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=** Welcome to my Social Studies literacy content wiki! **=

Below you will find four abstracts I have compiled using academic articles, and the links below show and explain my lesson plan, as well as introduce Web 2.0 tools, and links to my hot list!

 * AN APPROACH TO INTEGRATING WRITING SKILLS INTO THE SOCIAL STUDIES CLASSROOM ** .Zagora, Veronica . ". An Approach to Integrating Writing Skills into the Social Studies Classroom." 75.n1 (2001): pg. 17-21. Print.

The problem this teacher was encountering was that her students could learn information but they couldn’t write about what they had learned. She noticed this among a mixed population of students. Ms. Zagora needed a plan, to incorporate writing into her heavily content based curriculum, rather than tacking it on as a skill they would put minimal effort into. This prompted her to come use some common strategies to get her students to write more. The strategies I mentioned above included exit slips, random checking for understanding, short writing assignments and creative writing. She made her students complete a project which was a voter’s guide to voting in Missouri. This project allowed the students to be creative, however made them read research, and write in a professional manner, yet kept their attention and drew interest in the subject matter content. Her grading scale was based on rubrics, so the students always knew how to construct their projects in a manner in which would earn them their target grade. Ms. Zagora had positive outcomes with her students. Once she realized she was part of the problem and that she needed to preplan, the students were well on their way to becoming better writers. I think half of the battle is that teachers expect students to know how to write and think that adjusting their plans to teach them will be redundant and useless; however, I’ve learned that you really can’t assume anything when it comes to students writing abilities. The more she incorporated writing into social studies the less resistance she had when it came to students writing things for her. When and only when she started at the basics again could she raise her expectations of their writing.


 * Multiple Literacies in the Content Classroom:High School Student's Connections to U.S History. ** Hansen, Jane. "Multiple Literacies in the Content Classroom." High School Students' Connections to U.S History. 52.7 (2009): Pg. 597-606. Print.

This article reflects different ways in which to get students focuses and energetic about U.S History. This began with making each of the students feel like they counted. The second is instilling the notion that their emotional connections are relevant. This included searching for information on websites which led to a rise in emotions when the truth was discovered about a painting. This engaged the students so much so that they began refusing to read it, not because they didn't comprehend, but because of the content, which proved an understanding. The students were able to express themselves and their emotions through writing to the publisher and other such activities. The students then did an activity with Colonial America. This activity allowed the students to get in touch with the emotions their ancestors may have felt. The students were able to successfully write speeches expressing their emotion which is what the activity was all about. The last activity had the students making a scrap book from the personality of a character from WWII. This allowed the students to really get into character and play with ideas. Because the students had the freedom to play with ideas they were able to express their talents in a variety of ways thus creating more enthusiasm and emotion in their work.


 * I Thought this was Social Studies, not English, Miss!Improving students' attitudes to reading and writing in Year 9 and 10 Social Studies. ** Parker-Corney, Kate. "I thought this was Social Studies, not English, Miss!." Improving students' attitudes to reading and writing in Year 9 and 10 Social Studies. 12.2 (2011): Pg. 13-18. Print.

The goal of this article is to discuss ways to integrate writing into Social Studies. The way in which the author goes about this allows for the students to do it on their own and subconsciously. The underachieving students ultimately raised their literacy capacity. As with every good study there are obstacles and challenges. The obstacles include but aren't limited to educational theories, school policies, politics, parents, students, and resources. The current standards and curriculum were not abandoned, but rather incorporated. This study was done in a secondary school with a wide ethnic mix. Kate began by identifying her original approach to unpack the text for the students in a meaningful way by creating worksheets and such detailed to the weaker learners. This approach was not working. Her new concept of teaching consists of 1. analyzing testing data, 2. focused correction areas. 3. four mechanisms to approve upon and to engage student involvement. Kate's new research supports the following process, 1. research finding, processing, locating, retrieving, organizing, analyzing, classifying, relevancy, monitoring, understanding and constructing. This theory encourages students to read and write on their own and in groups. Kate's process beings with reading every day in her classroom, then doing a reflective writing piece via different perspectives as per the text. The outcomes of this study conclude that with this approach students are more likely to read harder material, they were more willing to read on their own, they had greater levels of efficacy, and the testing scores went up. Bloom's Taxonomy (critical thinking skills) increased as a result as well. The social deviance of students' different performance rates decreased.


 * Using Wiki in teacher education:Impact on knowledge management processes and student satisfaction. ** Biasutti, Michele, and Heba El-Deghaidy. "Using Wiki in teacher education." Impact on knowledge management processes and student satisfaction. (2012): Pg. 861-872. Print.

This article begins by addressing why educators are turning to web based learning as a tool these days. The article claims that it can be cheaper and one does not need as many resources. This academic article also goes on to describe the type of positive impact that can come from Wiki based learning. The student can gain personal and collective knowledge by working with this tool. The wiki tool itself can be noted for its simpleness, convenience, open sources, and maintainability. This tool allows for students to use search engines, data bases, and document management systems to collect data for multiple uses per student. The information relates back to what is discussed in class. This application allows for students to take information and apply it to multiple aspects of school life. Knowledge questioning and explaining to understand can also come from using a Wiki. The graph they used in this article sums up the exact process the Wiki is aimed to follow.

This process also reverses for the same affect.
 * Acquisition> || Internalization> || Creation> || Sharing> || Application> || Knowledge Management. ||

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