Building Literacy in Social Studies: Strategies for Improving Comprehension and Critical Thinking

Preparing students to be active, informed, literate citizens is one of the primary functions of public schools. But how can students become engaged citizens if they can't read, let alone understand, their social studies texts? What can educators—and social studies teachers in particular—do to help students develop the knowledge, skills, and motivation to become engaged in civic life?

Building Literacy in Social Studies addresses this question by presenting both the underlying concepts and the research-based techniques that teachers can use to engage students and build the skills they need to become successful readers, critical thinkers, and active citizens. The authors provide targeted strategies—including teaching models, graphic organizers, and step-by-step instructions—for activities such as

* Building vocabulary,

* Developing textbook literacy skills,

* Interpreting primary and secondary sources,

* Applying critical thinking skills to newspapers and magazines, and

* Evaluating Internet sources.

Readers will also learn how to organize classrooms into models of democracy by creating learning communities that support literacy instruction, distribute authority, encourage cooperation, and increase accountability among students. Realistic scenarios depict a typical social studies teacher's experience before and after implementing the strategies in the classroom, showing their potential to make a significant difference in how students respond to instruction. By making literacy strategies a vital part of content-area instruction, teachers not only help students better understand their schoolwork but also open students' eyes to the power that informed and engaged people have to change the world.

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About the Authors Donna Ogle is Professor of Education at National-Louis University in Chicago, Illinois, and is actively involved in staff development projects work in the Chicago Public Schools, the Reading Leadership Institute, and in other American school districts. Dr. Ogle serves as a literacy consultant internationally, including Critical Thinking International and as a part of the editorial review boards of "Lectura y Vida" and the Thinking Classroom. She recently finished her term as president of the International Reading Association (IRA). Donna also conducts research on visual literacy and content comprehension, having developed both the K-W-L and PRC2 (partner reading in content, too). She is the author of many books, book chapters, and professional articles and conducts national and international workshops on teaching for comprehension and higher order thinking, as well as using the arts in teaching. Her K-W-L procedure has become so renowned that teachers use it all over the world. James Beers is Professor of Reading, Language, and Literacy in the School of Education at the College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia. He is also the Director of the Eastern Virginia Writing Project of the National Writing Project which helps teachers help their students become better writers. He has a B.A. in English from Johns Hopkins University, an M.A. in English, and Ph.D. in Reading from the University of Virginia. Dr. Beers has taught reading, writing, and spelling to students at all grade levels and has published books, chapters, and articles on reading, writing, and spelling. Among these publications are "Developmental and Cognitive Aspects of Learning to Spell" and "Writingfor Competency. "James is also an author on the Scott Foresman Reading and Spelling Programs. He has given numerous in-service workshops throughout the United States and Canada for teachers and administrators on the teaching of reading, writing, and spelling. He has assisted a number of school systems in developing K-12 reading and writing curricula and the three- to four-year plans for implementing the curricula. Along with his wife, Dr. Carol S. Beers, James has participated in the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking Project through the International Reading Association's International Volunteer Program. This project has helped teachers in eastern European countries promote critical thinking and independent learning through reading and writing in their students. James and Carol are currently co-authoring a book that addresses what every principal should know about reading.