Teaching the Language of Social Studies
Language-aware lessons support all students, especially Multilingual Learners who are still developing in English, access primary-source rich learning.
Lessons and Teaching Strategies Modeled (Lesson links below)
The English Learner Collaborations project, the name from 2021-2024, commissioned the development of lessons to illustrate applying English Language Development (ELD) teacher resources to History and Social Studies content.
- Language-Aware examples are written for classrooms that have one or more multilingual students, and support elementary and social studies teachers in seeing ways to support language learning while teaching content with primary sources.
- ESL examples are written for classrooms where language acquisition is the focus, and support English Language Development specialists in using primary sources as they support language skill development.
Document Based Question (DBQ) Access for Multilingual Learners
Through the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies DBQ project site, access resources that are freely available and adaptable, with teaching examples and step-by-step instructions for scaffolding for early-proficient and later-proficient multilingual learners. An open source lesson is analyzed step-by-step to show teachers how to adapt DBQ-type lessons to fully include English newcomers at all levels of proficiency.
DBQ Access for Multilingual Learners Project Site
Building Access to DBQs – All Scaffolding Models and Templates
Building Access to DBQ – Intro Slide Deck
Suggested citation for language-aware lessons below: Audet, A. and Noyes, A. (2022). Suggested citation for ESL lessons linked below: Audet, A. and LaFrance, J. (2023). Title for all citations: Primary source lessons demonstrating practical applications of WIDA 2020 principles and resources for elementary, middle school, and high school social studies teaching. Extending the reach of primary sources: English Learner Collaborations project of the Massachusetts Council for the Social Studies. http://www.emergingamerica.org/english-learner-collaborations.
