Inside the ELA Classroom
The Social Studies edition - October 2017
History Requires A Specific Literacy Focus
When looking in the social studies classroom, teachers and students use many genres of text from presidential proclamations to private letters and political cartoons. Students "read" images and analyze/synthesize videos, objects and art. They review primary sources to reflect on perspectives and secondary sources in order to gain support for arguments and counterclaims.
Through the social studies classrooms, students learn that audience, place, purpose, and time matter when evaluating how authors crafted and delivered their messages. In the these classrooms students learn to read like historians and ask questions such as: Whose voice is missing? What is the evidence to support that claim? How are the conclusions on this topic limited?
Literacy in the social studies classroom provides opportunities for students to use close reading and other reading strategies to extend learning instead of memorizing historical facts.
Resources:
Stanford History Education Group. Reading Like a Historian.
teachinghistory.org Blog September 26, 2011
6-8th Grade Literacy in History / Social Studies
H1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
H2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.
H3: Identify key steps in a text's description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g. how a bill becomes law. how interest rates are raised or lowered).
9-10th Grade Literacy in History / Social Studies
H1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
H2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
H3: Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text; determine whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
11-12th grade Literacy in History / Social Studies
H1: Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
H2: Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary that makes clear the relationships among the key details and ideas.
H3: Evaluate various explanations for actions or events and determine which explanation best accords with textual evidence, acknowledging where the text leaves matters uncertain.
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Don't forget to browse the classic literature!
October events
Teen Read Week (Oct 8-14)
National School Lunch Week (Oct 9-13)
Fire Prevention Week (Oct 8-14)
World Food Day (Oct 16)
Black Poetry Day (The Harlem Renaissance) (Oct 17) Elementary Secondary
School Bus Safety Week (Oct 16-20)
Day on Writing (Oct 20) readwritethink Why I Write: 2017 National Day on Writing
International Artist Day (Oct 25th)
Pumpkin Day (Oct 26)
Internet Day (Oct 30)
Halloween (Oct 31) Grades 6-8 Grades 9-12
Teacher Notes for the Georgia Standards of Excellence in Social Studies
Social Studies Resources
EDSITEment - Over 393 history lessons that stress primary source documents, critical thinking, and other skills.
New York Times Learning Network - PRofessional educators at the New York Times who create weekly lesson plans incorporating news articles from the paper. Resources includes teaching and learning strategies to use before, during, and after instruction.
Reading Like a Historian - Curriculum plans created by the Stanford History Education Group. Lesson plans based on primary documents and activities to engage students in the story of United States History.
EyeWitness to History - Site incorporates primary sources (first-hand accounts, vintage photographs, and radio broadcasts) to enrich the classroom experience.
The Library of Congress American Memory - Access written and spoken words, recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and music that document the American experience.