DISCIPLINARY LITERACY IN SOCIAL STUDIES TIP SHEET Disciplinary Literacy – Wisconsin Definition “Disciplinary literacy is defined as the confluence of content knowledge, experiences, and skills merged with the ability to read, write, listen, speak, think critically and perform in a way that is meaningful within the context of a given field.”
What does DL mean for social studies education? What is unique about how we help students think in social studies? What unique types of critical texts are students expected to learn and maneuver in our social studies classes? What type of writing is expected in social studies? How is this different from thinking, reading, and writing in other classes?
Disciplinary Literacy is NOT… • • • •
the new name for content area reading (Shanahan, 2012). for language arts only. a “fix-all” to replace general reading strategies (Ratzell, 2011). focused on “every teacher’s a reading teacher” (Faggella-Luby, et al., 2012).
Disciplinary Literacy IS… • • •
aimed at what we teach versus how we teach. exploring the content knowledge, experiences, and skills needed to develop proficiency. a set of tools (reading, writing, listening, speaking, thinking, and performing) to support a more in-depth study of a content area.
The social studies have unique systems of analysis, allowing people across countries, cultures, and time to connect. By focusing on point-of-view thought processes and authentic analysis of primary source documents in all strands of social studies, students learn how to communicate thoughtfully as a historian, political scientist, economist, geographer, or behavioral scientist.
Eight Steps to Building Social Studies Knowledge through Literacy (not literacy through social studies)
DL Social Studies Resources Online DPI Social Studies Disciplinary Literacy Website – http://bit.ly/DL-SS DPI Disciplinary Literacy Site - http://bit.ly/DPI-DL What is Disciplinary Literacy in Social Studies? Prezi - http://bit.ly/SocStDL
1. Build prior knowledge.
2. Build specialized vocabulary.
3. Encourage authentic, deep analysis of primary sources of all kinds, from all strands of social studies.
4. Use point-of-view thinking to tease out essential questions – “How would an historian view this photo?” vs. “How would a geographer view this photo?”.
Reading Like a Historian – Stanford History Group on TeacherTube http://bit.ly/ReadLAH – 5:18 minutes
3rd graders discuss “The Hundred Dresses” in their work on immigration http://bit.ly/speakDL - 6:45 minutes
NatGeo offers “The Lost Boys of Sudan”, integrating technology & writing. http://bit.ly/DLgeowriting
Thinking Like a Historian overview from co-author Bobbie Malone http://bit.ly/TLAHvid (4 parts)
Students rap about a traditional economy http://bit.ly/DLeconrap 1 minute video
Prayers in a Song, from The Ways, Native American raps about his experience with assimilation http://bit.ly/WAYSlang
DL Social Studies Informational Text Examples Wisconsin's Approach to Literacy in All Subjects: What is Disciplinary Literacy? - This document defines DL and types of informational text for use in content areas. Here are some not-so-obvious “text” examples in social studies. For more examples, see the DL-SS website! http://bit.ly/DLSScriticaltext Artifacts
Census Reports
Things from the past that you can hold in your hand (but kids can analyze photos of them if you don’t have any!) http://bit.ly/DLartifacts
http://www.census.gov/schools/ for_teachers/
5. Document based questions encourage text comparison and enrich writing skills.
Graphic Novels
Newspaper articles
6. Pose discipline relevant questions.
Newsletter Check for additional DL examples within the Social Studies listserv newsletter, available at http://bit.ly/socstlistserv. Contact Kris to be included on the email list for future issues.
7. Use reasoning within the discipline (What counts as evidence to evaluation claims?).
8. Remember – this ain’t your momma’s “reading in the content area”!
Scholastic – Using graphic novels in the classroom http://bit.ly/schgrnovel
Maps http://bit.ly/DL-Gmaps
Newseum online http://bit.ly/DLnewseum USA Weekend in Ed has a flyer on using the newspaper in your classroom http://bit.ly/DLnewspaper
Historical primary source documents Diaries Photographs Documents
Multimedia/ digital texts Social Media for Social Action http://bit.ly/socmedsa Social Media rubrics http://bit.ly/socmedrubric Wikis in the Social Studies classroom http://bit.ly/socstwiki
CONTACT INFORMATION Kris McDaniel Social Studies Consultant Email Address
[email protected] Office Phone Number 608-266-2207 Office Address 125 South Webster St. P.O. Box 7841 Madison, WI 53707-7841 Website http://cal.dpi.wi.gov/cal_socstudies
