Social Studies in Elementary Education

15e
Walter C. Parker & Terence A. Beck

Chapter 10

The Literacy-Social Studies

Connection

By: Terence A. Beck, University of Puget

Sound

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 Chapter Outline

Addressing Literacy and Content-Area Learning

Improving Text Comprehension: Helping Students Make Sense

of What They Read
Introducing the Socratic Seminar: Interpretive Discussion
Using Childrens Trade Books for Multiple Perspectives

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Key Concepts

Literacy apprenticeship

Practical and informational literacies

Comprehension

Graphic organizers and semantic maps

Interpretive and genuine questions

Multiple perspectives

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
All Rights Reserved
 Picture This

Ms. McKean was determined that her fourth-graders read lots of social studies material.
This was, therefore, the subject area in which she would provide most of her language
arts instruction. She didnt want them reading only narrative writing, whether fiction or
nonfiction. That was too limiting, she said. I am educating future judges and
senators, and they have to know how to read more than stories. She taught them to
preview and skim as a way of giving them a leg up on complex, non-narrative,
informational material. I want you to read and understand the Constitution, the
Declaration of Independence, and Lincolns Gettysburg Address. I want you to know
your way around the atlas, the almanac, and public records. For that, youll need to
learn to take a helicopter ride firstget above the material. This is called
previewing.

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Literacy Apprenticeships
in Social Studies
Perform a Task Gain Information Literary Experience
Studying the candidates Enjoying a biography of the
Reading the ballot
positions pharaoh Ramses
Arranging political cartoons
Reading directions to the Reading the presidents
about the president in a
polls speech
collage
Reading the procedure at a Finding Lewis and Clarks
Reading historical fiction
classroom learning center route on a map

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Social Studies Reading Skills
In social studies, the capable reader:
Reads flexibly
Uses chapter and section headings as aids to reading
Uses context clues to suggest word meaning
Talks with classmates about possible meanings
Adjusts reading speed to purpose
Hypothesizes causeeffect relationships
Uses reference material freely to understand vocabulary
Investigates the author of primary documents (who, when, why, where)
Seeks data in maps, charts, pictures, and illustrations, and interprets data and symbols found there
Uses various parts of a book (index, table of contents, introduction, etc.) as aids to reading
Previews the selection to become familiar with text structure and to predict the main idea
Skims to locate facts and hypothesize main ideas
Compares one account with another
Recognizes and seeks topic sentences
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Uses librarySocial
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 Reflect and Discuss 10.1

Weve argued that the teachers job is to teach students to

be successful with social studies content, not to make it
easy so theyll get it. What appeals to you about our
stance? What are the limits to this suggestion?

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
All Rights Reserved
 Using Textbooks as Study Aids

1. Using the Parts of a Book

2. Using the Structure of the Book

3. Using Picture to Aid Comprehension

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Reflect and Discuss 10.2

Whats the text structure of this book? Use the organization of

this chapter to help you figure it out. We think you will eliminate
chronology right away. But what about the other choices? Once
youve created your hypothesis, talk to other readers of this text
to see what they think? What does this exercise tell you about text
structure and how to teach it?

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 I. Becks Vocabulary Tiers

Tier One: Words students hear and use in everyday speech

Tier Two: Academic words used in school across subject areas

Tier Three: Domain specific words important to specific subject

areas (e.g., Cartography)

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Terms Needing Special Attention in Social Studies

Technical terms (e.g., veto, meridian)

Figurative terms (e.g., political, platform)
Words with multiple meanings (e.g., cabinet, belt)
Terms peculiar to a locality (e.g., truck farm, borough)
Words easily confused with other words (e.g., alien for allies)
Acronyms (e.g., NATO, NASA)
Quantitative terms (e.g., millennium, hectare)

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Reflect and Discuss 10.3

What connection do you see to vocabulary and concept formation

(Chapter 9)? Is there a contradiction in our admonition to do
vocabulary work in short, fun spurts and the elaborate process of
concept formation? How might you resolve this apparent
contradiction?

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Improving Text Comprehension: Making Sense

1. Activate prior knowledge

2. Preview

3. Skim for ideas and related details

4. Summarize

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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A simple semantic map on the theme of exploration

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Socratic Seminar

Choose a Worth Text

Explain the Purpose
State and Clarify Expectations
Preteach or Postteach Needed Skills
Ask an Interpretive, Genuine Question
Make Facilitation Moves (i.e., Clarify, Elaborate, Verify,
Participate, Summarize)

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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Using Childrens Trade Books for Multiple Perspectives

Launching

Examining Multiple Perspectives

Greenes Christopher Columbus: A Great Explorer
Liestmans Columbus Day
Yolens Encounter

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
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 Discussion Question

Look back at the Reflect and Discuss 10.1. The question raised
there is connected to the problem of lowering expectations for
students when difficult material is encountered, which in turn is
entangled with the achievement gap between Latino, African
American, and White students, and between middle-class and
working-class students. Discuss the matter with classmates and try to
clarify the central pedagogical and social issues.

Copyright 2017, 2012, 2009 by Pearson Education, Inc.

Social Studies in Elementary Education, 15e, by Parker and Beck.
All Rights Reserved