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Teaching Reading during Social Studies

Betty - posted on 09/01/2010 ( 5 moms have responded )

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Social Studies is basically a reading subject so if some children have problems with this subject it could be a reading problem. Make sure the students have access to a dictionary they can understand and they know how to use it. If the students use a dictionary they will make life easier for you and themselves.

Social Studies, because the subject covers a lot of different topics, exposes the student to many new words and sentences patterns. And this is the main problem when teaching reading in social studies. The students are up against many categories of new words.

When you bring in a new topic, go through and explain the new words. This simple act of guided reading will go a long way to help the students understand the new session. Or put the students in groups and they can work out the meaning of the words themselves. If you leave it up to the individual students they wont do it because it takes to long.

Sometimes I turn it into a class activity and ask the students what the words mean or ask for another word with the same meaning. I write the new word on the blackboard and then get the students to write a similar word or the meaning next to the word. Any words or meanings that are wrong I just rub off. This way the students don’t get a self-esteem bashing.

When teaching reading in Social Studies there are many ways to get the students involved in sharing what they already know, and Social Studies is about new things

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5 Comments

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Faye - posted on 09/21/2010

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I taught first grade in public school for 25 yrs. in TX and received many Montessori students in my class. My view is that they all were advanced in reading skills but had very limited structure in social interaction in class as well as ability to take instruction in a larger group.

Shannon - posted on 09/09/2010

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I agree with your strategies and introductions to new vocabulary. However, I fully disagree that teaching Social Studies is the same as teaching Reading! In a Reading curriculum, things are designed to teach children to READ. In a Social Studies curriculum, our goal is to teach children the CONTENT. It is possible that a child who has zero reading skills can still excel in Social Studies, especially if they are given multiple ways of showing content mastery.

Granted, there is a lot of cross over between the two. But they are not the same thing, and they focus on different goals and outcomes in the younger grades.

Kathy - posted on 09/04/2010

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There is a web site put out by the New York Times that's called "Snap Shots." There are short lessons including a lesson plan. Great for everyday "Stories of the Day." Comes with questions for the kids and a teacher sheet. Great for social studies and getting the kids interested in reading the news. It's on 4th-6th grade level but I used it for my high school kids who had reading problems. I had stories enlarged for low vision students and copied and pasted the stories with photos into a word doc for some of them to see better.

Julia - posted on 09/04/2010

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I start my kids using phonics until they are at about a second grade level, this might take longer for some students esp. boys. I agree, when they get to all those new place and people names it can be tricky so perhaps highlighting those with pictures on the board and then having them find those in their book and sound them out as you read the text. Pictures as in a power point presentation, can go a long way to triggering their interest and their memory of the word/ concept. Sometimes using an everyday situation to explain a historical concept in terms they understand helps them want to read and understand more as well.

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