Social Studies
Helpful Links
If you are a social studies teacher, keep in mind that when you have one or more ELL students in a class, you also become an English language teacher.
"Just because your newcomers don't have the academic language YET to understand core content, does not mean they should not be receiving core instruction. The ultimate goal of providing beginning English skills is to engage our students in core academic instruction." quote from Emily Francis at https://inspiringenglishlanguagelearners.weebly.com/blog/supporting-newcomers
ELLs are at a disadvantage because of several factors:
- Limited Background Knowledge of the U.S.
- Cultural differences
- Difficulty learning from textbooks
- Difficulty learning from lectures.
- Polysemous words are challenging
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/media/users/xr1/glossaries/SocialStudies/Elementary/eleSocialStudiesSpanish.pdf (Spanish/English social studies glossary)
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/uploads/004/740/NYU_PTE_SocialStudies_for_ELLS_Oct2009.pdf (Article listing strategies)
https://ellclassroom.com/2008/11/23/foldables%C2%AE-social-studies-continent-book/ (foldable activity)
http://www.campbell.k12.tn.us/documents/ESL/ELL_SS.pdf (for high school, but has good, adaptable suggestions)
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ (articles w/pictures)
ELLs' difficulties when studying social studies:
http://multilingual.mpls.k12.mn.us/uploads/working-with-newcomers-teachers.pdf
* Use of higher level thinking skills for reading and writing.
* Lack of familiarity with historical terms, government processes, and vocabulary.
* Social Studies text contains complex sentences, passive voice, and extensive use of pronouns.
* ELs may not be used to expressing their personal opinions.
* Nationalistic and cultural focus of maps.
* Concepts which do no exist in all cultures are difficult. This includes privacy, democratic processes, rights of citizens, free will.
* No concept of movement within the structure of a society.
* ELs are seldom asked to contribute an alternate view that reflects conditions in other countries.
* Use in our schools of "timeline" teaching vs. learning history by "dynasty" or "period."
* Difficulty with understanding what is said by the teacher and being able to take notes.
* Amount of text covered and the ELs' inability to tell what is important in the text and what is not important.
Integrating Social Studies into Literacy Lessons:
https://thecornerstoneforteachers.com/social-studies-in-literacy-routines/
Teaching Civics and Social Studies
Lesson Plan on American Immigration for Middle School. From American Immigration Council website:
http://www.immigrationpolicy.org/category/lesson-plans/middle-school-lesson-plans
Lesson Plan on American Immigration for Elementary School. From Kennedy Center website:
http://artsedge.kennedy-center.org/educators/lessons/grade-3-4/America_A_Home_for_Every_
Culture#Preparation
Lesson Plan Ideas From The New Americans Series: Grades 7–12. From PBS website:
http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/newamericans/foreducators_index.html
Library of Congress Lesson Plans on Immigration. From Library of Congress website:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/themes/immigration/lessonplans.htm
Library of Congress Lesson Plan: “What is an American?,” Grades 9–12. From Library of Congress website:
http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/lessons/american/index.html
Preparing Social Studies Lessons. From Colorín Colorado website: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/preparing-engaging-social-studies-lesson-english-language-learners