Do You Have A Steady Foundation?

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Destination Innovation
Do You Have A Steady Foundation?
Social Studies
Integrating ELA Social Studies 3-5
ELA
Chasity LewisCourtney BissetteTomeshia Barnes
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Welcome
The goals for this session are for you to

• Critically analyze the connections between
  teaching social studies and language arts.
• Learn to find and use literature to teach social
  studies and language arts concepts.
• Be inspired to use a variety of childrens
  literature to integrate Social Studies and
  English Language Arts.
• Discuss resources and strategies that can be
  utilized in your school.
• Leave today with at least 5 integrated lesson
  plans.
• Leave with a passion for social studies and
  language arts instruction.

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Why Integration?
To build a foundation for college and career
readiness, students must read widely and deeply
from among a broad range of high-quality,
increasingly challenging literary and
informational texts. . . By reading texts in
history/social studies, science, and other
disciplines, students build a foundation of
knowledge in these fields that will also give
them the background to be better readers in all
content areas. Students can only gain this
foundation when the curriculum is intentionally
and coherently structured to develop rich content
knowledge within and across grades. Students also
acquire the habits of reading independently and
closely, which are essential to their future
success.
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Example
Take a class ½ are good readers and ½ are poor
readers and give them a reading passage about
Baseball. Follow the reading up with an
assessment. Who will do better on the test?
Good Readers
Poor Readers

• Averaged
• 27.5/40

• Averaged
• 18.8 /40

Adapted from Don Gifford History/Government/Social
Studies Consultant Kansas State Department of
Education presentation (May 2011)
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Social Studies
Language Arts
Strands History Geography and Environmental
Literacy Economics and Financial
Literacy Civics and Government Culture

• Students that are college and career reading can
• They demonstrate independence.
• They build strong content knowledge.
• They respond to the varying demands of audience,
  task, purpose, and discipline.
• They comprehend as well as critique.
• They value evidence.
• They use technology and digital media
  strategically and capably.
• They come to understand other perspectives and
  cultures.

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Lets Check the Research
Brain research has found that the brain searches
for patterns and connections as its way of
building meaning. Diamond and Hopson concluded
that an integrated, balanced curriculum promotes
this type of brain growth and development through
an enriched environment (Cuthrell Yates, 2007,
p.23).
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Read Like a Historian
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You are Already Doing It!!!
If you are teaching social studies well you are
already teaching language arts.
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Guiding Question
How do you integrate social studies and language
arts?
Turn, Talk, and Google Doc
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Various Methods

• Read aloud, including novels and picture books
• Shared and guided reading
• Re-enactments and presentations
• Text dependent questions
• Utilizing newspapers and current events
• Writing, Writing, Writing
• Service Learning Projects
• Readers Theatre

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Utilizing Childrens Literature to Teach Social
Studies and Language Arts.
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Utilizing Childrens Literature to Teach Social
Studies and Language Arts.
Literature can become the lens through which
content is viewed. This lens holds the young
readers attention while connecting content with
the variety of human experiences (Smith
Johnson, 1994)
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Utilizing Childrens Literature to Teach Social
Studies and Language Arts.
Literature can become the lens through which
content is viewed. This lens holds the young
readers attention while connecting content with
the variety of human experiences (Smith
Johnson, 1994)
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Utilizing Childrens Literature to Teach Social
Studies and Language Arts.
Jarolimek (1990) states literature and literary
materials should play an important part in social
studies instruction because they convey so well
the affective dimension of human experience.  The
realism achieved through vivid portrayals in
works of literature stirs the imagination of the
young reader and helps develop a feeling for and
an identification with the topic being studied
(p. 207).
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Paired Texts
Adolescents ask why and desire real-life
experiences combining a nonfiction text with a
fictional text with fictional narrative
reinforces the realism of the narrative while
allowing students to connect with the
nonfictional information. Paired texts can allow
students to grasp, connect, build off of, and
synthesize information from either the fiction or
nonfiction text. One text can establish the
background with which visual imagery-based
fluency can be based a vital skill that adds to
the development of adolescent literacy.
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Boom Town by Sonia Levitin
Modeling Integration
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Vocabulary
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miners

• people whose job is working in a mine to extract
  minerals or ores from the earth

This miner is panning for gold.
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nuggets

• small chunks

Gold nuggets were beautifully shiny.
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skillet

• heavy iron pan used for cooking and frying

This skillet has been used to cook a bacon and
egg breakfast.
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stagecoach

• horsedrawn vehicle with four wheels and a covered
  top

A stagecoach was one way to travel in the Old
West.
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settle

• To make a home in a new place

If you wanted to settle for good in a boom town,
you would need to build a house.
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boom town

• a community that experiences sudden and rapid
  growth

A boom town appears almost over night.
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entrepreneur

• an individual who organizes and operates a
  business or businesses, taking on financial risk
  to do so.

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landmark

• an object or feature that marks a boundary or
  identifies a place

A church might be a landmark in a boom town.
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This _______ could be used in a campfire.

• miners
• nuggets
• skillet
• stagecoach
• settle
• boom town
• landmark

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A ____ ____ would become a ghost town when the
gold played out.

• miners
• nuggets
• skillet
• stagecoach
• settle
• boom town
• landmark

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A gold _____ might need a handbook to get started.

• miners
• nuggets
• skillet
• stagecoach
• settle
• boom town
• landmark

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These gold _______ are very valuable.

• miners
• nuggets
• skillet
• stagecoach
• settle
• boom town
• landmark

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Businesses were started by people who chose to
______ in a boom town.

• miners
• nuggets
• skillet
• stagecoach
• settle
• boom town
• landmark

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The Mill Mountain Star is a ________ in Roanoke.

• miners
• nuggets
• skillet
• stagecoach
• settle
• boom town
• landmark

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You can ride a __________ in some western towns
today.

• miners
• nuggets
• skillet
• stagecoach
• settle
• boom town
• landmark

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Group Activity
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Lesson Plan Template
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Groups
Lavender
Green
Blue
Yellow
Pink
Purple
Hot Pink
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Group Discussion Each group will share the lesson
plan created including the texts utilized in the
lesson.
Lavender
Green
Blue
Yellow
Pink
Purple
Hot Pink
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Questions
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Exit Ticket
Please complete the exit ticket via Google Docs.
Thank you and we appreciate your attendance!
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References
Jarolimek, J. (1990). Social studies in
elementary education. New York
Macmillan. Smith, J.L., Johnson, H. (1994). 
Models for implementing literature in convent
studies. The Reading Teacher, 48, 198- 209.
Gifford, D. (2011, May). Implementing the common
core literacy standards for history/social
studies. Presented at Kansas State Department
of Education.