Disciplinary Literacy in the Social Studies Classroom

Catalog description

This methods course is designed to provide knowledge of how to design and teach an integrated study of social sciences and the humanities to promote historical understanding and civic competence among students. Emphasis is on instruction that facilitates the teaching of social studies content, skills, concepts and disciplinary literacy through daily and long-range planning aligned with the Understanding by Design framework, and the use of research-based, best-practice methods. The course also emphasizes the tools and skills of instruction and the organization of instructional and supplementary materials in order to accommodate the special needs and individual differences among students in today’s diverse elementary school classrooms. Based on course content and collaboration with cooperating teachers, participants design a content area unit to be implemented during student teaching.