Social Studies Strategies

Advance Organizers

Advance Organizers is a learning strategy that calls for brief previews of content concepts before a lesson to provide learners with a connection before the lesson is taught. This is especially effective in the Social Studies classroom because key figures and events can be previewed before going deeper into the content, providing a framework to scaffold information.

Steps:

1. Identify main concepts in lesson

2. Connect prior knowledge

3. Present advance organizer to students

4. Teach new information

5. Assess student comprehension

SS.912.A.6.1

Examine causes, course, and consequences of World War II on the United States and the world.

ELD.K12.ELL.SS.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

GIST

GIST is a strategy that supports comprehension of information text. GIST stands for generating interaction between schemata and text. The students read individually, then collaborate to write a sentence that defines the main idea of the reading. In Social Studies, source materials are often used, and the vocabulary and sentence structure is often more advanced than student reading level. By identifying main points, students can comprehend difficult texts that provide insight for historical events.

Steps:

1. Identify text

2. Group students

3. Demonstrate the strategy

4. Discuss summary sentences

5. Read and summarize paragraphs

6. Compare summary sentences between groups

7. Assess comprehension

SS.912.A.2.1

Review causes and consequences of the Civil War.

ELD.K12.ELL.SS.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

Culture Studies

Culture Studies is a strategy that asks students to research and share information about their own cultural history. This is a great tool for Social Studies as students get to practice research techniques while also generating cultural awareness in the classroom. Understanding the culture of peers can allow students to get their minds around how diverse and big the world truly is.

Steps:

1. Decide on project 

2. Set goals and parameters

3. Make expectations clear

4. Assess student growth and progress

5. Add technology

6. Assess progress and comprehension

SS.912.A.2.7

Review the Native American experience.

ELD.K12.ELL.SS.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

Multimedia Presentations

Multimedia Presentations is a strategy that involves the use of audio and visual aids to enhance student learning. Assignments using this strategy can be fun and engaging for students, along with allowing them to be creative with their presentation of facts. Social Studies is a perfect subject for these types of presentations, and can foster comprehension at a deeper level for students who both present and view the presentations of others.

Steps:

1. Model media use

2. Introduce media slowly

3. Allow time for practice

4. Create assignment

5. Celebrate success

6. Assess comprehension

SS.912.A.6.11

Examine the controversy surrounding the proliferation of nuclear technology in the United States and the world.

ELD.K12.ELL.SS.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

KWL and Data Charts

KWL and Data Charts is a strategy for researching and organizing information. KWL charts are three section charts that explore what they know (K), what they want to know (W), and what they learn (L) about a topic. These charts are great for Social Studies projects for students to figure out exactly what they want to learn and discover through their learning.

Steps:

1. Choose a topic to use in introducing basic research skills

2. Prepare a blank KWL chart

3. Provide students with books and resources to read about the topic

4. Demonstrate how to add info to the L section and correct the K section

5. Use assessment to ensure effective instruction

SS.912.A.6.8

Analyze the effects of the Red Scare on domestic United States policy.

ELD.K12.ELL.SS.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

Reference:Herrell, A. L., Jordan, M., & Herrell, A. L. (2012). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. Boston: Pearson.

Student Literature Strategies

Bilingual Books and Labels

Bilingual Books and Labels is a strategy that combines English and a student's first language for better comprehension. This is especially helpful for lower levels of English fluency. Using books that are printed in both languages can help supplement understanding, along with slowly decreasing reliance on the student's first language. Labels printed around the classroom to identify different areas can also be helpful.

Steps:

1. Identify languages

2. Pronounce and label common objects

3. Provide bilingual books

4. Provide translations for classroom texts

5. Explore key vocabulary in both languages

6. Monitor and evaluate comprehension

LAFS.1112.RL.2.4

Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in the text, including figurative and connotative meanings; analyze the impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone, including words with multiple meanings or language that is particularly fresh, engaging, or beautiful.

ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.

Collecting and Processing Words

Collecting and Processing Words is a strategy that helps students develop vocabulary. This strategy can raise the English reading level of students, while helping them to expand their vocabulary and enhancing their understanding of grade level texts. Examples of collecting words would be a word journal, where unfamiliar words are recorded along with a student definition of how the word is used. This can help students when reading on their own, and develop a routine for difficult words.

Steps:

1. Identify unfamiliar words in reading

2. Write unfamiliar words down and explore meaning

3. Have students act out verbs

4. Provide students with vocabulary journals

5. Assess progression and comprehension

LAFS.1112.RL.4.10

By the end of grade 11, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 11–CCR text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

By the end of grade 12, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, at the high end of the grades 11-CCR text complexity band independently and proficiently.

ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.

Free Voluntary Reading

Free Voluntary Reading is a strategy that helps involve students in their own learning of English books. Students will select stories they want to read and be encourage to make their way through the text independently. This can encourage students to continue practicing their English reading and integrate skills learned in the classroom to help understand their reading. 

Steps:

1. Identify individual reading levels

2. Explain program to students

3. Discuss the books in class

4. Add motivation/prizes over time

5. Assess progress and plan more instruction

LAFS.1112.RL.1.2

Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text.

ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.

Preview/Review

Preview/Review is a strategy that helps bilingual students with their comprehension while reading. Content is previewed in a student's first language, then reread in English, After the reread, students will review what they read in their first language. This strategy is especially effective when students are reading above their reading level, or with difficult academic language. Understanding the material in both languages bridges the gap between reading and comprehension.

Steps:

1. Plan and gather materials

2. Preview vocabulary and concepts

3. Read text

4. Review text

5. Record knowledge

6. Assess comprehension

LAFS.1112.RL.2.5

Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts of a text (e.g., the choice of where to begin or end a story, the choice to provide a comedic or tragic resolution) contribute to its overall structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact.

ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.

Reporting Back

Reporting Back is a strategy that supports students' comprehension from individual reading, by reporting back what they learned. This can encourage students to read closely and absorb the meaning and importance of a text. Allowing students the opportunity to report back helps to foster comprehension and understanding of written texts while reading for extended periods of time.

Steps:

1. Prepare feedback time
2. List and review steps
3. Record new information
4. Celebrate achievement
5. Review new vocabulary
6. Assess student progress

 LAFS.1112.RL.3.7

Analyze multiple interpretations of a story, drama, or poem (e.g., recorded or live production of a play or recorded novel or poetry), evaluating how each version interprets the source text.

ELD.K12.ELL.LA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.

Reference:Herrell, A. L., Jordan, M., & Herrell, A. L. (2012). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. Boston: Pearson.

Science Strategies

Predictable Routines and Signals

Predictable Routines and Signals is a strategy that helps educators to see indicators of stress and anxiety in students. In Science, students are subjected to technical language that is extremely content specific, so ELL students are at a decided disadvantage. In determining early indications of anxiety and stress and developing routines to combat them, teachers can create a classroom that is predictable and comfortable for students.

Steps:

1. Set up classroom

2. Establish routines

3. Model routines

4. Create clear directions and rules

5. Evaluate routines and procedures

6. Assess follow up instruction

SC.912.E.6 Earth Structures

The scientific theory of plate tectonics provides the framework for much of modern geology. Over geologic time, internal and external sources of energy have continuously altered the features of Earth by means of both constructive and destructive forces. All life, including human civilization, is dependent on Earth's internal and external energy and material resources.

ELD.K12.ELL.SC.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.

Modeled Talk

Modeled Talk is a strategy that used verbal explanation along with physical modeling to show students how to accomplish tasks, as well as telling them how to perform. This combination is effective for ELL students in the Science classroom because there are so many instructions that pertain to safety as well as content knowledge. Modeling behaviors shows students what to do, and can create another pathway for information to be comprehended.

Steps:

1. Identify the lesson

2. Gather materials

3. Practice modeled talk

4. Design a visual for directions

5. Review steps 

6. Observe students during modeled talk

7. Assess student comprehension

SC.912.L.16 Heredity and Reproduction

A. DNA stores and transmits genetic information. Genes are sets of instructions encoded in the structure of DNA.

B. Genetic information is passed from generation to generation by DNA in all organisms and accounts for similarities in related individuals.

C. Manipulation of DNA in organisms has led to commercial production of biological molecules on a large scale and genetically modified organisms.

D. Reproduction is characteristic of living things and is essential for the survival of species.

ELD.K12.ELL.SC.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.

Visual Scaffolding

Visual Scaffolding is a strategy that used visual aids to aid instruction. The use of illustrations or multimedia such as videos can help students to see what is being discussed, rather than just hearing it. This is effective in the Science classroom for ELL students because they can focus visually on images, while hearing instruction. This can be especially useful for physical science, or biology, where specific animals or ecological systems are being discussed. 

Steps:

1. Identify vocabulary

2. Collect visuals

3. Organize and reproduce visuals

4. Engage students

5. Observe student understanding

6. Assess comprehension

SC.912.L.14 Organization and Development of Living Organisms
A. Cells have characteristic structures and functions that make them distinctive.

B. Processes in a cell can be classified broadly as growth, maintenance, reproduction, and homeostasis.

C. Life can be organized in a functional and structural hierarchy ranging from cells to the biosphere.

D. Most multicellular organisms are composed of organ systems whose structures reflect their particular function.

ELD.K12.ELL.SC.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.

Realia Strategies

Realia Strategies is a strategy that combines real words and objects to academic language. Realia is a word that refers to real life objects or words, like shovel or flower. This helps relate academic language to real world learning. The language acquisition from this strategy is essential to the Science classroom, and to relating content information with prior knowledge of how the world functions.

Steps:

1. Identify realia opportunities

2. Collect realia

3. Build library of realia

4. Use field trips

5. Assess comprehension

SC.912.N.4 Science and Society

As tomorrows citizens, students should be able to identify issues about which society could provide input, formulate scientifically investigable questions about those issues, construct investigations of their questions, collect and evaluate data from their investigations, and develop scientific recommendations based upon their findings.

ELD.K12.ELL.SC.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.

Sorting Activities

Sorting Activities is a strategy that asks students to sort and classify information into categories. These categories have set rules that identify characteristics that separate information. In the Science classroom, these categories are essential for classifying new knowledge and keeping information straight for ELL students. 

Steps:

1. Identify categories

2. Create visual

3. Explain activity

4. Model activity

5. Assess progress and understanding

SC.912.N.3 The Role of Theories, Laws, Hypotheses, and Models

The terms that describe examples of scientific knowledge, for example: "theory," "law," "hypothesis" and "model" have very specific meanings and functions within science.

ELD.K12.ELL.SC.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science.

Reference:Herrell, A. L., Jordan, M., & Herrell, A. L. (2012). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. Boston: Pearson.

Mathematics Strategies

Comparison Words

Comparison Words is a strategy for identifying English words that compare or contrast nouns. Words like fewer, greater, less than, equal to, etc, are important for students to understand when in Math lessons. These words build the base for understanding math problems listed in English. These building blocks are essential for lower level English fluency students.

Steps:

1. Identify comparison words

2. Create visual aid

3. Practice word problems using comparison words

4. Take visual aid away and practice problems

5. Assess understanding

MAFS.912.A-REI.1.1

Explain each step in solving a simple equation as following from the equality of numbers asserted at the previous step, starting from the assumption that the original equation has a solution. Construct a viable argument to justify a solution method.

ELD.K12.ELL.MA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.

Language Framework Planning

Language Framework Planning is a strategy that helps students identify key academic language, and use it to understand content. Understanding the key terms in Math helps students to develop the language skills necessary to attack content specific goals. This can help with proofs and comparison through several content specific areas. 

Steps:

1. Identify and model problem structures

2. Create vocabulary chart

3. Plan instructional sequence

4. Assign work

5. Assess student understanding

MAFS.912.A-CED.1.4

Rearrange formulas to highlight a quantity of interest, using the same reasoning as in solving equations.

ELD.K12.ELL.MA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.

Cooperative Learning

Cooperative Learning is a strategy that is used for students working together to accomplish a task. This strategy can be useful in the Math classroom by allowing ELL students to collaborate with English speaking students to accomplish homework problems. Applying both BICS and CALPS language skills in the lesson helps ELL students to develop both sides of the Math specific academic vocabulary, and allowing help for accomplishing tasks. Proving equations and finding a solution method are perfect tasks for this strategy

Steps:

1. Assign heterogeneous groups and build a team

2. Assign roles within groups

3. Assign task

4. Ensure full participation

5. Have groups report to class

6. Debrief and examine the group process

MAFS.912.A-REI.1.1

Explain each step in solving a simple equation as following from the equality of numbers asserted at the previous step, starting from the assumption that the original equation has a solution. Construct a viable argument to justify a solution method.

ELD.K12.ELL.MA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.

Learning Strategy Instruction

Learning Strategy Instruction is a strategy that teaches students skills for self help and methods for better learning. Included in this area is note taking, using prior knowledge, summarizing, and imagery. These are all very effective in the Math subject area, as students will need to self help while deducing and rationalizing problems. Proving that data is true is a key part of math, and these strategies can help students to do just that.

Steps:

1. Match strategies and curriculum

2. Reflect on learning task approach

3. Model strategies

4. Practice strategies

5. Make visuals

6. Discuss strategy use

7. Assess progress

MAFS.912.G-GMD.2.4

Identify the shapes of two-dimensional cross-sections of three-dimensional objects, and identify three-dimensional objects generated by rotations of two-dimensional objects.

ELD.K12.ELL.MA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.

Manipulative Strategies

Manipulative Strategies is a strategy for using objects that students can touch and manipulate to explain content material. This is especially helpful in Math classrooms, for students to physically interact with shapes and counting methods. Fractions, shapes, patters, and measurements are all important parts of the content area, and students have the opportunity to interact with all of these manipulatives to deepen understanding.

Steps:

1. Identify concepts to be taught and ways of representation

2. Demonstrate and explain

3. Provide guided practice

4. Give students time for practice

5. Review

6. Assess comprehension

MAFS.912.G-C.1.1

Prove that all circles are similar.

ELD.K12.ELL.MA.1

English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.

Reference:Herrell, A. L., Jordan, M., & Herrell, A. L. (2012). 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. Boston: Pearson.