Learning Objectives: 

Participants will be able to: 

• Understand and explain elements of the Simple View of Reading and how it can support literacy in social studies classrooms 
• Implement classroom tools and strategies to improve students’ literacy  

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Consider This Scenario

Mr. Janeway is an American History teacher at Central High School. Over the past few years, he has worked to supplement the textbook with primary source documents and multi-media such as music and videos. For many students, these additional resources help to make history feel more alive and interesting. However, some of his students have grown frustrated, especially when engaging with primary texts. The vocabulary and style of the texts often feel distant and antiquated to students. While they can make it through passages, sounding out most of the unfamiliar words, they still do not seem to comprehend the meaning of the primary texts or their connection to the subject matter. Mr. Janeway knows that he needs to provide support to these students, but he is unsure of what steps he needs to take to be successful.   

Connection Point

In your Course Companion document, consider these questions:  

• Can you relate to the above scenario? In what ways are your challenges in literacy instruction similar or different? 

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How can literacy support learning in social studies education?  

Ohio’s Learning Standards for English Language Arts contain Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6–12. These standards provide a guide to the knowledge and skills related to reading and writing that students should possess in social studies to be college and career ready. Students must achieve a high level of literacy to fully comprehend social studies texts, complete and evaluate experiments, and report their results.  

The table below provides classroom examples for some of the ways that students will need to access literacy skills to fully understand and engage in social studies content.  

Strand	Examples in the classroom
Understanding Key Ideas and Details in Text	Cite evidence from texts  ​Analyzing primary and secondary source texts  Evaluate differing opinions on the same event or topic
Craft & Structure of Text	Determine the meaning of words and terms as they are used in historical texts Analyze an author’s purpose for writing a text  ​Understand how text structures in primary sources convey ideas and information (e.g., newspaper article, government report, speeches)
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas	Understand and integrate visual information such as maps and graphs when reading and writing Assess the extent to which evidence supports an author’s claims  Integrate and evaluate multiple, diverse sources of information
Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity	Read social studies and primary source texts at and above grade level   Utilize comprehension tools and metacognition to ensure understanding of complex texts

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Supporting Social Studies Literacy – Video Presentation with Dr. Joshua Lawrence 

In this video presentation, Dr. Lawrence describes the Simple View of Reading and its application for supporting social studies students. 

Reflection Question: Consider some components of the Simple View of Reading identified by Dr. Lawrence that impact reading in social studies (background knowledge, reasoning, academic language and vocabulary, searching and sources, literacy knowledge, perspective taking).  

• Which of these elements of effective reading do you commonly draw on in your classroom?
• Which elements can you employ to more effectively teach your students? 

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Knowledge Check

Take the brief quiz below to test your knowledge. Click the square button to expand the quiz. ​

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Resources

Disciplinary Literacy in Social Studies: This document from Dr. Josh Lawrence provides an overview of content from this course in addition to several tools that can be used in social studies classrooms to support students’ literacy.  

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Course Reflection

Which of the tools and/or strategies identified by Dr. Lawrence could you incorporate into your current instruction? What steps do you need to take? 

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To Learn More

Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects, 6-12 

Writing Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects 6-12 

Reading Like a Historian from Stanford History Education Group engages students to read like a professional historian. The lessons utilize primary texts and strategies to support reading comprehension.  

Reading and Writing in the Disciplines by Annenberg Learner: 

Reading and Writing in the Disciplines contains video demonstrations of classroom lessons in addition to explanations and resources to support literacy in mathematics, science, English, and social studies. 

Feedback: 

Please take a moment to fill out this feedback form. We will use your feedback to improve this and other courses. 

Last Modified: 2/19/2025 10:12:29 AM

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