Which Came First: Literacy or Social Studies? How Primary Sources Can Bridge the Divide

Abstract

Due to the implementation of No Child Left Behind and the Common Core State Standards, disciplinary literacy has become a vital component of social studies instruction in middle and secondary classrooms. This paper determines the degree to which nine middle and high school social studies teachers were successful in designing integrated learning experiences for their students after attending professional development. Data from semi-structured interviews, teachers’ instructional units, workshop surveys and field notes were collected and analyzed for the qualitative study. The study considers how teachers’ instructional units incorporated primary sources to support students’ foundational literacy skills, scaffolded disciplinary understanding, historical analysis, and highlighted community issues that connected their lived experiences to broader social concerns.

Portraits of Change: Using Picture Books to Engage Students in Thematic Civic Education

“…Additionally, to contextualize Smalls's escape as a representation of civic action, students completed an array of graphic organizers, created their own anti-slavery advocacy poster, and collaborated on a Robert Smalls Historical Monument project whereby they had to articulate how Smalls's actions led to civic change. Materials selected for this project reflected research on best teaching practices relevant to the use of rich children's trade books (Golden-Hughes, 2022;Lord & Noel, 2022;Patterson & Shuttleworth, 2020), the strategic and systemic use of primary sources (Langan & Lawrence, 2021;Levstik & Barton, 2015;Manfra, 2017;Moreau & Smith, 2021), the inclusion of graphic organizers (Gallavan & Kottler, 2007;Gieselmann, 2011) and the importance of collaborative, interactive learning opportunities in the social studies classroom (Grant et al, 2017;Wineburg et al, 2013). The processes referenced in the paragraph above were replicated in similar ways with the other five historical figures explored in our research study.…”