Michael A. Kopish, Ph.D. Plymouth State University

Challenges of Social Studies Instruction 1. Limited background knowledge Chronology of events (i.e. students “miss” a portion) Geography (i.e. distances) Cultural variations

Challenges of Social Studies Instruction 2. Limited points of view in many social studies materials Textbooks tell the “story” from the point of view from “heroes” or “victors.” Perspectives from those effected are often missing – Eurocentric perspective

Challenges of Social Studies Instruction 3. Unfamiliarity with the formats and the instructional styles used in social studies classes. i.e. procedures for report writing, oral presentations, classroom discussions How might one form a paragraph; compare and contrast issues, perspectives; provide warrants to support claims; or communicate cause and effects?

Challenges of Social Studies Instruction 4. High vocabulary density in social studies materials Terms and concepts go far beyond the highlights of the text Terms can be abstract as opposed to concrete Federalism, division, democracy, government, economy, citizen, constitution, subjects, supreme Manifest destiny, imperialism, civil rights SNCC, TVA, GAO

What is a Text Structure? Text structure refers to the internal organization of a text As authors write a text to communicate an idea, they will use a structure that goes along with the idea (Meyer, 1985)

Challenges of Social Studies Instruction 5. A complex variety of genre and sentence structures in social studies materials Expository writing vs. narrative writing Unclear referents Sentences that begin with “It” – referring to? Confusing visual organization Headers do not preview or summarize the section Illustrations are unconnected “add-ons” Complicated sentences Embedded clauses and complicated verb structures “supposed to have taken” and “need no longer fear”

Challenges of Social Studies Instruction 6. Heavy reliance on advanced literacy skills, with limited opportunities for hands-on activities Assumption: High degree of literacy Assumption: Student connection of abstract to concrete

Reflective Cycle

Successful Social Studies Instructional Strategies 1.Offer opportunities to communicate about social studies – in oral, written, physical, or pictorial forms 2.Make connections between the content taught and students’ real-life experiences. 3.Use the students as resources for information about lives, culture, native background. 4.Activate students’ background knowledge.

Successful Social Studies Instructional Strategies 5.Provide hands-on and performance-based activities 6.Promote critical thinking and study skills development 7.Pay attention to language issues and employ strategies that will help students learn the language of social studies 8.Use graphic organizers to help students represent information and identify relationships

Successful Social Studies Instructional Strategies 9.Incorporate cooperative learning activities and seek peer tutors among classmates 10.Be process-oriented and provide modeling for students to make transitions to academic tasks 11.Open discussion to different perspectives of history 12.Adjust instruction for the different learning styles of the students 13.Offer students choices and access to tools for learning

 Visual representations  Opportunities to act out physically  Tie to student experiences  Develop sentence structures and skills with more extensive discourse patterns  Teacher & students learn to paraphrase  Connect with shared concrete experiences  Follow-up literacy activities (read about the election and conduct an election  Role play

 Guided practice for writing  Narrative writing ( writing that tells a story )  Descriptive writing ( to describe a person, place or thing in such away that a picture is formed in the reader's mind )  Persuasive writing ( main goal is to persuade or convince someone )  Expository writing ( to explain, describe, give information or inform )

 Identify structures in social studies texts  Sequential (chronological) – a main idea is supported by details that must be in a particular order [first, next, later, and finally]  Cause-effect – supporting details of two or more main ideas indicate how those concepts are similar or different [cause, effect, as a result, consequently]  Problem-solution – shows a problem and how it can be solved [problem, solution, solve, effect, hopeful]  Description/Enumeration – a major idea is supported by a list of details or examples [next to, on top of, beside, so forth]  Comparison-contrast – supporting details of two or more main ideas indicate how those concepts are similar or different [like, similar, unlike, on the other hand, also, too]