Teaching Social Studies to English Language Learners

1. Teaching Social Studies to English Language Learners Bárbara C. Cruz Stephen J. Thornton

2. Target Audience Pre-service social studies teachers Practicing social studies teachers ESL aides/support staff Social studies teacher educators ESL teacher educators District curriculum superviors Administrators

3. Purpose & Structure of the book • Purpose • To provide practical methods (learning activities) that are “good recipes” on sample topics in secondary social studies curriculum. • Structure • 1st part covers second language acquisition theory written by a language scholar – Tony Erben • 2nd part covers elements of an instructional program (classroom environment, strategies, etc.) • 3rd part covers social studies teaching strategies and activities • (last two parts are written by a group of experienced social studies teachers)

4. Part 1: Process of English Language Learning • Language is acquired in a predetermined psychological order of complexity • Educators must create a “acquisition-rich classroom” • 1. Give ELLs many opportunities to interact with English (read, write, listen to, and discuss oral and written text). • 2. Draw attention to patterns of English language structure • 3. Give ELLs classroom time to use their English productively • 4. Give ELLs opportunities to notice and correct their errors in English • 5. Create activities that maximize opportunities for ELLs to interact with others in English.

5. Corrective Feedback Strategies Explicit Correction Requesting Clarification Recast error (provide correction) Metalinguistic clues Elicitation Repetition (adjust intonation)

6. Levels of language proficiency “natural approach” • Preproduction • Unfamiliar with English • Comprehend more than they produce • Nonverbal responses • Follow simple commands • 500 vocab words • Early Production Stage • Many encounters with meaningful English • Respond with one or two word answers • Taking risks with English • Repetitive strategies are key at this level • Vocab: 1,000 receptive; 500 active • Speech Emergence Stage • Interact more freely • Between 1 & 3 years’ exposure to English • Advanced organizers are key • Teach metacognitive strategies • Allow for cooperative groups • Vocab: 7,000 receptive;2,000 active • Intermediate Fluency • Dominate English socially but not academically • Content-based literacy key • Vocab: 12,000 receptive; 4,000 active

7. Teaching for English Language Development • Jim Cummins Research • Found positive cognitive outcomes in ELLs who were able to develop high levels of proficiency in both languages (home language and English) • Two different types of English language skills • BICS – Basic interpersonal communication skills (used on the playground, at home, shopping, playing sports, and interacting with friends) • CALPS – Cognitive academic language proficiency (abstract, decontextualized, and scholarly in nature)

8. Part 2: Principles of Social Studies Teaching and Learning Social studies is a school program concerned with how people, past and present, live together. Teachers must be certain of what topics they will teach and why they are important for the students to learn. Teachers cannot make assumptions about student’s comfort with various pedagogical strategies Educators must be aware of special challenges that social studies places upon ELLs

9. Challenges for ELLs in Social Studies Higher-level thinking skills Abstract language Text based content Seldom equipped with manipulatives to provide hands on instruction Complex Concepts Note-taking weakness Lack of knowledge on the American culture

10. Confronting the challenges • Crandall (1994) suggests using content-centered language learning or authentic text • Cooperative learning, task-based or experiential learning, “whole language” approach, and graphic organizers Link social studies concepts to prior knowledge Accommodate different learning styles Use cooperative learning strategies Link instruction to assessment Thematic-based curriculum

11. Part 3: Teaching Social Studies • Several learning activities are described • For middle school and high schools • Each subject has activities: • Geography • United States History • World History • Governement and Civics • Economics • Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology • Controversial Issues

12. Geography • Aims to teach about spatial relationships between the natural world and human activity (Hardwick & Holtgrieve, 1996) • Activities: • Scale the classroom (kinesthetic) • Students measure dimensions of classroom and object placements then draw an overhead view of the classroom. Then compare with others. Finally lead the students in a reflective discussion. • Africa Visual (kinesthetic & visual) • Students are to outline a drawing of Africa from memory and then compare with real map. Have students note differences.

13. United States History • Most widely taught social studies course is U.S. History (American history). • Single most important course ELL students take as it can serve as an introduction to American culture. • Students are to relate the American past to the demands of living today • Activities: • Lewis and Clark expedition • Students draw maps • (questions asked are according to language acquisition stage)

14. World History • In a way world history, like U.S. history, is an expression of nationalist values therefore key for ELL students • Goal is to provide a background for understanding the contemporary world (diversity) • Activities: • World origins of our class • Students are given a sheet to use when they interview their family and are to come back and describe their heritage • A bulletin board will display the classroom diversity and “global community”

15. Government and Civics • Citizenship education is a central focus for many social studies educators • National Council requires that content knowledge, intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a democracy be taught. • Activities • Political Cartoons • Students analyze political cartoons with a peer and identify characteristics and discuss concepts

16. Economics • Students must acquire the essential real-life economic skills to be informed consumers, wise savers, and investors, and productive workers. • ELLs must be educated about economic literacy since many are new arrivals • Activities • Role-playing a scenario • Students must understand the economic language and perform such actions listed in the scenario

17. Critique • Well organized • Excellent selection of activities • Language acquisition section is a bit extensive • Correlation to the class • EVERYTHING. (BICS, CALPS, Natural approach, culturally sensitive teaching, etc.)

18. Recommended? Sí