Copyright © 2007 Heldref Publications

Supporting English-Language Learners in Social Studies Class Results from a Study of High School Teachers MICHELLE YVONNE SZPARA IFTIKHAR AHMAD

ABSTRACT. Content-area instruction for English-language learners (ELLs) represents a growing area of instructional need in U.S. high schools. In this article, the authors focus on diverse approaches to developing an effective instructional environment for teaching secondary-level social studies curriculum to ELLs. The authors participated in a school–university partnership to support content-area teachers’ efforts to increase ELLs’ comprehension skills. The authors propose a multitiered approach to meet the needs of ELLs in the mainstream social studies classrooms by (1) providing social and cultural support during the process of acculturation, (2) providing explicit instruction in academic strategies necessary for successful comprehension of in-depth content using the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach, and (3) making social studies curriculum more accessible through strategies for reducing cognitive load without reducing content. MICHELLE YVONNE SZPARA is an associate professor in the department of curriculum and instruction and director of the Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program at Long Island University in Brookville, New York. IFTIKHAR AHMAD is an associate professor in the department of curriculum and instruction at Long Island University.

Keywords: Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach, comprehension skills, curriculum, English-language learners, social studies

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he English-language learner (ELL) population in mainstream secondary social studies classrooms encounters critical barriers that may impede their citizenship education (Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training 2001). Those barriers include ELLs’ lack of prior exposure to elementary social studies curriculum, a rudimentary understanding of the cultural context in which U.S.-based social studies knowledge is constructed, and a lack of English literacy skills vital for comprehending social studies material and for acculturation and socialization in the dominant culture (Haynes 2005). Teaching ELLs in mainstream high school social studies classrooms poses a challenge to teachers who derive their content from history, political science, sociology, geography, and economics—topics that have specialized jargon and concepts rooted in American culture (Thornton 2005). ELLs must master a curriculum with a high cognitive load and low-frequency vocabulary terms, such as Gutenberg and printing press for global history and geography courses and Constitutional Congress for U.S. history and government courses.

Cultural literacy poses a unique challenge for teachers and students in the ELL social studies classroom. Teachers may not be familiar with the cultures students bring to the classroom, and students are often unfamiliar with the content and rituals of their newly adopted culture. Moreover, social studies curriculum is inherently culture specific. Although it would be erroneous to assume that ELLs have no prior knowledge of the United States, their experiences with American culture may be limited or potentially skewed according to the views of their home cultures and educational systems. This problem can also occur in global studies and world history courses; the worldview presented in the textbooks and public school curriculum of the United States may differ significantly from their native countries’ perspectives. Learning social studies lessons also requires proficiency in reading and writing in the English language. Deborah J. Short (1994) states that “Social studies is closely bound to literacy skills” (36), such as reading; writing; speaking; listening; interpreting tables; charts, and graphs; map reading; analyzing sources; and synthesizing information. The social studies curriculum assumes proficiency in English language skills (Short), but ELLs operate at a disadvantage. The goals of

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social studies also include teaching and learning problem-solving skills. Such skills presuppose students’ critical and independent thinking. The prior educational experiences of ELLs or the cultures of their native countries may not have prepared them to question authority, speak in the classroom without fear of reprisal, or assert their point of view on controversial issues. For cultural reasons or because of lack of verbal skills in English, they may not express themselves openly or may consider it disrespectful to disagree with authority figures such as teachers. Learning abstract concepts in social studies is another challenge for ELLs. The National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS 1994) describes social studies as drawing its content from the social sciences, natural sciences, and humanities, covering at least a dozen academic disciplines. Each of these disciplines has specialized concepts and terminology that students must learn. For example, U.S. history addresses themes such as the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, structure and functions of government, Congress, presidency, federalism, public policy, elections, and the media. Children growing up in American society learn about these topics either in the classroom or at home from parents and television programs. Whether or not American-born children take an interest in learning about government, their early socialization into American civic life gives them an advantage over ELLs. In contrast, ELLs entering the U.S. educational system in high school begin to learn the basic facts about American government in their teen years. An additional challenge for these students is that they belong to immigrant families who are also entering a new civic life and may not be prepared to provide intellectual support for their children in their social studies assignments. Social studies teachers also face unique pedagogical challenges in the classroom. They must follow the official curriculum to prepare all students for standardized state tests and ensure that students meet performance expectations. However, ELLs need additional support beyond the standard curriculum to learn effectively (Spaulding, Carolino, and Amen 2004; U.S. Department of Edu190

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cation 2005). To facilitate the needs of ELLs in the classroom, teachers must create strategies that are democratic and equitable but also effective for students with different learning styles and needs. To respond to these challenges, we propose a multitiered approach to meeting the needs of ELLs in mainstream social studies classrooms: (1) providing social and cultural supports during the process of acculturation, (2) providing explicit instruction in academic strategies necessary for successful comprehension of indepth content, and (3) making social studies curriculum more accessible through strategies that reduce cognitive load without reducing content. In this article, we discuss each of these approaches and specific best practices used by teachers. Study Context In this study, we focused on approaches to developing an effective instructional environment for teaching secondary-level social studies curriculum to students who speak English as a second language (ESL students). We conducted this study in the suburbs of New York City and received grant funding from a school-university partnership based on the Comer School Development Program (Comer 2001). The goals of the grant were to support content-area teachers in their efforts to increase ELLs’ skills to comprehend course content and achieve competency in school subjects. The school in this study is located in an urban suburbia serving students from a low socioeconomic community. Some of the students within this ELL population have experienced interruptions in their formal schooling background in their home countries. Some students represent the first generation in their families to potentially receive a high school diploma. These students may lack English-speaking adult role models in their homes. Although the parents of these students seek to be involved in their children’s education, many do not have strong English-language skills and struggle with multiple full-time jobs. They may have little formal academic schooling and are often unavailable to provide homework support. These challenges are

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reflected in the school’s graduation rates and end-of-year exam performance data. In this study, we used our expertise in social studies education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) to work with five high school social studies teachers. One teacher was fluent in Spanish, another was fluent in Haitian Creole, and the remaining teachers had limited or zero knowledge of these languages. One of the teachers had formal training working with ESL students, but the remaining teachers had only content-area expertise. Classroom instruction was conducted in English, because most classes included ELLs from two or three different language backgrounds. Best Practices in the Sheltered English, High School Social Studies Classrooms Best practices for ESL students can help all students in the mainstream classroom, including those who may have lower reading abilities, learning disabilities, attention deficit disorders, or other challenges that may affect their comprehension or production capabilities in the classroom. In this study, we focused on three broad areas of best practices: (1) the development of socially supportive classroom environments, (2) the explicit teaching of academic skills through the Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA), and (3) approaches for reducing cognitive load in curriculum materials combined with strategies for increasing the accessibility of complex content. We discuss each of these areas in the following sections and include examples from the classrooms of the teachers in this study. Developing a Socially Supportive Classroom Creating a socially supportive classroom for ELLs refers to the development of a learning space in which students feel comfortable learning both English and social studies and making mistakes while learning both. Recognition of students’ home language and culture can facilitate their feelings of connection to the content and sense of belonging to the school

community (Crawford 1999; Farr and Quintanar-Sarellana 2005; LindholmLeary and Borsato 2002; Ovando and Collier 1998; Torrey 1983). Examples include displaying posters in multiple languages around the classroom and exhibiting multilingual projects on classroom bulletin boards. One teacher we interviewed in this study asked students to work in multilingual groups to explore major world religions. They organized basic information about each religion on poster boards produced in both standard, academic English and the languages of the students in each group. The teacher provided multiple class sessions for writing and revising the English segments and collaborated with an ESL teacher to allow students to work on the project in their language classes as well. For individuals from diverse backgrounds, this strategy can help them overcome the culture shock of entering an environment that may be vastly different from the schools in their home country. Learning language also involves learning appropriate cultural values, norms, and beliefs (TESOL 1997, 7). When teachers incorporate aspects of students’ home cultures in the classroom, it can ease the transition toward learning the new, adopted culture. For example, one teacher in our study, although she did not speak Spanish, asked students to teach her the correct pronunciation of their names in their native languages. (See Oxford Dictionaries’ “Latin American Spanish Pronunciation” at http://www .askoxford.com/languages/es/toi_las/ pronunciation/ for help with pronunciation.) She also learned basic classroom phrases, such as greetings and directives, in Spanish. Another teacher spoke Spanish and English fluently but also worked with Haitian Creole-speaking students in his classes. This teacher learned basic phrases in Haitian Creole and often asked students to translate key nouns or verbs in a passage they were reading. Allowing students to use multiple languages when making sense of new content helps them strengthen their overall cognitive abilities as well as their language knowledge and content-specific academic skills (Crawford 1999; Harvard Civil Rights Project 2002; Mon-

tecel and Cortez 2002). Teachers in our study regularly used cooperative learning groups to support the understanding of new content. One teacher created monolingual language groups to allow students to use their native languages. The end product—a newsprint sheet outlining major cultural shifts during the Renaissance—had to be completed in English, but students could use Spanish or Haitian Creole as needed to create and refine the list. All students need opportunities to practice spoken academic English, but they may be shy or reluctant to do so. When reviewing worksheets or homework, the teacher can circulate through the room and identify students with correct answers for each question. The teacher can then call on those students to give the answers and seek volunteers. Helping students make successful verbal contributions can strengthen their confidence, and they may later contribute on their own. A similar strategy is to create pairs of students, with one of the students having stronger English skills. The teacher poses questions to the class that are first discussed in the student pairs. Then the teacher asks the pairs of students to raise their hands and give answers. Appendix A offers additional suggestions for creating a classroom environment that supports students’ social learning needs in the ELL context. ELLs must learn “to use English in socially and culturally appropriate ways” to be successful in school and in the workplace (TESOL 1997, 9). Creating an environment in the classroom that accepts and uses students’ home languages and cultures eases some of the tension involved in learning new norms and vocabulary. It also fosters greater acceptance of diversity in all students and can reduce the stigma associated with being a newcomer in the school community.

achievement of students who are learning through the medium of a second language” (Chamot 1995, 379). The CALLA model for teaching ESL students relies on the explicit instruction of learning strategies alongside content instruction. Students actively construct meaning with the guidance of the teacher. For example, social studies students begin to learn how to answer multiple choice questions for the New York State Regents exams with a brief lesson on identifying keywords in each question itself. Figure 1 shows a sample question from the New York State High School Regents Examination in global history and geography (New York State Education Department 2005). The teacher in our study asked students to read the question and then underline the most important phrase, major world problems. Even when students did not know the definition of deforestation, acid rain, or greenhouse effect, they could make sense of the overriding concept of world problems. After making sure the students understood the meaning of world problems, the teacher asked, “What do you look for when you have a problem? When something goes wrong, you try to . . . ?” When students decided that they were looking for a solution, the teacher then directed them to skim the four possible answers, looking for a solution to a world problem. When necessary, the teacher encouraged students to look up the words for transit and crop. Students correctly decided that cooperation seemed like the most reason-

Explicit Teaching of Academic Skills through CALLA The philosophical approach to English-language instruction we used in this study stems from CALLA, “an instructional model that fosters the school THE SOCIAL STUDIES

40. Deforestation, acid rain, and the greenhouse effect are major world problems that indicate a need for (1) cooperation between nations to reduce pollution and environmental destruction (2) the development of mass transit systems in developing nations (3) an increase in the worldwide production of oil (4) a reduction in crop production in some areas of the world FIGURE 1. Sample question from New York State High School Regents Examination in Global History and Geography (New York State Education Department 2005).

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able answer, not transit, oil, or reduction in crop(s). By guiding students through the thought processes necessary to decode a word problem, the teacher actively modeled academic learning strategies for both language and content. In another example, students learned how to use a glossary as they looked up key terms associated with the First Continental Congress. The teacher asked, “When you need to find a definition, where do you look?” The teacher clarified that a language dictionary (e.g., SpanishEnglish translations) was good for translations, but they also needed to use the glossary in the back of their textbooks. The teacher guided students to look in the book’s table of contents (an additional learning strategy), find the beginning of the glossary, and turn to it. The teacher asked how a glossary is organized and asked students to recite the first few letters of the English alphabet. Students then turned to F to look for First Continental Congress. When they did not find the phrase, the teacher asked what other words they should try. Students then searched under C and found the phrase Continental Congress. The teacher read the definition aloud and asked students to define it in their own words. The teacher wrote the students’ definition on the board, and students copied this modified definition into their vocabulary journal. These additional learning steps may seem rudimentary, but they support early-stage language learners and do not take much extra instructional time. Teachers often assume that native English-speaking students have learned skills such as skimming and scanning, keeping an organized three-ring binder of handouts, and breaking down a task into its constituent parts. Taking a few extra moments during the lesson to explain the necessary academic strategies appropriate for completing a particular assignment can help all students. This practice may initially require teachers to examine the underlying assumptions of their lesson plans to identify key learning strategies that students are expected to use. Nearly all teachers in our study used the decoding or parsing of words as an explicit strategy for teaching new vocabulary. For ELLs, new 192

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vocabulary often includes not only typical content words, such as feudalism or patriarchs, but also academic language words, such as increase/decrease, characterize, promote, principle, restructuring, strategic, and (in)dependent (see Cummins 1979, 1981). Academic terms are words not typically included in a social studies textbook glossary. Native English speakers who read at grade level are expected to understand these words either directly or in the context of the social studies material. In contrast, ELLs at the beginning and intermediate levels of language competency must learn these words along with the new content words they encounter. The decoding or parsing of words works well for either category. For example, to introduce the term patriarchs, one teacher guided students to remove the s ending and then look for the root word, patr. The teacher asked students to think of other words, in any of the languages they knew, that used this root. Students identified padre (father) in Spanish and made the connection between the cultural generalization of the father as leader of the household and the definition of patriarchal as it was being used in the textbook. While ELLs struggle to learn basic vocabulary, their intelligence may not be sufficiently challenged by rote memorization activities. Teachers should incorporate higher-order thinking questions whenever possible and provide scaffolding for students to develop answers to these questions with limited language skills. One teacher in this study put a daily “Aim” or “Do now” question on the board. When students entered the classroom, they knew to take out their social studies journals (provided by the school to avoid penalizing students from lowincome backgrounds), copy the question, find cognates or translations for difficult words, and begin writing at least one sentence in response. Sample questions include “What were the causes of the Industrial Revolution?”; “How did the Treaty of Versailles plant the seed for World War I?”; and “How did imperialism affect Africa?” The questions either reviewed previous lessons or were a prelude to the day’s lesson topic. At the

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beginning of the school year, it was very difficult for students to respond to the questions, but by the fourth month, students’ answers were three to five sentences long, with improved grammar and punctuation. See appendix B for additional ideas on teaching academic skills in the mainstream classroom. Once teachers identify the skills they expect students to have, incorporating minilessons in strategies along with content knowledge becomes easier. This approach supports ESL students, students from low-income backgrounds, students who may not have strong academic support in the home, and students who have learning disabilities. Approaches for Reducing Cognitive Load and Increasing the Accessibility of Complex Content Knowledge The concept of “reducing cognitive load” is often confused with “simplifying material.” The goal of this set of strategies is not to reduce content knowledge to some basic form that leaves out the richness and nuances of a particular period or event; rather, the goal is to identify the key aspects of that period or event and describe the information in the simplest terms possible. The language and the form of presentation shifts, but the content does not. As the No Child Left Behind Act spurred states into requiring annual performance examinations, textbook companies have begun to provide more options for assisting students in their preparation for exams. The Princeton Review provides an excellent example of the process of reducing cognitive load. In response to New York state’s High School Regents exams, the Princeton Review developed review books distilling the key points of each major theme into a few short pages, with outlines, bulleted points, and lists of key vocabulary words. Two examples are Roadmap to the Regents: Global History and Geography and Roadmap to the Regents: U.S. History and Government (Princeton Review 2003a, 2003b). Several teachers in our study used similar study guides as a supplement to the main classroom text or in lieu of the regular text.

In a parallel approach, one teacher used a world history workbook targeted for upper elementary grades in his secondary school classes. This approach distilled particular history topics to their key components and used more basic vocabulary to describe the same phenomena presented in the regular gradelevel textbook. Although major social studies textbook publishers in the United States have begun to provide supplemental notes or materials with suggestions for “modifying instruction to help less proficient readers, English language learners, and special needs students” (Prentice Hall 2004, 1), a textbook series specifically targeted to the needs of ELLs does not exist (American Textbook Council 2005). However, McDougal Littell (2005) offers a supplementary Reading Toolkit for Social Studies targeted at struggling readers, and McGraw-Hill (2005) provides a reading supplement for students that “provides concise content of the Student Edition written at a lower grade level, making it perfect for struggling readers and ELL[s]” (1). Unfortunately, many schools cannot afford to provide sufficient textbooks for all students and do not have the resources in their budgets to purchase supplementary materials. Given these circumstances, social studies teachers need to adapt their own curriculum. Teachers can develop their own reduced cognitive load materials for each chapter or unit. They can begin by reviewing their test-question bank or the set of summative assignments they regularly use. They can then develop a one-page set of notes highlighting key events, people, inputs and contributing factors, and outputs and consequences. Teachers can also use drawings or graphic organizers to indicate relationships between pieces of information. Teachers who use overhead transparencies or PowerPoint slides regularly can provide photocopies of these materials at the beginning of class with specific areas left blank. Students can then follow the lecture or discussion and fill in information as it is presented. This strategy builds listening, reading, and writing skills. For teachers who rely

mainly on verbal approaches to instruction, a good guideline is to ensure that key information is always presented in at least two forms, one verbal and one written. The written version can consist of notes on the blackboard, a handout, a photocopy of the textbook chapter with key parts highlighted, or a photocopy of the notes taken by a volunteer student in the classroom. Students who speak

a language specialist in their districts or a parent or community member, together with a free Web-based translation service such as AltaVista’s Babel Fish Translation (http://babelfish.altavista .com) can develop reasonably accurate versions of short textual pieces. In addition to providing all key information in written form, teachers can add visual or pictorial supports to each

A social studies textbook series specifically targeted to the needs of English-language learners does not yet exist.

English as a native language can find and sort key information on their own from either verbal or written sources. In contrast, ELLs’ primary responsibility is to understand new information rather than spend time finding it. This approach asks teachers to make different pedagogical choices; however, the ELLs in this study responded positively and accomplished more academically with these scaffolding approaches in place. In addition to making key information readily available to ELLs, teachers in our study relied on various methods to make materials available in students’ native languages. Some students may have low literacy levels in their native languages, but seeing or hearing a definition in their native tongue often speeds the process of understanding. Some teachers stock bilingual dictionaries in their classrooms, including translation dictionaries and full dictionaries in the students’ native languages. Many states and individual school districts have begun developing their own resources lists of key vocabulary and reading passages in common second languages. The teachers we interviewed used vocabulary lists from the New York State Education Department (available at http://www.emsc.nysed .gov/biling/pub/glossaries.html). Teachers can also develop their own translations. Teachers who have access to

lesson. The Internet provides a wealth of graphics available for classroom use. A search engine such as Google has an image search (click on Images at http://www.google.com). Teachers can enter “Reformation and Martin Luther” to find images of the ninety-five theses being nailed to the door or sketches of Luther; under “Reformation and indulgences,” there are examples of the indulgences bought by Catholics at the time. Teachers can ask students to create their own indulgences for sale or develop a list of theses for posting. With care to respect fair use guidelines, teachers can show online images using a laptop and projector or can download images to create a handout, transparency, PowerPoint, or wall poster. One teacher in this study, when discussing the Renaissance and the changing approach to the human form in painting, downloaded and printed color copies of multiple Renaissance paintings. He placed these eight-and-a-half-by-eleveninch printouts on the walls of the classroom and gave students a worksheet with guiding questions for analyzing the style and form of the paintings. They walked around the room studying each painting, comparing ideas with classmates, and developing their answers. Another teacher used Internet-based images to explain how the printing press works. Because pictures could

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not fully explain the complex process of reproducing texts, the teacher brought in an ink pad and lettered stamps. He asked students to figure out how long it would take them to reproduce their entire social studies textbook using only these materials. One classroom in this study had a student of Asian descent who spoke Chinese. The other students were Hispanic. In addition to the ideas mentioned, this teacher located a image online of movable type created by the Chinese four hundred years ago, which predates Gutenberg’s invention but is rarely included in Western textbooks. The student became animated and engaged in the discussion and tried to translate some of the ancient Chinese characters shown in the picture. Social studies teachers can also use role playing and dramatizations to make abstract concepts and important historical figures come alive. To explain how the system of checks and balances works in the U.S. government, the teacher can create the three areas of government in the classroom and ask student participants to debate a particular issue. To better understand the harsh realities of the Pilgrims’ encounters with Native Americans, students can take on the roles of both groups and play out their interactions. Students can conduct research online or in texts beforehand to find information to use in the activities. Appendix C offers additional approaches teachers in this study used to reduce cognitive load. Many of these strategies support learning for all students, particularly students who face challenges in school readiness or because of disability. The social studies teacher’s main goals are to develop good citizens and, in the process, teach social studies. A secondary goal is to teach English. Keeping this approach in mind, teachers may be more comfortable allowing students to use their native languages to make sense of material. Students learn content faster when they can access multiple languages; learning English is also supported because they better understand the English content they are studying. 194

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Conclusion The U.S. school-age population will continue to diversify in terms of language backgrounds, cultural differences, and socioeconomic status (National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition 2006). Teachers, school administrators, and universities must collaborate to meet the needs of this diverse population (August 2002; Ruiz-de-Velasco, Fix, and Clewell 2000). Effective methods of instructing ELLs are available, but implementation has challenges. Teachers often do not have enough time in the school day to plan, collaborate with colleagues, and rewrite curricular materials. School administrators and teachers often do not understand how to reach out effectively to parents and community members and across potential differences in language, culture, or social class to build strong home-school connections. Teacher educators need to integrate ELL pedagogy and curriculum into ongoing teacher-education programs in addition to serving as consultants to in-service teachers. The NCSS describes the primary purpose of social studies as “help[ing] young people develop the ability to make informed and reasoned decisions for the public good as citizens of a culturally diverse, democratic society in an interdependent world” (1994, 3). Until concerted efforts are made across schools and universities to meet the needs of ELLs, schools will continue to do a disservice to the next generation of American citizens. The social studies classroom has the potential to demonstrate civic duty in action as teachers and schools come together with families to help new immigrants participate actively in social, political, and economic life in the United States. REFERENCES

American Textbook Council. 2005. Widely adopted history textbooks. http://www .historytextbooks.org/adoptions.htm (accessed February 1, 2007). August, D. 2002. Literacy for Englishlanguage learners: Four key issues. Paper presented at the U.S. Department of Education’s First Annual Summit on English Language Acquisition,

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November 13, Washington, DC. http:// www.cal.org/acqlit/resources/LiteracyOELA-11-13-02.pdf (accessed February 1, 2007). Chamot, A. U. 1995. Implementing the cognitive academic language learning approach: CALLA in Arlington, Virginia. Bilingual Research Journal 19 (3–4): 379–94. http://www.ncela.gwu .edu/pubs/nabe/brj/v19/19_34_chamot .htm (accessed February 1, 2007). Comer, J. P. 2001. Schools that develop children. American Prospect 12 (7). http://www .prospect.org/print/V12/7/comer-j.html (accessed February 1, 2007). Crawford, J. 1999. Bilingual education: History, politics, theory and practice, 4th ed. Los Angeles: Bilingual Education Services. Cummins, J. 1979. Cognitive/academic language proficiency, linguistic interdependence, the optimum age question and some other matters. Working Papers on Bilingualism 19:121–29. ———. 1981. Age on arrival and immigrant second language learning in Canada: A reassessment. Applied Linguistics 2:132–49. Eastern Stream Center on Resources and Training. 2001. The help! kit: A resource guide for secondary teachers of migrant English language learners. Oneonta: State University of New York at Oneonta. Also available at http://escort.org/files/HSc1c12 .pdf (accessed February 1, 2007). Farr, B., and R. Quintanar-Sarellana. 2005. Effective instructional strategies for students learning a second language or with other language differences. In Language and learning: What teachers need to know, ed. E. Trumbull and B. Farr, 213–68. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon. Harvard Civil Rights Project. 2002. What works for children? What we know and don’t know about bilingual education. Cambridge, MA: The Civil Rights Project, Harvard University. http://www .civilrightsproject.harvard.edu/research/ bilingual02/bilingual_paper02.pdf (accessed February 1, 2007). Haynes, J. 2005. Challenges for ELLs in content area learning. Paper presented at the 2003 TESOL Annual Convention, March 25–29, Baltimore, MD, http://www .everythingesl.net/inservices/challenges_ ells_content_area_l_65322.php (accessed February 1, 2007). Lindholm-Leary, K. J., and G. Borsato. 2002. Impact of two-way bilingual elementary programs on students’ attitudes toward school and college. Berkeley, CA: Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence. http://www.cal.org/resources/ digest/0201lindholm.html (accessed February 1, 2007). McDougal Littell. 2005. Reading toolkit for social studies. http://www.mcdougallittell .com/ml/ss.htm?lvl=100&page=ss_

featured_toolkit (accessed February 1, 2007). McGraw-Hill. 2005. World history: Reading essentials and study guide, student edition. http://www.glencoe.com/catalog/ index.php/program?c=1675&s=2013&p= 2557&t=2 (accessed February 1, 2007). Montecel, M. R., and J. D. Cortez. 2002. Successful bilingual education programs: Development and the dissemination of criteria to identify promising and exemplary practices in bilingual education at the national level. Bilingual Research Journal 26 (1): 1–21. http://brj.asu.edu/ v261/articles/art2.html (accessed February 1, 2007). National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. 2006. Resources about secondary English language learners. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. http:// www.ncela.gwu.edu/resabout/ells/index .html (accessed February 1, 2007). National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS). 1994. Expectations of excellence: Curriculum standards for social studies. Washington, DC: NCSS. New York State Education Department. 2005. University of the State of New York Regents high school examination: Global history and geography, January 2005. http://www.nysedregents.org/testing/ socstre/ghgtestja05.pdf (accessed April 30, 2007). Ovando, C. J., and V. P. Collier. 1998. Bilingual and ESL classrooms: Teaching in multicultural contexts, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill. Prentice Hall. 2004. United States history. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Princeton Review. 2003a. Roadmap to the regents: Global history and geography (State test prep guides). New York: Princeton Review. ———. 2003b. Roadmap to the regents: U.S. history and government (State test prep guides). New York: Princeton Review. Ruiz-de-Velasco, J., M. Fix, and B. C. Clewell. 2000. Overlooked and underserved: Immigrant students in U.S. secondary schools. Washington, DC: Urban Institute. http://www.urban.org/Uploaded PDF/overlooked.pdf (accessed February 1, 2007). Short, D. J. 1994. The challenge of social studies for limited English proficient students. Social Education 58 (1): 36–38. Spaulding, S., B. Carolino, and K.-A. Amen. 2004. Immigrant students and secondary school reform: Compendium of best practices. Washington, DC: Council of Chief State School Officers. http://ccsso.org/ content/pdfs/BestPractices.pdf (accessed February 1, 2007). Teachers of English to Speakers of Other

Languages. 1997. ESL standards for preK–12 students. Alexandria, VA: Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. Thornton, S. J. 2005. Teaching social studies that matters: Curriculum for active learning. New York: Teachers College Press. Torrey, J. W. 1983. Black children’s knowledge of standard English. American Educational Research Journal 20 (4): 627– 43. U.S. Department of Education. 2005. Biennial evaluation report to Congress on the implementation of the State Formula Grant Program, 2002–2004. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education. http:// www.ncela.gwu.edu/oela/biennial05/ (accessed February 1, 2007).

APPENDIX A ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS FOR DEVELOPING A SOCIALLY SUPPORTIVE CLASSROOM

• Learn as much as possible about students’ cultures, family history, home life, and socioeconomic status. Consider assigning a biography (students interview each other and give oral reports) or an autobiography (written, pictorial, or oral) at the beginning of the school year. • Explicitly voice high expectations for all students. Positive statements have a strong impact on students’ comfort levels in the classroom. Example statements are “I know you can do this” or “You are smart.” • Demonstrate willingness to help students overcome language, cultural, socioeconomic, and other barriers to high academic achievement. Regularly tell students “I will help you” or “Let’s figure this out together.” • Invite students to add content from their cultural backgrounds. Ask questions such as “How are elections handled in your country?” and “What are some major exports from [student’s country] to the United States?” Search the Internet together to find the answers.

APPENDIX B ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS FOR TEACHING ACADEMIC SKILLS IN THE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM

• Give explicit instruction in literacy skills, such as alphabetizing, use of context clues, sentence structure, and vocabulary development. • Teach how to decode new terms. Break the word into parts, sound it out, look for root meanings, analyze prefixes and suffixes,

consider synonyms and translations, use the word in a sentence, and practice the word three to five times over the next several classes. • Teach how to skim and scan by reading titles and subtitles, looking for keywords in each sentence, and so forth. • Use higher-order thinking questions, such as “What would happen if . . . ?” • Explicitly teach study skills and test-taking skills.

APPENDIX C ADDITIONAL SUGGESTIONS FOR REDUCING COGNITIVE LOAD

• Translate key words in the English instructions of exams. • Incorporate primary source materials or realia (e.g., a copy of the Constitution, a model of Columbus’s ships). • Start each lecture with an active review and end with a summary and looking forward. • Provide adequate wait time, allowing students a period of silence in which to understand a question and form a response. • Try rephrasing in shorter sentences and simpler syntax if a student does not understand. • Check often for understanding, but do not ask “Do you understand?” or “Any questions?” Instead, have students demonstrate their learning to show comprehension. • Try to avoid colloquialisms, idioms, and slang, or explain their meaning as they arise in context. • Use a student’s native language to increase comprehensibility. Encourage students to provide translations in class or in small groups. • Whenever possible, use graphic organizers, such as an events chain, compare and contrast matrix, or the Human Interaction Outline (http://www.ncrel.org/ sdrs/areas/issues/students/learning/lr1grorg .htm). • Never say anything important that is not written down for students on the board, in handouts, or in the text. • Create hands-on learning opportunities; for example, ask students to apply newly learned information to current situations. When studying U.S. government, ask students to list ways to increase participation in school elections. • Establish cooperative learning groups. Assign roles, choose a timekeeper, ask groups to report on newsprint or the board, and hold the group accountable for each member’s learning. • Create a buddy system for peer tutoring in which stronger language learners are paired with struggling language learners.

THE SOCIAL STUDIES

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CLASSROOM SUCCESS STORIES Guidelines for Writing for The Social Studies To break into the publishing world, consider submitting a short feature on one of your classroom success stories. Follow the TSS directions to authors, which are printed in the back of the journal or available by e-mail from the Managing Editor at [email protected]. Also, consider the following tips: • Describe a class project: its purpose, objectives, the materials needed, the results, and the students’ responses. • Write straightforward sentences and use strong verbs in the active voice. Try to convey a sense that “this worked for me, and you can do it, too.” • Clear photographs of students working on the project are useful additions. Photos must have a resolution of at least 300 dpi. Permissions from parents of the students pictured will be obtained after the article is accepted. • If appropriate, include a reference list of print, Web, or multimedia sources that will help readers carry out the project in their own classrooms. A classroom success stories feature usually spans one to three journal pages. If you have questions about writing or submitting or would like to see a sample article, please contact the Managing Editor at [email protected].