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Enhancing the Social Studies: a Literature Based Program for Fifth Grade

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Enhancing the Social Studies: a Literature Based Program for Fifth Grade California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB ScholarWorks Theses Digitization Project John M. Pfau Library 1988 Enhancing the social studies: A literature based program for fifth grade Michael K. Gibson Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project Part of the Curriculum and Instruction Commons Recommended Citation Gibson, Michael K., "Enhancing the social studies: A literature based program for fifth grade" (1988). Theses Digitization Project. 338. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/338 This Project is brought to you for free and open access by the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses Digitization Project by an authorized administrator of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. California State University San Bernardino ENHANCING THE SOCIAL STUDIESj A LITERATURE BASED PROGRAI*! FOR FIFTH GRADE' A Project Submitted to The Faculty of the School of Education In partial fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of Wasters of Arts ^ in Education: Reading Option by Wichael K, Gibson, W.A, San Bernardino, California 1988 California State University San Bernardino ENHANCING THE SOCIAL STUDIES: A LITERATURE BASED PROGRAM FOR THE FIFTH GRADE AProjectSubmittedto The Faculty of the School of Education In partial fulfillment of the Requirements of the Degree of r'laster of Arts in Education: Reading Option by Michael K. Gibson, M.A. San Bernardino, California 1988 APPROVED BY: Ad Committee Member ABSTRACT In order to develop a society of literate, thinking, responsible citizens we as educators must provide students with meaningful encounters that motivate learning. Language has the potential to motivate student learning with its appeal to universal feelings and ability to elevate common experience to uncommon meaning. "To touch lives we need literature based language arts program." (English-Language Framework, 1987 p. 7j. This project will develop the students' natural curiosity about life and society and provide them with models that are socially acceptable. Literature provides such models. Through literature we see the most admirable in human values, and character. When students encounter the meaning of literature they are also treated to the most eloquent of speech. In this project students encounter literature that addresses social studies themes and provides activities for them to develop and further their meaning and understanding of the themes inherent in the text. The themes from social studies are presented in a variety of genres across the curriculum. The activities require the students to use all aspects of language. They will be speaking, listening, reading or writing in all of the activities. It is hoped that through this project that students will become more intrinsically motivated to read and learn about the development of our country. It is also hoped that when students read and experience the past that they learn the valuable lessons that the past has to teach and apply that knowledge to their own lives in the present and in the future. 1X1 TABLE OF COIMTENTS Abstract iii Rationale ...................................... ^ Goals and Objectives ......... 3 Introduction .. 5 Review of the Literature 9 Adapting the Program to Other Grade Levels ..... 16 Materials 20 Graphic Design 21 Staff 23 Support Services ............................... 27 Reporting Procedures ........................... 28 Research and Evaluation Components 30 Model of the Curriculum ........................ 33 Limitations 36 Appendix A: Model Unit ...... 39 Appendix B; Unit One: The English in America ... 61 Appendix C: Unit Three: The United States Expands 70 Appendix 0: Unit Four: The United States Changes ............................ 78 Appendix E: Evaluation Forms ................... 89 Bibliography 91 IV RATIONALE This project will address the topic of incorporating literature in the social studies. While the social studies text does cover an immense span of time and topics, its approach often lacks depth. In an effort to enrich the existing text the author proposes to supplement the text with literature such as historical fiction and realistic fiction, and also include media such as films, filmstrips, and videos. Literature provides the natural setting that brings the characters and events to life. With the facts, events, and people placed in a realistic setting, the past will be more readily absorbed by the learner. Literature provides the "glue" that bonds the pieces of history together. By learning about history as a whole the student will hopefully be more motivated to pursue an understanding of it. Literature offers the reader a more developed setting. This setting creates a mental image within the reader that sets a stage for history to play so the reader gets a sense of daily life and attitudes that shaped the motivations behind historical events. When the affective domain is stimulated most readers will realize similarities between themselves and the characters in the book. A person is likely to remember facts about a character with whom he has something in common. ; T ' ■ A literature enriched program will provide learning experiences that extend into many other areas of the curriculum. The multiple text approach used in this program grants the teacher flexibility and the student variety. Teachers have unlimited potential for meeting individual needs and keeping students motivated and productive. A program that keeps the individual's needs in mind will promote reading for pleasure and life-long learning. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES It is the intention of this project to offer sample literature and activities for implementing an integrated social studies program. It is hoped that through the implementation of this project that the following goals be accomplished. Goals: The structure of the project will provide students with an informative and meaningful learning experience in social studies. The literature in the project will generate intrinsic motivation among students to further investigate the history of the United States. The quality of literature inherent in this project will motivate students to become life-long readers and pursuers of knowledge. By using a large number of texts the student is provided with many writing models. These models will be used by the students to develop their own writing styles. The activities in this project will provide the student with opportunities to further language acquisition. The project will provide students with a vehicle for displaying their individual talents. These talents can be activated to demonstrate One's understanding of the content. The constant exposure to literature in this project will provide students with a literary background, an appreciation of literature, and skills for interpreting literature. Objectives; Upon implementation of the program, the students will: 1. rtake reasonable predictions concerning novels to be read. 2. Utilize personal background knowledge into the reading process. 3. Become aware of the vicarious experiences that literature provides and compare those experiences with their own. 4. Be exposed to a variety of reading situations including oral reading, paired reading and silent reading. 5. Improve critical thinking skills through group and class discussions. 6. Develop oral language skills through activities such as plays, oral reporting and group discussions. 7. Utilize knowledge gained from reading activities into other areas of the curriculum. 8. Develop a sense that reading is a means for establishing meaning from printed language. 9. Understand that reading is means for providing information as well as pleasure to the reader. ■4 INTRODUCTION "Enhancing the Social Studies Text" offers the teacher of American History/Social Studies a truly flexible program with countless opportunities for meaningful and enjoyable learning experiences. The foundation of the program is its utilization of multiple texts. By taking advantage of many different authors' contributions to a subject or theme, the learner gets a much more comprehensive view of the subject matter. Conversely, while interacting with various texts, the learner begins to see commonalties pointed out by different authors. Seeing a statement in print is usually convincing to most students, however, seeing the same statement in print in more than one text is much more convincing. Another advantage to the multiple text approach is that students are granted the opportunity to compare, and contrast how different authors present a concept. Class discussions will be richer due to the fact that a learner's experiential base will be much broader. In an age when critical thinking is highly encouraged and practiced, the multiple text approach offers a structured opportunity for students to synthesize the information they encounter and form their own opinions about what is being presented. The single social studies text simply cannot present more than one account of any given historical event. Because the text must cover such a vast array of topics in one book. those topics seldom get covered with the depth necessary for students to remember much of what they have read. Unfort unately, textbooks are often written in a manner that is not at all entertaining to the reader. "Enhancing The Social Studies" is developed completely around existing literature accounts of the same historical content found in the social studies text. Instead of reading facts in print the reader
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