research and reading skills, as well as their summarizing skills when it comes time to tell the class about their article. Aside from just the one student a week who is to find the article this strategy can also help stimulate conversation and debate about the topic, which will help our kids with their critical thinking skills.
I know in my own career I had a teacher (my military history teacher in 11th grade) who did not formally assign people to bring in current events, but would start each class by asking "What's going on in the world today?" And without fail kids all across the class would have something they wanted to share. It soon became one of my favorite parts of the school day.
*Alternative method* Throughout my own personal career as a student I have had a couple teachers assign current event "projects" or "homeworks" you could call them. During these it would be up to us as the student to find an article in the category the teacher selected (like environmental, elections, international, economic, local... etc) and then we were to answer the questions assigned by the teacher about the articles we selected. This could be a good choice for you if you are looking to make this more of a formal assessment rather than a weekly discussion.
How? Watson suggests each week selecting 1 student to bring in a current article to discuss with the class (but also encouraging all students to bring something in at any time if they come across something that interests them. She is also sure to point out the importance of showing the students how to use and access newspapers (both print and online) because how can we as teachers expect them to find articles if they don't know where to look (Watson, 2015).
This is a great tool to encourage students to be aware of what is going on in the world around them currently, while secretly also having them practice their research and reading skills, as well as their summarizing skills when it comes time to tell the class about their article. Aside from just the one student a week who is to find the article this strategy can also help stimulate conversation and debate about the topic, which will help our kids with their critical thinking skills.
I know in my own career I had a teacher (my military history teacher in 11th grade) who did not formally assign people to bring in current events, but would start each class by asking "What's going on in the world today?" And without fail kids all across the class would have something they wanted to share. It soon became one of my favorite parts of the school day.
*Alternative method* Throughout my own personal career as a student I have had a couple teachers assign current event "projects" or "homeworks" you could call them. During these it would be up to us as the student to find an article in the category the teacher selected (like environmental, elections, international, economic, local... etc) and then we were to answer the questions assigned by the teacher about the articles we selected. This could be a good choice for you if you are looking to make this more of a formal assessment rather than a weekly discussion.
The Good Stuff
Now that we have gotten all of that background out of the way lets get to what you have all been waiting for: How do we build these literacy skills?
The next several posts will explore suggestions by Angela Watson, and Maryanne Bristow Evans and Sarah Clark* for incorporating literacy skills into everyday social studies teaching. The will also be one strategy suggested by teachinghistory.org based on the research of Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan.
*Angela Clark is a board certified teacher and instructional coach who has published 4 books and runs the Cornerstone for Teachers Blog.
Maryanne Bristow Evans and Sarah Clark are the authors of the article "Finding a Place for CCSS Literacy skills in the Middle School Social Studies Curriculum" published in The Clearing House by the Taylor and Francis Group.
Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan are professors at the University of Chicago.
The next several posts will explore suggestions by Angela Watson, and Maryanne Bristow Evans and Sarah Clark* for incorporating literacy skills into everyday social studies teaching. The will also be one strategy suggested by teachinghistory.org based on the research of Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan.
*Angela Clark is a board certified teacher and instructional coach who has published 4 books and runs the Cornerstone for Teachers Blog.
Maryanne Bristow Evans and Sarah Clark are the authors of the article "Finding a Place for CCSS Literacy skills in the Middle School Social Studies Curriculum" published in The Clearing House by the Taylor and Francis Group.
Timothy and Cynthia Shanahan are professors at the University of Chicago.
Why build literacy skills?
I know as teachers we already have quite a lot on our plates. We have so much content to get through as it is that adding in literacy skills seems like just another thing to pile on top of us. It's easy to just brush it off and think "well their former teachers should have taught them these things already." or "the LA teachers will take care of this." But when only 66% of graduating seniors in 2011 met the English standards expected of students entering college it becomes an issue for all teachers (Evans and Clark, 2015). In 2006 40% of students entering college needed to take remedial English classes (Evans and Clark, 2015). As teachers we often lament about the reading and writing skills of our students as we grade yet another essay from a 9th grader that reads like a 6th grader wrote it. But if we will not step up and teach our students to meet the standards they should be then who will? As Ghandi famously stated "be the change you wish to see in the world." And is that not why we became teachers in the first place? To help change and better the lives of our students?
But why us? Why the social studies teachers? Why do we have to be the ones to pick up the slack? Due to the nature of what we teach there is almost an endless amount of way to convey information to our students. We can use non-fiction books, newspapers, the internet, maps, photographs, primary documents, the list is endless (Ogle, Klemp, Mcbride, 2007).
As social studies teachers we have been given the task to broaden our students view of the world, to expose them to new ideas and places. What children learn will shape their views on the world as they grow up and become members of the "global community" (Ogle, Kemp, McBride, 2007). In more way than one we are shaping the future citizens of our country. What we teach, especially the history of the last 150 years or so will be incredibly relevant to their lives as they continue to grow. We want our students know about the horrors of the holocaust to prevent something like that from ever happening again. We want them to understand deep rooted racist history of the Jim Crow South so they may continue to make America a country of true equal opportunity for all races. We want them to understand the importance of political efficacy and participation so that they know they can have a say in the government that represents them. As Winston Churchill once said "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." There are endless examples of the importance of learning history, and if our students are not equipped with the literacy skills to effectively do so then it is up to us to build those skills.
But why us? Why the social studies teachers? Why do we have to be the ones to pick up the slack? Due to the nature of what we teach there is almost an endless amount of way to convey information to our students. We can use non-fiction books, newspapers, the internet, maps, photographs, primary documents, the list is endless (Ogle, Klemp, Mcbride, 2007).
As social studies teachers we have been given the task to broaden our students view of the world, to expose them to new ideas and places. What children learn will shape their views on the world as they grow up and become members of the "global community" (Ogle, Kemp, McBride, 2007). In more way than one we are shaping the future citizens of our country. What we teach, especially the history of the last 150 years or so will be incredibly relevant to their lives as they continue to grow. We want our students know about the horrors of the holocaust to prevent something like that from ever happening again. We want them to understand deep rooted racist history of the Jim Crow South so they may continue to make America a country of true equal opportunity for all races. We want them to understand the importance of political efficacy and participation so that they know they can have a say in the government that represents them. As Winston Churchill once said "those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." There are endless examples of the importance of learning history, and if our students are not equipped with the literacy skills to effectively do so then it is up to us to build those skills.
Monday, November 28, 2016
Essential Skills to Build
Before we can talk about ways to improve literacy skills we need to talk about what those skills are.
The Greece Central School District of Greece, New York put together a fabulous and comprehensive list called "Essential Strategies for Literacy in Social Studies"
This link will take you to their list, but I will also copy and paste the information down below for your convenience.
http://www.greececsd.org/files/1361/Essential%20Skills%20for%20Social%20Studies.doc
The following information is borrowed from Greece Central School Districts, 2016 (see above link)
The Greece Central School District of Greece, New York put together a fabulous and comprehensive list called "Essential Strategies for Literacy in Social Studies"
This link will take you to their list, but I will also copy and paste the information down below for your convenience.
http://www.greececsd.org/files/1361/Essential%20Skills%20for%20Social%20Studies.doc
The following information is borrowed from Greece Central School Districts, 2016 (see above link)
Essential Skills for Social Studies:
Organizing and Using Information
Thinking Skills:
Classify Information
Identify relevant factual material
Identify relationships between items of factual information
Group data in categories according to appropriate criteria
Place information in order of occurrence
Place information in order of importance
Place data in a variety of forms, such as tables, charts,
graphs, illustrations
Interpret Information
State relationships between categories of information
Identify cause/ effect relationships
Draw inferences from factual materials
Predict likely outcomes based on factual information
Recognize multiple valid interpretations of factual
information
Analyze Information
Organize key ideas related to a topic
Separate a topic into major components according to
appropriate criteria
Critically examine relationships between and among elements
of a topic
Detect bias in information presented
Compare and contrast differing accounts of the same event
Summarize Information
Extract significant ideas from supporting illustrative
details
Form a conclusion based on information
Restate major ideas of a topic in concise form
Form an opinion based on critical examination of relevant
information
Synthesize Information
Present information visually (e.g., chart, graph, diagram,
model)
Prepare an essay that requires an answer to a task
Communicate orally and in writing
Evaluate Information
Determine whether or not information is pertinent to the
topic
Determine whether information is important to know or
interesting to know
Estimate the adequacy of the information
Decision-Making Skills:
Secure needed factual information
Make decision based on the data obtained
Take action to implement decision
Metacognitive Skills:
Select appropriate strategy to solve a problem
Self-monitor one’s thinking process
(Greece Central School District, 2016)
The great thing about all of these skills and strategies is that not only will they be beneficial to students in the Social Studies Classroom, but they will be essential and helpful to students throughout their academic and adult careers! This could be a really important topic of conversation to have with your students. So many times we hear kids whine "why are we learning this?" "When will I ever use this?"Go through this list and pick out some that you can readily have real world examples to give your kids the next time they start to complain.
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