I have been charged with teaching social studies as reading next year to my fifth graders. Here is what I plan to so so far...
*Daily non-fiction read aloud
*Using the textbook
*Developing deep meaning of vocab
*Lessons in text features, elements of non fiction, main idea, inferences,etc
*Using picture books to teach skills and content
*Native American nonfiction lit circles
*Novel unit "A Lion To guard Us"
*Novel unit "Pilgrims"
*Book study "How To Be A Revolutionary War Soldier" or "George vs. George"
*Several structured responses according to our district guidelines
*Readers Theater
*Choral Readings
In addition I plan to continue doing some of the things I have traditionally done with my class such as totem pole projects, time line projects, The King's M&M simulation, trying out for George Washington's army, a class potlatch, and several video clips.
Any suggestions...especially for the reading aspect?
I'm attaching a book club unit that includes teaching points on historical fiction and social issues. You may find some of it helpful.
Even if you don't end up with book clubs, the teaching points are good. We teach children how to negotiate the reading of the Historical Fiction genre by:
· identifying the time period – the setting is helping to build the world of the story.
· paying attention to the afterword, author’s note, prologue, and
acknowledgements.
· paying attention to dates, maps, timelines, etc. to help understand the story.
· understanding how the setting is affecting the plot and the characters.
· looking at characters daily life to learn about the time period.
· identifying the issues the character faces and how they handle those issues.
· noticing how the character changes over time and how the historical events are
shaping the character.
· paying attention to how they feel about the character OR how the author makes
the character believable.
· getting to know the topic/time period to deepen understanding of text.
· thinking about the narrator the author has chosen. They ask themselves how
accurately this character matches the time period being portrayed and whether
they trust the narrator.
· thinking about why the author chose an event or moment in history to illuminate.
· paying attention to the everyday details that convey the meaning of life in the
time period.
· making generalizations about the time period because of what you’ve read.
· reading other resources to help you understand the text better.
· thinking about big social issues and how they fit in present day life.
· gathering hunches about the characters.
· thinking about when new characters are introduced and what side of the issue
they are on and the purpose they serve.
· reading two different books from the same time period with different perspectives.
· paying attention to special language (words of long ago, dialogue in dialect).
Thanks for all of the responses...sorry it has taken awhile to respond...you know how the end of the year is!
I plan to use literature circles for the Native AMerican books. I have just kind of gathered a lot of non fiction samples from the web, and will put something together this summer that will meet my needs.
I am using a novel, Lion to Guard Us, that was with a former reading series. I plan to use the teacher's manual from that series and add background and Jamestown resources as I go.
I found a great book from Scholastic, Primary Sources for the Interactive Whiteboard, that I plan to use. I did use parts of it this past school year.
Keep the ideas coming, and thanks again!
Happy Summer!
If you email me, and if I can find it, I will send you my unit on "Revolutionary War Picture Book Bingo." It is a great strategy to use for any unit, and is an excellent and easy way to differentiate. I am also in the midst of compiling a list of good historical fiction and picture books, as I have yet to find a really good one. The problem is, most fiction IS historical fiction once a period of time passes, so much of it is not listed as "historical fiction," just fiction.
Students love primary sources, and one of the things I did this year is I gave them each a packet with a resident of Williamsburg, and some details about him or her, and lots of primary sources, like lists of inventory, letters, and wills. There is a great lesson plan called "Through Different Eyes," where students each read a different primary source on Matthew Ashby, and come to conclusions as to his status, etc. http://teachers.history.org/sites/de...t%20Eyes_0.pdf
Each student had a different person, and as we studied the colonies and the Revolution, they would try to see the world at that time through their person's eyes.
I teach 5th grade and last year we made a huge push to incorporate social studies into our reading/novels. One of my favorite novel additions was Blood on the River! This is a great account of Jamestown & is a higher reading level than A Lion to Guard Us. We use it with our advanced group. We followed it up with Chains (another advanced favorite)!
I would love to hear more about your Native American nonfiction lit circles!
> 
05-09-2012, 05:52 AM
