Social studies are primarily about memorizing dates and facts. I have begun to realize that just because it isn’t a language arts class, it doesn’t mean I cannot incorporate reading and writing into the subject. As a matter of fact, doing this will strengthen my students’ reading and writing skills even more.

Specifically, I like to use K-W-L charts. Students are introduced to a topic and are required to write what they know already about the topic and what they would like to know about the topic. At the conclusion of the study, students will write what they learned about the topic. I find this is activating both thinking and writing skills.

According to research, students were a part of a study where K-W-L charts and summaries were used to test learning outcomes. The study found that the K-W-L groups learned more content material than did the groups creating a summary (R. Jeffrey Cantrell, Joseph A. Fusa, 2000). The K-W-L charts encourage students to critically think about the topic and write what they think. An example K-W-L chart is listed below.

Image from K-W-L Strategy Chart

Furthermore, K-W-L charts can be used before reading a social studies article or journal. Reading and writing most definitely should not be limited to language art classes. Different content areas can incorporate it to increase the academic skills of our students.

References

K-W-L Strategy Chart. Comprehension Strategies. (n.d.). 

Cantrell, R. J., Fusaro, J. A., & Dougherty, E. A. (2000). Exploring the effectiveness of journal writing on learning social studies: A comparative study. Reading Psychology, 21(1), 1-11.