Reading & Writing in Social Studies

“ I haven’t been able to do anything all morning!” Scribe

Sticky ideas?

Strong reading & writing skills are essential for deep Social Studies learning

There are lots of strategies we can use

In other words, it’s possible to . . .

get to the bigs!

Ready, Set, Go, Whoa!

Stone Pen Pencil Whoa What questions do I still have about the topic? Go What new information do I have? Set What do I think I will learn? Ready What do I know?

Science of teaching

Boiler repair

Art of teaching

Make connection between our content and students’ human needs

The opposite?

“ You can have any color you want . . . ”

. . . as long as it’s black.” Henry Ford

Santa Fe Trail (p. 2)

“ Tomorrow we’re going to start a unit on Santa Fe Trail. Read chapters 3 & 4 and fill in the blanks”

Does this work?

Turn to your learning partner and complete the following reading activity

One side write

What you see

The other

What you feel

What do all pictures have in common?

www.sussex.ac.uk/USIS www.corbis.com www.sussex.ac.uk/USIS

Whadda ya got?

See

Whadda ya got?

Feel

Whadda ya got?

Have in common

Purpose? The Ruby Bridges Story

How and why did racism start?

Can you prove that it has ended?

Vocabulary

Racism

Ruby Bridges

US marshalls

KKK

Concerned Citizens

LBJ

So . . . ?

“ Change doesn't occur at the federal, state, or local board level. It happens one classroom at a time ”

“ We need to care about the research and the evidence of what works. Not knowing this constitutes educational malpractice ” James Stronge - 2004 What Works in Schools Conference / “Qualities of Effective Teachers”

Why?

Large amounts of content & little time

Much of that content is in textual formats

New & different resources are available

Newspapers, visuals, handouts, atlases, lab reports, magazines, primary / secondary sources, games, box scores, internet

Reading strategies are research based

And most important . . .

It’s good for kids

What we know / research

Students construct new meaning by connecting prior knowledge with what they read

Prior knowledge is “the single most important variable in learning”

Students store prior knowledge in “schemata”

Predict, organize, compare/contrast and understand

What do you see?

viscog . beckman . uiuc . edu/djs_lab/demos .html

Analyze the following image

Be ready to reproduce it

You have 30 seconds to draw!

How’d ya do?

Write the number from memory

17766024365911

Let’s try again but think . . . American Revolution / Declaration of Independence Minutes / hours / days Emergencies

1776 60-24-365 911

What we know / research

The better a student understands the text structure , the better the reading comprehension

Reading & writing are integrally related

Writing cements knowledge

Comprehension and learning increase in collaborative settings

What!?

Response journals

Problems / barriers

Inadequate prior knowledge

Content-specific vocabulary

Text features and structure of “complex” textbooks

Limited reading levels

Myths / misconceptions

“ Learning From What Doesn’t Work”

(p. 3)

Coding the Text

Teach three symbols

I knew this (  )

Important (!)

Confused (?)

Answers / solutions

Plan instruction & learning around the triad of reading strategies

Before Reading During Reading After Reading

Before reading / strategies Preview text Background knowledge Predict

Prediction activity

Discrepant Event Inquiry

Riddle / problem / question

Yes or no questions only

Large group / then small group / back to large group

Timed

Discrepant Event Inquiry (DEI)

A cork placed in a glass that is completely filled with water will always move to the center of the glass. Why?

Jumping Ping Pong Ball / How?

“ We never would have found this person if the person hadn’t been so hard to find.”

In 1837, a boy named John and his six brothers and sisters lived on a farm in a beautiful, wooded area in Tennessee. His family planted corn & raised animals for food and milk. His father was a lawmaker and his mother taught English in a local school. They were happy & prosperous.

In 1839, the family moved to a dry, treeless, flat prairie where it was difficult to raise enough food to survive. Three of John’s siblings died. Unable to make a living farming, his father went back to being a legislator and his mother wrote for a newspaper. They missed their home in the mountains.

When? Where? What?

“ Backwards” DEI

Student stands facing class

Project picture on wall

Student must ask the questions

Paul Harvey

“ The Rest of the Story”

William Bruce

“ Mindtronics”

“ Inquiry Alive”

“ Discrepant Event Inquiry”

Dizzy Aunt?

Verti Gogh

Cousin from Illinois?

Chica Gogh

Nephew psychoanalyst?

E Gogh

Niece who owned a RV?

Winnie Bay Gogh

Mexican cousin?

Amee Gogh

Bird lover uncle

Flaming Gogh

Vincent Van Gogh

Building background knowledge

Emotional Envisioning

Civil War images

United Streaming

List / Group / Label (p. 10)

Realia / Artifacts (p. 11)

KSHS

<www.kshs.org>

Traveling trunks

Kiel Hileman

2004 Kansas teacher of the year

Keil's room

Class Discussion

Activating Prior Knowledge

Empty Your Head (p. 27)

Quick Write

Understanding vocabulary

Students must encounter words in context more than once to learn them

7-14 meaningful exposures needed!

Great way to learn?

Associate an image with word

Democracy

Which vocabulary words?

Those that are conceptually difficult

Those that relate to a single topic

Those that are important

Understanding the assigned reading

General utility in the language

Taboo

Student faces class / teacher flashes word on screen along with “taboo” words

“ Democracy” vote people United States 1776 election Constitution

Vocabulary cheat sheet

“ Pre-load” selected vocab from text into chart

Repeat words with students

Give quick definition

Type words in alpha order on half of hot dog fold with definition

Students use while reading as a bookmark

confederate regiment corps tactic strategy diplomacy secede rendezvous commission

Word Sorts (p. 28)

Geography terms

Verbal and Visual Word Association (p. 31)

Discrimination

Frayer Model (p. 35)

Preview text activities

Text Feature Hunt (p. 38-39)

THIEVES (p. 40)

What!?

Response journals

Text structures Rereading for clarification Questioning During reading / strategies

Text structure (p. 41)

Description (p. 42)

Sequence (p. 44)

Cause & effect (p. 47)

Problem / solution (p. 49)

Compare & contrast (p. 52)

Equals Similarities & Differences

What’s wrong with this?

Is this better?

Text structure

Use the picture and your assigned text structure to write a paragraph

Clarifying

5 Ws and H (p. 55)

History / Story Frame (p. 57)

Coding the Text

Teach three symbols

I knew this (  )

Important (!)

Confused (?)

Questioning activity

Children of the Dust Bowl vs. Out of the Dust

What is historical fiction?

Out of the Dust

“ Fact / Fiction / Not Sure” graphic organizer

Children of the Dust Bowl vs. Out of the Dust

What is historical fiction?

Out of the Dust

Fact / Fiction / Not Sure graphic organizer

Children of the Dust Bowl

Create questions from Not Sure list

Research using non-fiction to find answers

Create a page of larger class book

My Brother Sam is Dead vs. Give Me Liberty Others?

What!?

Response journals

Summarize Synthesize After reading / strategies Evaluate

Summarizing

2 x 2 Thinking (p. 62)

Textbooks / articles

Writing in Social Studies (p. 66)

Podcasts (iTunes)

Video newscast (YouTube)

Letters to others / before, during, after event

Synthesizing / Evaluating

Use primary sources as much as possible

“ What really happened at Lexington Green on April 19, 1775?” / “How do you know?”

Fence Sitter activity

NCSS Suggested Activities (p. 81)

Use NARA document analysis sheets (p. 83)

<www.archives.gov/education>

NARA Digital Classroom

<www.archives.gov/education>

Library of Congress American Memory

<memory.loc.gov>

Our Documents

<www.ourdocuments.gov>

Social Studies Central

<www.socialstudiescentral.com>

America’s Library

<www.americaslibrary.org>

University of Kansas links

<history.cc.ukans.edu/carrie/docs>

Synthesizing / Evaluating

RAFT ( p. 85)

Script writing

“ Bleeding edge!”

Google Docs

<docs.google.com>

Blogs / Wikis

<www.socialstudiescentral.com>

What!?

Response journals

“ Our task is not to provide an education for the kind of kids we used to have, or want to have, or the kind that exists in our dreams.

Our task is to provide an education for the kind of kids we do have.” Mary Kay Utecht

Resources

Reading Quest: Making Sense in Social Studies <www.readingquest.org>

National Council for the Social Studies <www.socialstudies.org>

Marco Polo <marcopolo-education.org>

Literacy Connections <www.literacyconnections.com>

Reading Rockets <www.readingrockets.org>

Colorin Colorado <www.colorincolorado.org>

Learning Disabilities Resources <www.ldresources.com>

Internet Picture Dictionary < www.eslnotes.com/index.html>

Empowered Desktop <kportal.learningstation.com>

Edsitement <edsitement.neh.gov>

Kansas Educational Resource Center <www.kerc-ks.org>

Literacy Matters <www.literacymatters.org>

Reading Strategies for the Social Studies Class < www.world-affairs.org/globalclassroom/ curriculum/ReadingToLearn2.pdf>

What’s New in Children’s Literature <www.peggysharp.com>

CyberGuides <www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/>

Helping Your Child Learn (History/Science/Math) <www.edpubs.org/webstore/Content/ search.asp>

PBS TeacherSource: Recommended Books <www.pbs.org/teachersource/recommended>

Carol Hurst’s Children’s Literature Site <www.carolhurst.com/subjects/ curriculum.htm>

Recommended Literature: K12 Literary Genres <www.cde.ca.gov/ci/rl/ll/litrlgenres.asp>

Suggested Children’s Literature for PreK-8 Activities <65.109.144.97/curriculum/Literature_ (annotated)_list_by_PLT_Activity.doc>

English Baby <www.englishbaby.com>

ESL Notes < www.eslnotes.com/index.html>

Six Key Strategies for Teachers of English Language Learners <www.all4ed.org/publications/ SixKeyStrategies.pdf>

Allen, Janet (2004) Tools for Teaching Content Literacy. Stenhouse Publishers.

Armstrong, Thomas. (2003) The Multiple Intelligences of Reading & Writing: Making the Words Come Alive. Alexandria, VA: ASCD

Beers, Kylene. (2003) When Kids Can’t Read: What Teachers Can Do. A Guide for Teachers 6-12. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Billmeyer, Rachel. (1998) Teaching Reading in the Content Areas: If Not Me, Then Who? McREL.

Bruce, Bertram. (2003) Literacy in the Information Age: Inquiries into Meaning Making with New Technologies. International Reading Association.

Caine, Geoffery. (2001) The Brain, Education, and the Competitive Edge . Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Education.

Committee on Developments in the Science of Learning. (1999) How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School . Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

Fay, Kathleen and Suzanne Whaley. (2004) Becoming One Community Reading and Writing with English Language Learners. Portland, MA: Stenhouse Publishers.

Harvey, Stephanie. (1998) Nonfiction Matters: Reading, Writing, and Research in Grades 3-8. Portland, MA: Stenhouse Publishers.

Irvin, Judith (2002) Reading Strategies for the Social Studies Classroom. Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

Jensen, Eric. (1998) Teaching with the Brain in Mind. Alexandria, Virginia: ASCD.

Kirschenbaum, Valerie. (2005) Goodbye Gutenberg: Hello to a New Generation of Readers and Writers. Global Renaissance Society.

Levstick, Linda, Barton, Keith. (2001) Doing History: Investigating with Children in Elementary & Middle Schools . Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.