January 2013 • Volume 44 • Number 3 • Pages 34-43

"I'm No Longer Just Teaching History." Professional Development for Teaching Common Core State Standards for Literacy in Social Studies

By identifying the reading strategies they regularly use within their disciplines, content area teachers are better able to teach students how to derive meaning from texts.

Carol Gilles, Yang Wang, Joanne Smith, & Danielle Johnson

Article Description: The Common Core State Standards require all content teachers to teach literacy strategies. This article describes how three social studies teachers infused literacy strategies into their content area. These teachers first uncovered their reading strategies, both generally and in their discipline. Then, with some help, they embedded literacy strategies that they felt would support their students. Results from this study suggest that social studies teachers do use slightly different strategies when reading in their disciplines than when they read general pieces. The authors suggest that instead of borrowing strategies from literacy which may not fit the content area, content teachers must begin with and build upon their knowledge of their own reading strategies in their discipline and what they know about their students' needs, interests and engagement. Then content area teachers may find that embedding literacy strategies becomes a tool for deeper and more meaningful student learning.

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