In the current educational climate of federally mandated assessments of student learning, the survival of the elementary social studies curriculum may depend on interdisciplinary instructional methods to link social studies to the accountability-favored discipline of literacy. The purpose of this content analysis study was to examine and identify social studies content embedded within a second grade and a fifth grade basal reader from the 2008 Houghton Mifflin Reading Series. Each of the basals were read and coded using the Utah State Office of Education Social Studies Standards indicators and the National Council for the Social Studies Standards as a priori categories. Data from both basal readers provided some encouragement that social studies learning opportunities for students are available within the texts. While some of the social studies concepts are explicitly presented, the majority of the learning opportunities are implicit in nature, requiring additional teaching beyond what is included in basal texts. To take advantage of these explicit and implicit social studies learning opportunities, teachers need to be aware of them and be prepared to teach social studies content and standards as part of the daily literacy routine. In spite of opportunities available for teachers to integrate social studies in the literacy curriculum, these opportunities will not replace the independent teaching of social studies content within the elementary curriculum.

Research shows that students occasionally face linguistic challenges related to the subject-concepts of social studies. One example concern that individuals can interpret subject-concepts in various ways. Therefore, the area of this study is how social studies teachers work with subject-concepts in social studies. The study aims to investigate how these teachers describe the subject-concepts in relation to an everyday language. Furthermore, the aim is to investigate how these teachers work with subject-concepts in their instruction. The research questions concern partly how teachers characterize the subject-concepts as well as in what way they differ from the everyday language. Moreover, the study aims to answer the question of how teachers through their instruction enable that students are given the opportunity to develop an understanding of these. The data consists of ten individual, qualitative and semi-structured interviews with social studies teachers currently teaching in Swedish year 7-9. Moreover, it constitutes of national and international research of different kinds. The theory of hermeneutics has been used as both the theoretical and methodological framework. Results show that subject-concepts can be characterized as consistent and be described as including differences. A reoccurring difference is that the meaning of subject-concepts depends on the context. The teachers describe that there is a distance between the subject-concepts and the students, which explains how the concepts differ from everyday language. The distance can be explained by the fact that students in general do not interact with the subject-concepts in everyday life, as well as not using them in everyday dialog. A second difference between subject-concepts and everyday language is found to be the structure of subject-concepts. How teachers work with subject-concepts varies, but results show reoccurring themes. It is common to use group teaching and varying methods of instruction. Moreover, results imply that teachers often give supportive efforts when working with subject-concepts. Prominent supportive actions are visualization, help with study technique, and accessibility to teacher support. The conclusion is that the horizon of understanding around this subject is unlimited, but present study has been broadened it. / Forskning visar att elever tidvis möter språkliga utmaningar som relaterar till de ämnesbegrepp som finns i samhällskunskapsämnet. Ett exempel handlar om att ämnesbegrepp kan ges olika tolkningar av olika individer. Ämnesområdet för den här studien är, med utgångspunkt ur ovanstående, samhällskunskapslärares arbete med ämnesbegrepp i samhällskunskapsämnet. Syftet är att undersöka hur dessa beskriver ämnesbegreppen i relation till vardagsspråk. Likaså är syftet att undersöka hur lärarna arbetar med ämnesbegreppen i sin undervisning. Frågeställningarna berör dels lärarnas karaktärisering av ämnesbegreppen samt deras beskrivning av hur dessa skiljer sig från ett vardagligt språk. Dels hur lärarna genom sin undervisning möjliggör att eleverna ges möjlighet att utveckla förståelse för ämnesbegreppen. Materialet består av dels tio enskilda, kvalitativa och semistrukturerade intervjuer med samhällskunskapslärare som undervisar på högstadiet. Dels nationell och internationell forskning av olika slag. Hermeneutiken har använts som både teoretiskt och metodiskt ramverk. Resultatet visar att ämnesbegreppen kan karaktäriseras som sammanhängande samt beskrivas inrymma olikheter. En återkommande olikhet var att ämnesbegreppen kan ha olika betydelser beroende på i vilken kontext de diskuteras. Lärarna förklarar att ämnesbegreppen har ett avstånd till eleverna, något som beskriver hur de skiljer sig från ett vardagsspråk. Avståndet handlar om att eleverna generellt sett inte möter ämnesbegreppen till vardags samt att de inte använder dem i vardaglig dialog. En annan skiljelinje mellan ämnesbegreppen och vardagsspråk benämns vara att ämnesbegreppen har en annan uppbyggnad. Lärarnas arbete med ämnesbegreppen är i viss mån varierad, men resultatet visar några återkommande aspekter. Bland dessa nämns att inlärningsmomenten sker tillsammans, att undervisningsmetoderna varieras samt att stödjande insatser ges. De stöd som framträder är bildstöd, studieteknik och lärarens tillgänglighet för eleverna. Slutsatsen är att förståelsehorisonten kring ämnesområdet är obegränsad, samtidigt som föreliggande uppsats varit en del i att vidga den.

The EL (English learner) population is rapidly growing in the United States. ELs most often are finding themselves placed in classrooms without ESOL trained teachers. In the social studies curriculum, United States History often is regarded as one of the hardest courses for newly arrived immigrants due to the unfamiliarity of the content (Dunne & Martell, 2013). The absence of culturally relevant instruction also contributes to the potentially overwhelming nature of the social studies curriculum for ELs. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent teachers’ and tutors’ use of culturally relevant biographies during social studies instruction fosters engagement in social studies instruction among Latino English language learners. The research study was inspired by the work of Margaret Peters, retired Dayton, Ohio United States History teacher and author. In 1969 Peters wrote a book entitled, Striving to Overcome, Negro Achievers. The book featured twenty-one short biographies and pictures of African Americans who had impacted the history of the United States. Peters’ purpose for creating the book was to “free” young Americans from prejudice (Watras, 2012). In significance to this study, eight culturally relevant biographies were available to the participants. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the value of incorporating culturally and linguistically relevant biographies into ESOL social studies instruction. The study answered two questions: (1) How do ESOL teachers and tutors perceive culturally relevant biography integration during United States History instruction? and (2) How does the use of culturally relevant biographies impact teacher and tutor reported student engagement with EL Latino students? The following research methods were employed: participant interviews, field notes, observations, and participant reported student engagement questionnaires. The findings of this study showed benefit for student engagement among Latino ELs. The participant base largely echoed that studying historical individuals relatable to students was better than studying historical events. Participants all said they would use culturally relevant biographies in future instruction.

The problem with which this investigation is concerned is the effect of work-study method instruction upon the achievement of students in fifth grade social studies. The purpose of this investigation is to determine the effects of the SQ3R (Survey, Question, Read, Recite, Review) Study Method instruction upon the achievement of students in fifth grade social studies. The subjects ranged in age from ten years two months to thirteen years three months. Th I.Q. for the subjects ranged from 70 to 135. Of the 102 subjects involved in the study, 42 were male and 60 were female. The I.Q. score from the California Test of Mental Maturity, S Form was used to structure the subjects into three intelligence levels. Fifty-four subjects served as the experimental group, and forty-eight served as the control group. The instrument used to obtain pretest and posttest scores on the variable relating to achievement was the SRA Assessment Survey, Blue Level. Form E was used for the pretest, and Form F was used for the posttest. The subjects were assigned to four classes which were near equal. Two classes were selected by the principal to serve as the experimental group. The other two classes served as the control group. The investigator spent equal time with the control and the experimental group. The four classroom teachers rotated between experimental and control groups on an equal basis. Students in the experimental group met nineteen times during the study for a thirty-minute period. During these sessions, the experimental subjects used the SQ3R Study Method to do social studies assignments. The control group met for the same number of sessions and for an equal amount of time. They worked with the same content but without using the SQ3R Study Method. The analysis of covariance was employed with pretest scores as the covariant.

Students with specific learning disabilities (SLD) typically learn less history content than their peers without disabilities and show fewer learning gains. Even when they are provided with the same instructional strategies, many students with SLD struggle to grasp complex historical concepts and content area vocabulary. Many strategies involving technology have been used in the past to enhance learning for students with SLD in history classrooms. However, very few studies have explored the effectiveness of emerging mobile technology in K-12 history classrooms. This study investigated the effects of mobile devices (iPads) as an active student response (ASR) system on the acquisition of U.S. history content of middle school students with SLD. An alternating treatments single subject design was used to compare the effects of two interventions. There were two conditions and a series of pretest probesin this study. The conditions were: (a) direct instruction and studying from handwritten notes using the interactive notebook strategy and (b) direct instruction and studying using the Quizlet App on the iPad. There were three dependent variables in this study: (a) percent correct on tests, (b) rate of correct responses per minute, and (c) rate of errors per minute. A comparative analysis suggested that both interventions (studying from interactive notes and studying using Quizlet on the iPad) had varying degrees of effectiveness in increasing the learning gains of students with SLD. In most cases, both interventions were equally effective. During both interventions, all of the participants increased their percentage correct and increased their rate of correct responses. Most of the participants decreased their rate of errors. The results of this study suggest that teachers of students with SLD should consider a post lesson review in the form of mobile devices as an ASR system or studying from handwritten notes paired with existing evidence-based practices to facilitate students’ knowledge in U.S. history. Future research should focus on the use of other interactive applications on various mobile operating platforms, on other social studies subjects, and should explore various testing formats such as oral question-answer and multiple choice.

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