Ashley Prindle

April 13th, 2016

ED 523/ED 586
Strategies for Literacy/STEM & Social Studies 4-8th

Content Area Literacy Strategies Reference Guide

State Standards

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1
Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says explicitly and when
drawing inferences from the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3
Explain events, procedures, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text,
including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4
Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text
relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9
Integrate information from two texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the
subject knowledgeably.

Comprehension Strategies

1) KWL Chart: Student knowledge and understanding of a topic if often varied. Some students
might come into a unit or topic and have a wealth of knowledge to share with the class. Other
students might be hearing of a particular topic for the first time. A KWL chart is an effective way
to activate every ones prior knowledge and interest. The K stands for what we know, the W
stands for what we want to know, and the L stands for what we have learned. This
comprehension strategy is a great tool to use at the very beginning of a unit, so that students can
add to their KWL chart as we read different texts throughout the unit. This strategy is effective
because it allows students to monitor their comprehension and makes students think about what
they know, what they have learned, and what they still wonder about or are unsure of.

This strategy can be used for all of the texts in the Holocaust unit. Each day students
would refer back to their KWL chart and fill in more information in the L column about what
they have learned. But, I would begin on the first day of the unit with students filling out the K
and W column of their chart and explain what they already know and what they want to know.
This will serve as an excellent gauge to how much knowledge and understanding my students are
coming into the unit with. By combining their knowledge of the Holocaust from all of the texts,
students would be able to better understand how far they have come in understanding the topic
from the beginning on the unit. Specific standards that would be fulfilled by the use of a KWL

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chart include students being able to refer to details and examples in a text (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RL.4.1), explaining events, ideas, or concepts in historical texts (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RI.4.3), and integrating information from two texts on the same topic in order to
write about the subject knowledgably (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9). These standards are met
because students are synthesizing information and showing their newly acquired knowledge and
understanding. Furthermore, this strategy is very pertinent to the content area of social studies
because of the fact that social studied tends to be a subject in which pooled prior knowledge and
interest of the whole class about a topic is essential.

Source

Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2011). Developing
Readers and Writers in the Content Areas K-12 (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

2) Anticipation Guide: An anticipation guide is a list of key words or statements, some of which
are true and some of which are false. All of the students are provided with the statements or key
words and it is up to them to decide which statements are true and which are false. This sparks
students curiosity and makes them want to delve into a text so that they can confirm or deny their
predictions. By creating and using an anticipation guide students are able to check their
comprehension. Furthermore students who have made some kind of prediction before they begin
to read are usually more engaged and clear about the purposes for reading. When a reader has
purpose they are going to be able to comprehend and come away with meaning from a text.

This strategy could be used before students read, The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco. In this story
there is a very complex character Monique. In order for students to understand who this character
is and what she embodies students would complete an anticipation guide before we read the text
together. I would give students ten facts that may be true or false about Monique and I would ask
students to highlight the statements that they believe are false. Students would wait unit after we
are done reading the text to revisit his or her predictions and make revisions as necessary as well
as to participate in a culminating discussion as a class about the statements and there truth.
Additionally this strategy is connected to the content area of social studies because students are
making predictions and using these predictions to fuel their understanding or comprehension of
Monique, a character who is a young girl during the Holocaust. Finally, students would be
referring to details and examples from the text in order to confirm or deny their predictions,
which fulfills the following standard (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1).

Source

Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2011). Developing
Readers and Writers in the Content Areas K-12 (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

3) Paraphrasing: According to the article, Paraphrasing: An Effective Comprehension Strategy,

even though paraphrasing has not received as much attention as other comprehension strategies
such as visualization, prior knowledge, or questioning, paraphrasing alone or in conjunction with
other strategies has demonstrated great benefits (Kletzien, 2009, p. 73-74). Paraphrasing
encourages the reader to make connection with prior knowledge to access what is already known

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about the topic and to use words that are part of the readers knowledge. In order for students to
understand how to monitor their own reading through paraphrasing, students must be shown
explicitly how to do so. Good readers stop when they are reading, look away from the text, and
put what they have just read into their own words. The teacher should model the strategy of
paraphrasing by showing students how to look back in the text when they dont remember or
revisit parts of the text that they dont understand (Kletzien, 2009, p. 74). Additionally,
paraphrasing helps students to monitor their understanding and encourages them to assess what
they already know about a topic. This allows students to understand that understanding or
comprehension is the goal of reading.

The strategy of paraphrasing could be implemented and used throughout one of the main
texts in my thematic unit, Number The Stars, by Lois Lowry. In this text students will be exposed
to new vocabulary, ideas, and have to make inferences from the text in order to understand the
story. Thus, by teaching students how to paraphrase and stop and think about what they have just
read, will help students to understand what they are reading and allow students to come away
with a deeper understanding. For example, I would model paraphrasing to the class, by reading a
passage in the book that many students might have a hard time understanding. In this passage
one of the main characters insinuates that he will be helping some of the Jews escape to safety
(page 71). I would model for students how to use the paraphrasing strategy by reading a little and
stating over in my own words what I just read. This will help students to better remember and
understand what they are reading. Furthermore, it will cause students to pause and reflect on the
text and provide them with a deeper knowledge and understanding of what is happening in the
text. This strategy is critical to the content area of social studies because students need to be able
to understand that they are reading and use proper vocabulary to speak about what they know or
have learned. Students are able to explicitly state in their own words what the text says and
bring their own meaning to the text (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1). Moreover, students
determine the meaning of phrases and domain-specific words in a text that are relevant to a grade
4 topic because they have to make meaning of what they are reading and put in their own words
their understanding (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4).

Source

Kletzien, S. B. (2009). Paraphrasing: An Effective Comprehension Strategy. Reading Teacher,

63(1), 73-77.

Vocabulary Strategies

1) Read-alouds: Read-alouds allow students the opportunity to develop new vocabulary because
childrens books, present more advanced and less familiar vocabulary than everyday speech
(Blachowicz, 2005, p. 262). Allowing students to listen to books helps students to go beyond
their existing oral vocabularies and presents them with new concepts and vocabulary. Numerous
studies have shown that by using read-alouds, young students can learn word meanings
incidentally (Blachowicz, 2005, 263). Additionally, during by involving students in on the read-
aloud process during and after the book students gain a better understanding of the vocabulary in
the text. Research has confirmed that read-alouds are a positive way to develop the oral
vocabularies of students (Blachowicz, 2005, p. 262).

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 This strategy could be implements though the reading of, The Cats in Krasinski Square,
by Karen Hesse. In this storybook on the Holocaust students will learn about how children
during the Holocaust were affected. The Cats in Krasinski Square is a great early introduction to
the Holocaust and contains many words that will come up over and over again during the
thematic unit. Thus, by using the read-aloud strategy for this text, students will be able to learn
more of the high frequency words of mature language learners or Tier 2 vocabulary as well as
Tier 3 vocabulary which is academic vocabulary usually taught within content area instruction.
Moreover, when I would conduct a read-aloud for this text I would make sure to pause and
elaborate on particular words to provide an explanation, demonstration, or example. By doing
this students will be able to see how the term is used within the context of a supportive text and
allow students to make initial connections between novel words and their meanings. This
strategy is important since students need to have a strong grasp on content area vocabulary in
social studies because students must be able to become attuned to the connotations as well as the
denotations of words. Finally, this strategy fulfils the state standard of determining the meaning
of general and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject
areas because students are learning about specific vocabulary that will help them to better
understand the Holocaust (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4).

Source

Blachowicz, C. Z., & Obrochta, C. (2005). Vocabulary Visits: Virtual field trips for content
vocabulary development. Reading Teacher, 59(3), 262-268.

2) Vocabulary Knowledge Ratings: Teaching students individual words alone is not sufficient
to build their vocabulary knowledge. By using a strategy such as, vocabulary knowledge ratings,
students are able to build awareness of their own learning and improve their vocabulary
knowledge (Spencer, 2009, p. 41). This strategy allows students to gain awareness of their
vocabulary knowledge and track their progress in gaining an understanding of the necessary
vocabulary over time. It is important that students self-monitor their learning and become
independent learners who have independent word learning strategies that they can use outside of
the classroom (Spencer, 2009, p. 41).

Since this strategy would allow students to monitor their understanding of vocabulary
that would appear throughout all of the texts in the Holocaust unit, at the beginning of the unit I
would plan on giving students their own vocabulary knowledge rating form. Students would be
provided with seven words and they would be asked to rate their current understanding of the
term. Students would be able to rate their knowledge of the vocabulary term by writing 3 (Ive
got it down!), 2 (I know something about it), or 1 (I have no clue!). Then students would revisit
their chart after the unit and re-rate their understanding as well as provide a definition of the
word. Some of the words that I might include are Holocaust, Star of David, Resistance, Ghetto,
and Persecuted. All of these terms are associated with all of the texts in the unit and thus would
be appropriate to use as a way to make sure students have harnessed the necessary vocabulary.
This strategy also enables students to be able to correctly use and understand vocabulary that is
at the core of the unit, which is important in the field of social studies. Thus, students are able to
determine the meaning of general and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a

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grade 4 topic or subject areas because students are learning about specific vocabulary that will
help them to better understand the Holocaust (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4).

Source

Spencer, B. H., & Guillaume, A. M. (2009). 35 Strategies for Developing Content Area
Vocabulary. Boston, MA: Pearson.

3) Word Splash: In this strategy students are able to connect vocabulary terms and identify key
terms that are adequately defined by their context (Moore, 2011, p. 135). Many of the ideas,
terms, and concepts that students will be exposed to overlap. In order to help students be able to
manipulate and use the vocabulary, students will follow a series of steps to better understand
several words within the context of each text, so that students can better understand the
Holocaust. First, students would explore word relationships by organizing the words to
demonstrate how they fit together. Next, students would write sentences that contain at least two
of the key words. Then students would share their sentences with the class. Students would then
revisit the text to determine if they need to revise their sentence and then students would share
their revised sentences. By embarking in this process students will be able to make connections
between the vocabularies used throughout different texts and explore their meaning for
themselves.

When using this literacy strategy in the classroom I would place several words on
flashcards and hang them up on the whiteboard. There would be no more than twelve words that
students would work with. Some of these words might include Holocaust, Jew, Ghetto, Star of
David, Resistance, Nazis, Germany, Persecution, Allies, and Synagogue. Students would then go
through each step in the Word Splash process. All four of the texts for the unit would be used
since these words appear throughout all of these texts. By embarking on this process students
will be able to gain a deeper understanding of not only the words, but also how they are
connected. Students also will be required to use the words in a sentence, which will demonstrate
their knowledge of the words and how to apply each word. This strategy would be used with
students at the end of the unit after all four texts has been read. It would serve as a way for
students to review the words and make sure that they know how to use them in context. Students
are integrating information from multiple texts in order to write more knowledgably about the
Holocaust (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9). Additionally, this strategy allows students to
determine in their own the meaning of domain-specific words in several texts that are relevant to
a grade 4 topic (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4). Finally, this is a relevant strategy to the content
area of social studies because students are able to gain understanding and meaning of content
area vocabulary.

Writing

1) Poetry: The content and topic matter that students will be exposed to in the Holocaust unit are
sensitive, hard to imagine, and difficult to talk about. One form of writing that will help students
to express these possible emotional responses is poetry. Poetry is an authentic school-based
literacy experience that provides opportunities to use complex, domain-specific language in

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creative and critical ways (Spencer, 2009, p. 149). Poetry also allows students to attach personal
meaning to the content, transforming it and distilling it to reveal their experiences and provide an
opportunity to give an authentic response to what they have learned.

This strategy would be used in conjunction with the text, Star of Fear, Star of Hope, by Jo
Hoestlandt. After reading this text as a class, students would be asked to compose their own
shape poem. In a shape poem students are asked to use words and phrases related to a topic, so
that the words are arranged spatially to evoke an image (Spencer, 2009, p. 151). Writing a shape
poem is an appropriate task for students to complete after reading Star of Fear, Star of Hope
because students will be exposed to one prominent shape. Students will explore the symbol of a
star and what it meant during the Holocaust and hopefully students will use this prominent
symbol to write their shape poem. Moreover, this strategy satisfies the state standard
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3), which asks students to explain events, ideas, or concepts in a
historical non-fiction text, including what happened based on the information in the text.
Students would each write these poems and they would be prominently displayed in the
classroom. Writing through an authentic task such as this, allows a student to be able to write
about an event and think independently about the event that they learned. This is important in
the content area of social studies since students need to be able to think critically about the
events and issues that they are studying.

Source

Spencer, B. H., & Guillaume, A. M. (2009). 35 Strategies for Developing Content Area
Vocabulary. Boston, MA: Pearson.

2) Write Around: One text in particular lends itself to a write around. Students will be reading
one main text, Number The Stars, by Lois Lowry. One way to introduce students to the text
would be to do a write around, where students would be asked to independently answer three
questions that would get them thinking about the text and preview what is to come. The purpose
of a write around is to engage students in a silent conversation. This strategy allows students to
write in a safe and inclusive environment since students are writing their thoughts anonymously
and arent under strict time restraints. Furthermore, this strategy develops students writing ability
by asking them to think critically and also constructively respond to different students opinions.

For example one of the questions that students might be asked to answer would be, after
examining the cover of the book, make a prediction about what you think the story is about?
Students would rotate through three different questions that would be displayed around the
classroom on large paper. Students would be instructed to go around once and answer all of the
questions and then go around a second time and make comments on their peers responses.
Students should be encouraged to respond by using complete sentences, hash tags, or pictures.
Finally, students would revisit each of the questions one more time to make any additions that
they see fit. Students can use this as way to explain their reaction, write a comment, ask
questions, share connections, agree or disagree, or raise a new idea. Students might revisit their
responses after reading the text as well as revisit their responses after the text is finished.

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 By having students use a write around students are learning how to develop their thoughts
and ideas as well as provide physical evidence of their thinking. Writing should be a prominent
part of all social studies classes because critical thinking and critical writing together helps
students learn. By conducting a write around students also fulfill the state standard (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RL.4.1), because students are referring to details in a text and sharing what the text
says and also making inferences from the text to share their thoughts through participating in a
write around.

3) Quick Write: Quick writes allow students to call up prior knowledge on a topic. Quick writes
also allow students to respond to a question briefly and with little formality. Quick writes are
also a way for students to be able to predict what comes next, synthesize ideas about a text, and
helps students reflect on their understanding of a text (Moore, 2011, p. 177). In the content area
of social studies in particular, quick writes allow students to think more deeply about a topic and
allows students through writing to organize their thinking. This is why in this unit on the
Holocaust, by having students write about and reflect on what they are reading throughout the
text will help students to become more aware of their thinking and to think critically about the
content.
Quick writes would be used at the beginning and at the end of many of the chapters in the
text Number The Stars, by Lois Lowry. Students would be asked at several points in the reading
of the novel to engage in a quick write. Some of the questions that students might be asked to
answer include, What did you not understand about todays lesson? List one or more terms that
you cannot clearly define? What do you think will happen next? What new information did you
learn from the text today? These questions will get students writing. Additionally, these questions
can serve as a way to assess each students understanding of the text. By completing quick writes
students fulfill many of the state standards for this unit. These standards include (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RL.4.1), (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3), and (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4).
These standards are satisfied because through the many quick write questions that students will
be asked to complete, students will refer to details and example in a text, explain events
procedures and ideas in a historical text, as well as determine the meaning of domain-specific
words in a text that are relevant to a grade 4 topic.

Source

Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2011). Developing
Readers and Writers in the Content Areas K-12 (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Studying

1) Graphic Organizers: One of the ways that students can best organize the information that
they have learned and make sense of lots of information is through the use of a graphic organizer
(Moore, 2011, p. 212). In the content area of social studies students are expected to and have to
acquire a large number of facts, terms, and concepts. Additionally, we want students to be able to
see the bigger picture and make connections between facts, terms, and concepts. One of the
greatest ways to do that is through the use of graphic organizers. Throughout the Holocaust unit

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students will be exposed to many new concepts, terms, ideas, and information that they will need
to make sense of. Students will be reading four different texts to help them learn these concepts
as well. Thus, towards the beginning of the unit I would plan to use a graphic organizer with my
students that would allow them to keep track of and make connections between themes, events,
and vocabulary that is used across all of the texts. This would also serve as a tool for students to
use when it is time for an assessment and they need to recall information that they might be
tested on.

By using a graphic organizer students will be able to recall important details that will no
doubt help them as they study and prepare to answer test questions about the relationship among
these terms, facts, and concepts. Using graphic organizers as a study guide also satisfies the state
standards of (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9), which asks students to integrate information from
multiple texts on the same topic to write about the subject knowledgably, as well as standard
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1), which asks students to refer to details and examples in a text
when explaining what the text explicitly says.

Source

Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2011). Developing
Readers and Writers in the Content Areas K-12 (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

2) Student Made Books: Student made books are a great tool to help students study since they
can pop up, fold out, flip over, and are easily portable. Most importantly student made books
allow students to summarize, organize, and use their content vocabulary in meaningful contexts
(Spencer, 2009, p. 145). One of the ways that students could easily use student made books as a
study tool is to make a simple measurement step book or a foldable, so that students can write a
vocabulary term and include such information as a definition, a sentence using the vocabulary
word, and a picture (Spencer, 2009, p. 146). This simple tool could be used for all of the texts in
the unit as well as for all of the vocabulary that students will be expected to know and
understand.

Before students would be expected to take a test, one of the tools that I would help
students create is a measurement step book for all of the vocabulary in the unit. Since many of
the vocabulary terms can be found in all of the text, students would be have multiple references
at their fingertips in order to accurately and completely fill out their measurement step book. In
the content area of social studies it is vital that students are able to understand and use the
vocabulary of a topic area such as the Holocaust. There is a certain vernacular that students must
know in order to gain meaning and a deeper understanding of the vocabulary that is used across
the unit. By creating such a study tool as a student made measurement step book, students fulfill
the state standard of (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4), because students are determining the
meaning of domain-specific words across all texts on the Holocaust that are relevant to a grade 4
topic.

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 Source

Spencer, B. H., & Guillaume, A. M. (2009). 35 Strategies for Developing Content Area
Vocabulary. Boston, MA: Pearson.

3) Reciprocal Teaching: Using reciprocal teaching is an excellent way for students to immerse
themselves in the content and share their knowledge as well as determine what they know and
are unsure of. Reciprocal teaching allows students to work in small groups and take turn leading
discussions about sections of a piece of reading material that they have all read and have open in
front of them (Moore, 2011, p. 195). Reciprocal teaching asks students to use the four simply
strategies. These strategies include summarizing, questioning, clarifying, and predicting.
Students all play a different role in the conversation. For example, one student might be the
questioner who asks other students about the sections content. But another student might be the
clarifier, who specifies troublesome aspects of the text.

Since this strategy would be used with fourth grade students who might need more things
clarified than older students, I would assign students several passages that I felt are important for
students to have a handle of. These would likely be passages that students would need to have a
handle on to be successful on a later summative assessment. Students would be first shown how
to use this strategy, as I would model how to have a rich conversation about a passage with
fellow students. Once students are able to successfully use this strategy on their own, they can
use this strategy as a way to study and learn about the meaning of a passage, make connections,
and engage in a higher level of analytical thinking that will help them be successful on a future
assessment. The passages that I would select would come from the main text of the unit, Number
The Stars, by Lois Lowry. Students would be assigned several of the critical passages in the text
that would be valuable for students to discuss using the reciprocal teaching strategy. By putting
responsibility on the student and having them take responsibility of their own learning will help
them to be more prepared on a future independent assessment. In particular the content area of
social studies requires that students have an understanding of many different events, concepts,
and can make connections to other events or topics. Through engaging in the reciprocal teaching
process, all of the state standards are fulfilled. Students are referring to details in a text,
explaining events from a non-fictional historical text, determining meaning of vocabulary, as
well as use their knowledge from other texts to speak about a subject knowledgably. Students are
engaging in meaningful academic conversations that will allow them to better grasp and own the
material that they are learning. These are the state standards that are satisfied (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RL.4.1), (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3), (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.4), and
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.9).

Source

Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2011). Developing
Readers and Writers in the Content Areas K-12 (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

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 Digital Literacy

1) Class Blog: One of the best ways to get students involved and interested in a unit of study is
by allowing students to blog. Blogging has taken off in recent years and is a great tool to promote
dialogue, reflect, and improve in reading and writing (Morgan, 2015, p. 27). By blogging
students are using information and communication to prepare students to be successful in todays
digital environment. By blogging students are able to create, modify, and share content. The blog
can also be updated with new information constantly, which allows all students to participate in a
lively discussion about a topic. Blogging allows students to develop knowledge through
interacting with others and also teachers they how to safely communicate online. Additionally,
students will learn how to participate and in such a digital space (Morgan, 2015, p 28).

Blogging is a new to communicate ideas, information, and collaborate with others in a

digital format. In this unit a class blog will be created to allow students to post, comment, and
share their thoughts on different posts that will be added to the class blog about the Holocaust
unit. Some of the posts might ask students to answer questions or even look at a picture and
provide their reactions. Besides posting to the blog, students will also learn how to safely and
appropriately respond to others posts as well as create their own appropriate posts that add value
to the conversation. Since this unit focuses on four main texts, the blog will include questions,
ideas, and concepts from all of the texts and the blog will be used throughout the entire unit to
allow students to have many posts and to build students understanding of blogging. Since this
unit is focused in the content area of social studies, students will be able to gain an understanding
of different concepts and share their idea, perspectives, and learn about different perspectives,
which is important in this content area. By blogging students are fulfilling the state standards of
(CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3), which asks students to explain events, procedures, and ideas
based on specific information in the texts, as well as the standard (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RI.4.9), which asks students to integrate information from multiple texts on the
same topic in order to write about the subject knowledgably. Blogging allows students to share
their knowledge and understanding of a subject in a digital format.

Source

Morgan, H. (2015). Creating A Class Blog: A Strategy That Can Promote Collaboration,
Motivation, and Improvement in Literacy. Reading Improvement, 52(1), 27-31.

2) Kidspiraition: In order for students to be able to synthesize and determine which information
is important to help answer a question that they are researching, students need to be able to comb
through this information. One way that allows students to synthesis their data by providing report
structures and writing frames is Kidspiration (Kidspiration.com). This tool enables students to be
able to compile all of their information in one neat, organized, and helpful format. Students can
also produce notes, categorize information, and even cite information. This is a great way for
students to be able to visualize patterns and relationships among ideas. Students need to be able
to understand how to comb through information and summarize the information that is pertinent
to their topic. In order to ensure that students are successful and become more digitally literate,
students should use the many organizing strategies that can be found on kidspiration.

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 To help students organize all of their information, students can use Kidspiration to
synthesize all of their information in a way that enables for their research to be easily read and
understood. All of the texts in this unit can be referenced and are applicable to this strategy
because students might refer to anyone of these texts in their research. I would make sure that the
students understood why it is important to constantly make sure that the information that you are
gathering is answering the question that they are asking. Otherwise, when conducting research
on the Internet, students will not be as successful. I would use Kidspiration as a way for students
to use the software to create a digital graphic organizer or an outline of their topic. Having the
ability to synthesize information and understand how to find pertinent information is a very
valuable skill to have, especially in social studies where students are expected to use credible and
reliable sources to answer a question. This strategy meets the state standard of (CCSS.ELA-
LITERACY.RI.4.9), which asks students to integrate information from texts on the same topic in
order to write of speak about the subject knowledgably. Students would be using their prior
knowledge from reading multiple texts on the Holocaust to inform their research.

Source

Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2011). Developing
Readers and Writers in the Content Areas K-12 (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

3) Digital Writing Tools: By implementing and using a variety of digital writing tools in the
classroom, students will be able to engage with tools that allow each student to structure, edit,
and publish their work. Using collaborative tools also allows for the sharing and interacting of
student writing to happen in a variety of ways. Furthermore, digital writing tools allow students
to think critically and be reading for the real world. There are a number of digital tools that can
be used in order to enhance digital literacy. These tools include My Story Maker (allows students
to write their own stories, choose their own characters, and topic), Storybird (Make stories in
minutes), Weebly (create a free web-site) Prezi, Instagram, and even Twitter. All of these tools
can be used to promote digital literacy and enable students to use information and
communication technologies to find, evaluate, create, and communicate information.

One way that students would benefit from using a digital tool in this thematic unit would
be by using Storybird. Students would be able to easily create their own picture book on an
assigned topic based on one of our texts. The text that I would use is, Star of Fear, Star of Hope,
by Jo Hoestlandt and ask students to create their own story about a time when they said
something or did something that they wish they could take back. Students would create their own
story using Storybird, while also making connections between a personal experience that theyve
had with a friend and the relationship between the main character in the text and her friend. It is
important that students are able to make connections and use their prior experiences to shape
their perspectives. Students also meet the state standard of (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1),
because students have to refer to the book to understand how the main character felt and draw
inferences from this event to guide and provide links between the characters feelings and their
own.

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 Source

Mckee-Waddell, S. (2015). Digital Literacy: Bridging the Gap with Digital Writing Tools. Delta
Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 82(1), 26-31.

Understanding Different Perspectives

1) Town Hall Circle: In order to help students begin to formulate and express their own
opinions, it is useful to set up at times a Town Hall Circle, so that students have a space to
share their perspective on a topic that is important to them or on a topic that is set by the teacher.
By participating in such an activity, students will; gain a greater appreciation for how our
perspective can limit the facts that we have and the opinions we hold. Through listening to other
students and appreciating others ideas, students will be able to broaden their understanding.

I would use this strategy in the thematic unit by having students discuss one texts in
particular that would allow students to bring forth differences and perspectives that they have
about a similar topic. This text would be The Butterfly, by Patricia Pollacco. In this book the
young girl has a much different perspective than the Nazis. This young girl thinks and sees the
situation differently. In order to highlight this for students I would have them separate into
groups and answer the following questions. What is this reading about? What are the main ideas
and facts presented? Why are these ideas relevant or important? From whose perspective is this
text written? How might that influence the ideas expressed in the text? Students appoint one
person in their group to summarize their thoughts and share this with the class. Next four or five
students would be seated in a circle and begin sharing their ideas or thoughts about what they
just heard from their peers and share what they thought was happening. What was their
perspective? Do they agree or disagree? The students in the outer circle are allowed to enter the
conversation by tapping the shoulder of someone in their own group and taking their seat.

By using this strategy students will be able to gain an understanding of not only other
perspectives by how many times one event or situation can be seen quite differently by other
people. This is an important concept for students to understand especially in social studies
because we need to always be aware of where the information we are getting is coming from,
how reliable the information is, and make sure to be open and receptive to all kinds of opinions.
This strategy also fulfills the state standard of (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1), because
students are referring to details and examples from passages in the text in order to explain what
the text explicitly as well as what they inferred from the text.

Source

Town Hall Circle. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from https://www.facinghistory.org/resource

library/teaching-strategies/readers-theater

2) Caf Conversation: Conversations are an important part of any content area, but are pivotal
in the content area of social studies because this allows students to demonstrate, elaborate,
collaborate, and share their ideas so that other students can learn. Furthermore, by engaging and

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using a strategy such as caf conversations, students are able to understand that in order to
understand the past, we need to be aware of different perspectives. In caf conversations students
practice perspective taking by requiring students to represent a particular point of view in a small
group discussion. Since each student will be responsible for portraying a different perspective,
students will be able to become more aware of other factors that play a role in shaping ones
attitudes and perspectives on historical events such as social class, occupation, gender, and race.

This strategy could be used with the text, The Butterfly, by Patricia Pollacco because of
the numerous characters and different roles that they played during the time of the Holocaust.
Some of the characters that students would be assigned include Monique, Moniques mother, the
ghost, a Nazi Solider, as well as one of the characters who is part of the resistance. Students
would take on these roles and think about their role during this time. What do they think about
what is happening with the Jews? This is hard subject for students to talk about and this is why it
would be important to discuss with students how to be respectful and to disagree respectively
with others. Students would have time to think of points that they would want to make as well as
make sure that they are correctly taking on the perspective that their character would have. Once
everyone is ready the group would start by saying, I heard that_______is happening? What do
you think about this? Each group would have 15 minutes to discuss. The activity would conclude
with a debrief with questions such as what do you think it may have felt like for your character to
hear these perspectives? How do you think it might have changed his/her point of view? This
strategy enables students to explain events, concepts in a historical text, and explain what
happened and why based on information in the text (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.4.3). Students
taking on a character in a text and using what they say and do to demonstrate a characters
perspective demonstrates this standard.

Source

Caf Conversations. Retrieved April 10, 2016, from https://www.facinghistory.org/resource

library/teaching-strategies/cafe-conversations

3) Think-Pair-Share: Students are always going to come to the table with different perspectives,
thoughts, and understanding. This is why it is important that students are able to also learn about
different perspectives and thoughts by engaging in meaningful and thoughtful conversations with
their peers as well as with the entire class. By using the think-pair-share model, students are able
to first think about a topic or event and gather their thoughts, then students pair with one other
student and they share their thoughts about the question, and finally students share what they
discussed with the class. This is a great strategy to use to not only get students talking about what
they are learning and reading, but to use after reading a short text, and allow students to gain
more understanding by learning from the different perspectives that will likely be shared by their
peers.

The strategy of think-pair-share would be ideal for all of the texts in this unit. However,
one text in particular lends itself to students coming away with lots to share as well as a varying
perspective or understanding of what is happening in the text, this text is Star of Fear, Star of
Hope, by Jo Hoestlandt. In this text students need to make a lot of inferences, which in turn
means that they are going to come away with different perspectives. I would use this strategy by

13
asking students several questions, no more than five that would get them thinking about the text.
I might ask the students, why do you think the women said, Open up, its Madam Eleven
OClock? Students are likely to think that because it is simply eleven oclock and she is there to
see them or get their attention. However, this is a code word to let them know that she was
looking for safety and a place to hide from the Nazis. By embarking on this strategy students are
able to refer to details and examples in a text to explain what the text explicitly says and draw
inference from the text (CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.4.1). A think-pair-share model allows
students to come away seeing how even though something might be explicitly stated in a text
that people come away with different perspectives and opinions on what it means.

Source

Think-Pair-Share. Retrieved April 10, 2016, https://www.facinghistory.org/resource

library/teaching-strategies/think-pair-share-facilitating-discussions-small-and-large

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 References

Blachowicz, C. Z., & Obrochta, C. (2005). Vocabulary Visits: Virtual field trips for content
vocabulary development. Reading Teacher, 59(3), 262-268.

Kletzien, S. B. (2009). Paraphrasing: An Effective Comprehension Strategy. Reading Teacher,

63(1), 73-77.

Mckee-Waddell, S. (2015). Digital Literacy: Bridging the Gap with Digital Writing Tools. Delta
Kappa Gamma Bulletin, 82(1), 26-31.

Morgan, H. (2015). Creating A Class Blog: A Strategy That Can Promote Collaboration,
Motivation, and Improvement in Literacy. Reading Improvement, 52(1), 27-31.

Moore, D. W., Moore, S. A., Cunningham, P. M., & Cunningham, J. W. (2011). Developing
Readers and Writers in the Content Areas K-12 (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Spencer, B. H., & Guillaume, A. M. (2009). 35 Strategies for Developing Content Area
Vocabulary. Boston, MA: Pearson.

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