Teaching Social Studies to English Language Learners (Teaching English Language Learners Across the Curriculum)

245 Pages·2009·6.65 MB·English

by  Barbara C. Cruz

Teaching Social Studies to
English Language Learners
Today’s classrooms increasingly include students for whom English is not a first language. Teaching
Social Studies to English Language Learners provides readers with a comprehensive understanding
of both the challenges that face English language learners (ELLs) and ways in which educators
might address them in the social studies classroom. The authors offer context-specific strategies
for the full range of the social studies curriculum, including geography, U.S. history, world history,
economics, and government. These practical instructional strategies will effectively engage learn-
ers and can be incorporated as a regular part of instruction in any classroom. An annotated list of
web and print resources completes the volume, making this a valuable reference for social studies
teachers to meet the challenges of including all learners in effective instruction.
Special Features:
ƒ “Teaching Tips” offer specific methods of creating and modifying lesson plans to be inclusive
of ELLs
ƒ Engaging vignettes vividly illustrate real-life interactions of teachers and ELLs in the
classroom
ƒ Graphs, tables, and illustrations provide additional access points to the text in clear,
meaningful ways
Bárbara C. Cruz is Professor of Social Science Education in the Department of Secondary
Education at the University of South Florida.
Stephen J. Thornton is Professor of Social Science Education and Chair of the Department of
Secondary Education at the University of South Florida.
Teaching English Language Learners Across the Curriculum
Series Editors: Tony Erben, Bárbara C. Cruz, Stephen J. Thornton
Teaching Mathematics to English Language Learners
Gladis Kersaint, Denisse R. Thompson, Mariana Petkova
Teaching English Language Learners in Career and Technical Education
Programs
Victor M. Hernández-Gantes and William Blank
Teaching English Language Learners through Technology
Tony Erben, Ruth Ban, Martha Castañeda
Teaching Social Studies to English Language Learners
Bárbara C. Cruz and Stephen J. Thornton
Teaching Social Studies to
English Language Learners
BárBArA C. CrUz AnD STEPhEn J. ThornTon
First published 2009
by routledge
270 Madison Ave, new York, nY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, oxon oX14 4rn
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.”
© 2009 Taylor and Francis
All rights reserved. no part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or here-
after invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage
or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered
trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to
infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Cruz, Bárbara.
Teaching social studies to English language learners/Barbara C. Cruz and Stephen
J. Thornton.
p. cm. — (Teaching English language learners across the curriculum)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Social sciences—Study and teaching—United States. 2. English language—
Study and teaching—Foreign speakers. 3. Curriculum planning—United States.
I. Thornton, Stephen J. II. Title.
h62.5.U5C78 2008
300.71’273—dc22
2008001569
ISBN 0-203-89434-0(cid:13)(cid:10) Master e-book ISBN
ISBn 10: 0-415-95760-5 (hbk)
ISBn 10: 0-415-95761-3 (pbk)
ISBn 10: 0-203-89434-0 (ebk)
ISBn 13: 978-0-415-95760-1 (hbk)
ISBn 13: 978-0-415-95761-8 (pbk)
ISBn 13: 978-0-203-89434-7 (ebk)
We dedicate this book to
James Agarpao and Kevin A. Yelvington,
for their support and encouragement throughout the process.

Contents
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xiii
Series Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PArT 1 — Your English Language Learner Tony Erben . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1 .1 — Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1 .2 — The Process of English Language Learning and What to Expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Principle 1: Give ELLs Many opportunities to read, to Write, to Listen to, and
to Discuss oral and Written English Texts Expressed in a Variety of Ways . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Principle 2: Draw Attention to Patterns of English Language Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Principle 3: Give ELLs Classroom Time to Use their English Productively . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Principle 4: Give ELLs opportunities to notice their Errors and to Correct their English . . . . . 12
Principle 5: Construct Activities that Maximize opportunities for ELLs to
Interact with others in English . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
1 .3 — Deciding on the Best ESOL Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
viii Contents
1 .4 — Teaching for English Language Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
1 .5 — Not All ELLs are the Same . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Stages of Cultural Adjustment ....................................................... 28
Cultural Practices at School ......................................................... 29
1 .6 — Culturally responsive Pedagogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
1 .7 — Not All Parents are the Same: Home–School Communication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Ideas: on Fostering Access .......................................................... 35
Ideas: on Fostering Approachability .................................................. 35
Ideas: on Achieving Good Follow-Through ........................................... 36
1 .8 — English Language Learners with Special Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
PArT 2 — Principles of Social Studies Teaching and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2 .1 — Principles of Social Studies Teaching and Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Elements of an Instructional Program ................................................ 43
2 .2 — How Instruction Unfolds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2 .3 — Social Studies-Focused ESOL research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Classroom Environment ............................................................ 48
Pedagogical orientation and Practice ................................................. 49
Culturally Sensitive Pedagogy ....................................................... 49
General Approaches ................................................................ 49
Language Use ..................................................................... 50
Sheltered Instruction ............................................................... 51
Individualized Instruction .......................................................... 51
Discussion and Questioning ......................................................... 52
Discovery and Exploration .......................................................... 53
Cooperative Learning Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
2 .4 — Enacting the Social Studies Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
The Textbook ..................................................................... 55
Graphic organizers ................................................................ 56
role Playing and Simulations ........................................................ 57
Visual resources ................................................................... 58
Gifted ELL Students ................................................................ 58
Assessment ....................................................................... 59
Conclusion ....................................................................... 61
PArT 3 — Teaching Social Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3 .1 — Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Contents ix
3 .2 — Geography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Kinesthetic Learning and Stratified Questioning: The Concept of Scale (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) . . . 72
Kinesthetic Learning and Visual Aids: Africa: Physical Geography and Population
Distribution (Levels 3 & 4) .......................................................... 74
K–W–L–h, Visual Aids, Guided Imagery, and Stratified Questioning: Women’s Work
in Southern India (Levels 2, 3, & 4) ................................................... 76
Problem Solving, Visual Aids, and Stratified Questioning: Adaptation of
the Environment: The Case of Switzerland (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ........................... 80
Selected Internet Sites for Teaching Geography ......................................... 82
3 .3 — United States History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Visual Aids, Stratified Questioning: Lewis and Clark Expedition (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ........ 85
Visual Aids, Cartography, and Critical Thinking: Lewis and Clark Activity 2:
Cartography (Levels 3 & 4) .......................................................... 86
Dioramas, Kinesthetic Learning, and Cooperative Learning: Lewis and Clark Extension
Activity: Creating a Diorama (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ....................................... 88
Cooperative Learning, Peer Teaching, and Primary Documents: Lewis and
Clark Activity 3: Primary Documents using Cooperative Learning (Levels 3 & 4) ........... 88
Modified Text, Visual Aids, Picture Books, Stratified Questioning, and Music:
Women in WWII (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ................................................. 90
Eisenhower’s Military–Industrial Complex Speech, 1961: Simplifying Text and
role-Playing (Levels 3 & 4) ......................................................... 100
Selected resources for Teaching U.S. history ......................................... 103
3 .4 — World History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
Culturally Sensitive Pedagogy, Visual Aids, Stratified Questioning, and research
Skills: World origins of our Class (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ................................. 108
realia, Word Wall, and Visual Aids: The renaissance (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ................. 110
Visual Aids and Primary Source Documents: Cultural Encounter and Exploration
(Levels 3 & 4) .................................................................... 116
Visual Aids, Stratified Questioning, and Guided Discussion: The Industrial revolution:
The Cases of Great Britain and Japan (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ............................... 119
Visual Aids, role Playing, Guided reading, and Stratified Questioning: Japanese
Americans During WWII (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ......................................... 127
role Playing and Cooperative Learning: Factory Life in the Twentieth Century
(Levels 2, 3, & 4) .................................................................. 132
Selected resources for Teaching World history ....................................... 135
3 .5 — Government and Civics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
Peer Teaching and Visual Aids: Political Cartoons (Levels 2, 3, & 4) ...................... 138
Teaching with Primary Sources (Levels 2, 3, & 4) ...................................... 140
Using Bilingual Dictionaries and Graphic organizers: Voting rights (Levels 3 & 4) ........ 141
Language Development through Simplifying Complex Text and Using Visual Aids:
Women’s Suffrage (Levels 3 & 4) .................................................... 144
Cooperative Learning, Computer Technology, and Alternative Assessments:
Political Bumper Stickers (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ......................................... 148
Visual Aids and Graphic organizers: Executive Powers (Levels 1, 2, 3, & 4) ............... 149
Selected resources for Teaching Government and Civics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153