Disciplinary Literacies in Social Studies

A professional development webinar series for Hawaii social studies teachers

This webinar series includes five modules, each consisting of videos, assessments, and extension activities designed to support social studies teachers in Hawaii as they learn about using disciplinary literacies strategies in their classrooms.

Module 1 – What are Disciplinary Literacies?

Disciplinary literacies include the skills that are needed to understand, create, and communicate academic knowledge. This module is an introduction to disciplinary literacies.

Module 2

Civic literacies include the ways of thinking that support students as they act in our democracy. Central to these ways of thinking are the application of civic virtues, deliberation, and perspective taking. This module examines these specific literacies and the general role of civics in inquiry to engage and extend students’ active democratic life.

Module 3

Economics is deeply integrated into the social studies curriculum and our everyday ways of thinking and solving problems. This module will feature ways of thinking in economics focused on the use of economic data and economic analyses as they compliment instructional strategies teaching economic inquiry.

Module 4

Module 5

The nature and ways of thinking in history closely follow the Inquiry Arc—from questioning, to using sources and evidence to communicating conclusions. This module will examine the Inquiry Arc with a special focus on the unique literacies in the discipline of history that ought to a regular part of teaching and learning in social studies.

Your Facilitator

This professional development was designed and is presented by Dr. John K. Lee.

John is a professor of social studies at North Carolina State University. As a writer of the C3 Framework and co-founder of C3 Teachers along with Kathy Swan and SG Grant, he has help to bring new approaches for teaching with inquiry and a focus on disciplinary literacies. (read more)

Welcome to the Disciplinary Literacies in Social Studies Webinar Series

The content in this webinar series is organized around the College, Career, and Civic Live (C3) Framework for State Standards in Social Studies, specifically Dimension 2 and supports inquiry-based teaching and learning as envisioned in the C3 Inquiry Arc. The core disciplines in social studies—Civics, Economics, Geography, and History—provide the overall structure for this webinar series. Each module highlights background information about literacy in each discipline and provides activities for enhancing the teaching of disciplinary literacies. Learn more in the welcome video below.

Intro-to-Disciplinary-Literacies.mp4

Module 1 – An Introduction to Disciplinary Literacies

This first webinar module is an introduction to disciplinary literacies and includes a 10 minute Video, an Assessment consisting of a series of questions related to the content of the video, and a follow up Pause, Reflect, and Apply activity along with background readings.

Background Materials

Lee, J., & Swan, K. (2013). Is the Common Core good for social studies? Yes, but…. Social Education, 77(6), 327-330. Download HERE
Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2012). What is disciplinary literacy and why does it matter?. Topics in Language Disorders, 32(1), 7-18. Download HERE

Video

Disciplinary literacies include all the skills that are needed to understand, create, and communicate academic knowledge. This video provides an overview of the concept of disciplinary literacy and an introduction to disciplinary literacies in social studies.

The Powerpoint slides for this video are available HERE.

01 Disciplinary Literacy in SS.mp4

Assessment

This assessment includes seven questions checking your understanding of the content presented in the video for Module 1. If you are administering this assessment, you can use the print version of the assessment available on the Webinar series website at HERE.

1. What is disciplinary literacy?
2. How does disciplinary literacy differ from content area reading?
3. What are the distinctions among basic literacies, intermediate literacies, and disciplinary literacies?
4. How are disciplinary literacies reflected in the C3 Framework?
5. What is meant by concepts and tools as these terms are used in the C3 Framework?
6. How does Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework and the social studies disciplines of civics, economics, geography, and history represent concepts and tools from the disciplines?
7. How do disciplinary literacies increase in sophistication across the grades? Use an indicator from the Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework as an example. The C3 Framework is available at http://socialstudies.org/C3

Pause, Reflect, and Apply

What are skills that you emphasize in your classroom that are derived from the disciplines that make up social studies? How are these skills represented in the current state standards in Hawaii?

Module 2 – Civics and Disciplinary Literacies

This second webinar module is focused on civic literacies including the ways of thinking that support students as they act in their civic life. Central to these ways of thinking are the application of civic virtues, deliberation, and perspective taking. This module examines these specific civic literacies and the general role of civics in inquiry to engage and extend students’ active civic life to disciplinary literacies and includes a minute Video, an Assessment consisting of a series of questions related to the content of the video, and a follow up Pause, Reflect, and Apply activity along with background readings .

Background Materials

Blevins, B., & LeCompte, K. (2015). I Am Engaged. Social Studies and the Young Learner, 27(4), 23-26. Download HERE
Levinson, M. (2014). Action Civics in the Classroom. Social Education, 78(2), 68-72. Download HERE
Levinson, M., & Levine, P. (2013). Taking informed action to engage students in civic life. Social Education, 77(6), 339-341. Download HERE

Video

02 Civic Literacies.mp4

The Powerpoint slides for this video are available HERE.

Assessment

This assessment includes eight questions checking your understanding of the content presented in the video for Module 2. If you are administering this assessment, you can use the print version of the assessment available on the Webinar series website at HERE.

1. How is civics different than other core disciplines in social studies? What makes it special with regard to the purposes of social studies?
2. What is the relationship between civics and Dimension 2 and the rest of the C3 Inquiry Arc?
3. What are the three subsections of the Civics strand in Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework and, in general, how do these subsection represent disciplinary concepts and tools in civics?
4. Describe the unique disciplinary characteristics of civics and provide an example for how this plays out in the classroom.
5. What are the three disciplinary tools of civics as described in Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework?
6. What are civic virtues and democratic principles and can we provide students with opportunities to practice using these virtues and principles?
7. How can we support students in their civic deliberations?
8. What is perspective taking and how is that a civic skill?

Pause, Reflect, and Apply

After watching the video for this module and completing the related assessment, teachers plan a task for students focusing on one of the three civic tools described in the C3 Framework.

Inquiry-based activities are also provided for teachers as a model for how to develop learning tasks focused on civic literacies. Featured is an elementary level inquiry that asks the question, “Why should I be a global citizen?” – http://www.c3teachers.org/inquiries/globalcitizen/

As teachers examine this inquiry, they are asked to adapt the structure and tasks, given their teaching context and their understanding of the civic literacies.

Module 3 – Economics and Disciplinary Literacies

Economics is deeply integrated into the social studies curriculum and our everyday ways of thinking and solving problems. This webinar module will feature ways of thinking in economics focused on the use of economic data and economic analyses in compliment to instructional strategies for supporting teaching economics. This module includes a minute Video, an Assessment consisting of a series of questions related to the content of the video, and a follow up Pause, Reflect, and Apply activity along with background readings.

Background Materials

Salemi, M. K. (2005). Teaching economic literacy: Why, what and how. International Review of Economics Education, 4(2), 46-57. Download HERE
Walstad, W. B., & Rebeck, K. (2001). Test of economic literacy. New York: National Council of Economic Education, 1. Download HERE

Video

03 Economic Literacies.mp4

Powerpoint slides for this video are available HERE

Assessment

This assessment includes ten questions checking your understanding of the content presented in the video for Module 3. If you are administering this assessment, you can use the print version of the assessment available on the Webinar series website at HERE.

In general terms, how is economics typically represented in the social studies curriculum?
What are the unique characteristics of economics in social studies with regard to the demands of inquiry and literacy for students, specifically with regard to sources?
Why is decision-making important in economics?
In what ways do concepts play a particularly important role in the Civics strand of the C3 Framework?
Why is the concept of scarcity so important in social studies?
Why is economics a good example of wide range of disciplinary literacy according to Shanahan?
What are the three unique ways of thinking or tools in economics that are featured in the C3 Framework?
For what purposed would students need to use knowledge of benefits and costs when thinking about economic issues?
How does the C3 Framework suggest that students use economic data in increasing sophisticated ways?
What are economic indicators and how does the C3 Framework suggest student use their knowledge of these indicators when thinking about economics?

Pause, Reflect, and Apply

The indicators in the Economics strand are quite complex with a heavy focus on concepts. Develop a short activity you could use in class that would help students use one of the concepts featured in the economist indicator of the C3 Framework.

Module 4 – Geography and Disciplinary Literacies

Geographic literacies are closely informed by the spatial demands of the field. This module will focus on those spatial reasoning skills. Drawing on Geography for Life and the C3 Framework, these geographic ways of thinking will be featured in this module along with inquiry-based activities that help students develop those skills. This module includes a minute Video, an Assessment consisting of a series of questions related to the content of the video, and a follow up Pause, Reflect, and Apply activity along with background readings.

Background Materials

ESRI Schools and Libraries Program. (2003). Geographic inquiry: Thinking geographically. https://www.esri.com/content/dam/esrisites/sitecore-archive/Files/Pdfs/industries/k-12/pdfs/geoginquiry.pdf
National Geographic Association. (2013). Charting a course: A roadmap for 21st century geographic education. Washington, DC: National Geographic Society. http://media.education.nationalgeographic.com/assets/file/Executive_Overview_Charting-the-Course.pdf
National Geographic Association. (2013). What is Geo-literacy? http://nationalgeographic.org/media/what-is-geo-literacy/

Video

04 Geographic Literacies.mp4

The Powerpoint slides for this video are available HERE.

Assessment

This assessment includes ten questions checking your understanding of the content presented in the video for Module 4. If you are administering this assessment, you can use the print version of the assessment available on the Webinar series website at HERE.

How is geography unique in social studies in terms of how geographers approach literacy?
In what ways are the approaches to inquiry used in geography similar to the C3 Framework’s Inquiry Arc?
What are the four subsections in the Geography strand of Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework?
How are the tools of geography represented in Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework?
What are the three mapping skills described in the C3?
What are the differences between the concepts of humans and geography as opposed to humans in geography?
What is the importance of the distinctions between humans and geography as opposed to humans in geography?
What are some of the concepts emphasized in Dimension 2 subsections on Human Population and Global Interactions?

Pause, Reflect, and Apply

Together, the four sections of the geography strand of the C3 Framework (Geographic representations; Human-environment interactions; Human population; Global interdependence) provide a powerful insight into the ways that geographers think. The 12 indicators in these sections are not discreet skills that students should learn how to apply in the abstract. They are practical ways of thinking about places and people aimed at solving problems and understanding how human live and interact in physical and cultural spaces. The geographic literacies needed to function productively in college, career, and civic life are thus intertwined in the compelling questions we ask about the world around us. Consider this geography-based compelling question, “How does the place where we live affect the way we live?” Assuming high quality sources are in place for an inquiry, what are some tasks students might complete that would feature one or more of the geographic literacies mentioned in the Geography strand of the C3 Framework.

Module 5 – History and Disciplinary Literacies

The nature and ways of thinking in history closely follow the Inquiry Arc—from questioning, to using sources and evidence to communicating conclusions. This module will situate examine the Inquiry Arc with a special focus on the unique literacies in the discipline of history that ought to a regular part of teaching and learning in social studies. This module includes a minute Video, an Assessment consisting of a series of questions related to the content of the video, and a follow up Pause, Reflect, and Apply activity along with background readings.

Background Materials

Hicks, D., Doolittle, P. E., & Ewing, E. T. (2004). The SCIM-C strategy: Expert historians, historical inquiry, and multimedia. Social Education, 68(3), 221-226. Download HERE
Lévesque, S. (2013). What does it mean to Be “historically Literate”? The History Education Network. Available at http://thenhier.ca/en/content/what-does-it-mean-be-historically-literate

Video

05 Historical Literacies.mp4

The Powerpoint slides for this video are available HERE.

Assessment

This assessment includes ten questions checking your understanding of the content presented in the video for Module 5. If you are administering this assessment, you can use the print version of the assessment available on the Webinar series website at HERE.

Why is history particularly important in social studies?
What are the four subsections in the History strand of Dimension 2 of the C3 Framework?
How is social studies different from the other disciplines in how the indicators focus on tools and concepts?
Why are concepts related to perspective so important in the discipline of history?
What are the three groups of literacy skills (or tools) in history and how do these tools complement or connect to one another?
How are the literacy skills described in the C3 similar to the general inquiry skills described in Dimensions 3 and 4?
What are the specific tools described in the subsection on Change, Continuity, and Context and how can students practice these skills?
What are disciplinary literacies described in the subsection on Historical Sources and Evidence?
How do the skills in subsection on Causation and Argumentation connect to Dimension 4 of the Inquiry Arc?

Pause, Reflect, and Apply

The discipline of history has a central place in social studies. Many of the tools used by historians and described as historical literacies in the C3 Framework are also central to inquiry in social studies. For example, students of history must be able to analyze sources and then use information from those historical sources as evidence when making arguments. In this Pause, Reflect, and Apply activity read through this tasks from an inquiry published on C3 Teachers and describe how the activity can provide students with an opportunity to practice historical literacy skills.

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