Building Literacy in Social Studies: Strategies for Improving Comprehension and Critical Thinking
Summary: 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.
Proven methods for teaching reading comprehension to all students The Literacy Cookbook is filled with classroom-tested techniques for teaching reading comprehension to even the most hard-to-reach students. The book offers a review of approaches that are targeted for teaching reading, writing, speaking and listening skills. The book also includes information on how to connect reading, writing, and test prep.
The more teachers understand about how children learn to talk, the more they can help children become avid, joyful readers and writers. Drawing on a large body of research and her own volunteer work at a family shelter, Lindfors concisely identifies several important commonalities across oral and written language. Taking the compelling perspective that it's all language, she traces children's emergent literacy from infancy through the early school years. The book incorporates abundant examples from a diverse range of children engaged in authentic literacy experiences. ...
This collection of activities was developed for instructors working with adult ESL learners who have had little or no opportunity to develop reading and writing skills.
