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Summary: I read about the importance of and ways to incorporate historical fiction into both social studies classrooms and English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. This bridges the gap between the two content areas and gives students a more in-depth understanding of the subject matter. The author gave 3 main “habits of mind” that both disciplines share: building contextualization and background knowledge, historical empathy, and pairing nonfiction texts with fiction texts.
Make Connections: I was fortunate to have middle school social studies teachers and ELA teachers that focused on cross-curricular texts. In Social Studies, I read A Long Walk to Water, which was a true story about a Sudanese Lost Boy. We spent a few days beforehand building background knowledge on the Second Sudanese Civil War and the 20,000 Sudanese boys displaced during it. There were both fictional and nonfictional parts of the story, and that, alongside the contextualization of what Sudan was like during the late 80s- early 2000s, made us empathetic to the main character's situation. It’s interesting to now read this article discussing the similarities between the two content areas and the strategies they both use and see it reflected in my own experience.
Critique: I thought the article was well written and easily comprehensible. I like how they gathered what one may call “experts” on subjects and formed their thesis around the information the social studies and ELA teachers provided. The only thing that might bring confusion would be the examples they used with The Book Thief and Hitler Youth. I’ve read The Book Thief, so their examples made sense to me, but it probably would resonate as much with an audience who has never read those books.
Why this is useful: I think this is a great resource for both ELA and Social Studies teachers. They offer some great examples of how to bridge the gap between the two subjects. I also think the habits they defined are extremely important in creating a fully comprehensive lesson.
Summary: I read about the importance of and ways to incorporate historical fiction into both social studies classrooms and English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms. This bridges the gap between the two content areas and gives students a more in-depth understanding of the subject matter. The author gave 3 main “habits of mind” that both disciplines share: building contextualization and background knowledge, historical empathy, and pairing nonfiction texts with fiction texts.
Make Connections: I was fortunate to have middle school social studies teachers and ELA teachers that focused on cross-curricular texts. In Social Studies, I read A Long Walk to Water, which was a true story about a Sudanese Lost Boy. We spent a few days beforehand building background knowledge on the Second Sudanese Civil War and the 20,000 Sudanese boys displaced during it. There were both fictional and nonfictional parts of the story, and that, alongside the contextualization of what Sudan was like during the late 80s- early 2000s, made us empathetic to the main character's situation. It’s interesting to now read this article discussing the similarities between the two content areas and the strategies they both use and see it reflected in my own experience.
Critique: I thought the article was well written and easily comprehensible. I like how they gathered what one may call “experts” on subjects and formed their thesis around the information the social studies and ELA teachers provided. The only thing that might bring confusion would be the examples they used with The Book Thief and Hitler Youth. I’ve read The Book Thief, so their examples made sense to me, but it probably would resonate as much with an audience who has never read those books.
Why this is useful: I think this is a great resource for both ELA and Social Studies teachers. They offer some great examples of how to bridge the gap between the two subjects. I also think the habits they defined are extremely important in creating a fully comprehensive lesson.
(WC: 331)
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