Abstract:

Cossandra
George, a Michigan middle school teacher, says that the ideas in the book “are
easy to implement and cover a wide range of strategies and tools.” The first
part describes the evolution of a fictional history teacher from “stand and
deliver” teaching style to one who engages students. Part 2 of the book focuses
on specific strategies, and there is an appendix of the handouts described in
the book.

Citation:
Klemp, R., McBride, B. & Ogle, D. (2007). Building literacy in social studies: Strategies for improving
comprehension and critical thinking. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Full Text:

by Donna Ogle, Ron Klemp and Bill McBride
2007 (210 pp./paperback; also available as e-book)
ASCD
ISBN: 978-1-4166-0558-4
$30.95 ($23.95 for members)

Reviewed
by Cossondra George
Middle Grades Math & Social Studies
Newberry, Michigan

The
title of this book grabbed my attention. Having done considerable
research recently on building literacy in content areas, I
was curious to see what information this book could teach
me. I was not disappointed.
Part
1 of the book consists of five chapters, each of which starts
with a scene from the history class of "Mr. Reaf." Mr.
Reaf relies on a "stand and deliver" teaching style,
lecturing, having students read silently, and all those other
"just shoot me now" activities much too prevalent in many
social studies programs. The chapter then suggests a series
of strategies more suited to engaging students with their
curriculum.

At the end of this section, Mr. Reaf is once again
shown to the reader, but now he is using the strategies suggested
in Part 1 to motivate his students.
Often
when I read of great strategies, I can picture myself using
them with my own students. Other times, I simply don"t quite
get it. How do I make the ideas work in real life? This book
alleviates that problem. As I read this past summer about
Mr. Reaf"s evolution as a teacher, I could picture my own
teaching transformation using these ideas.
All
of the first five chapters offer suggestions I found useful,
but the first chapter is my favorite. The opening scene is
the first day of school and with my start-date fast approaching,
I wanted ideas for my own class. A scavenger hunt using the
Table of Contents of the history textbook is a suggestion
from this chapter I cannot wait to try with my class. It will
be a fun way to introduce them to their textbook while helping
me gauge their individual levels and abilities to mine the
text. The chapter is full of information about readers, their
strengths and weaknesses, and how to assess and improve the
comprehension of your students as they read academic material.
Chapter
3, "Teaching Vocabulary to Older Students," was another favorite
of mine. T

he authors' discussion of inappropriate vocabulary
strategies — looking words up in a dictionary or isolated
phonics instruction — sent a chill down my spine as my
own educational experiences echoed resoundingly in the background.
The chapter goes on to give easy-to-implement strategies to
effectively introduce vocabulary and concepts using a variety
of graphic organizers with students. I know these will make
my own students' acquisition of new words more successful.
Part
2 steps away from the Mr. Reaf vignettes and focuses on more
specific strategies for specific teaching resources —
such as reading primary sources, newspapers and magazines.
Again, this section with its three chapters is rich with examples,
graphic organizers and ideas.

Each strategy is explained with
a step-by-step process for the teacher as well as student
to follow. My favorite section is on using political cartoons
in social studies. I have tried to use these in the past,
but never felt I was able to adequately develop the concept
with my students. Now, with the plan outlined in this book,
I can"t wait to try again!
The
book ends with a wonderful appendix of all the handouts described
in the book, as well as a list of Civic Engagement Resources
and a sample unit on immigration. ASCD has also prepared a
study guide for the book which history teams and departments
can use to reflect on their teaching styles.

I
was truly pleased with this book. Its ideas are easy to implement
and cover a wide range of strategies and tools any social
studies teacher can start using tomorrow in class. I give
it an A-Plus!

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