Rollock 1

Daniel Rollock
ED 228
Professor Furuness
10 September 2015
Social Studies Content Literacy Rationale
Content literacy in Social Studies is being able to understand historical texts and
documents and be able to connect them to larger ideas and concepts. Being literate in Social
Studies goes beyond conventional reading skills. It is not enough to be able to read or understand
texts that are given. In order to truly be literate in the Social Studies field, one must be able to
draw connections to prior knowledge and concepts. This means being able to both understand
what texts and documents are literally saying while also being able to make connections to other
Social Studies documents and ideas, in order to further understandings about the text being read.
As stated in an article about building literacy in Social Studies, Reading history as an expert
means acting as an investigator who attempts to reconstruct the past from multiple documents,
all of which have their own subtexts. (Ogle, D., & Klemp, R., 2007). This can make it difficult
to become an expert or even study history in some cases, because many texts require prior
knowledge or background in order to make sense or draw deeper connections. This is a basic
requirement for content literacy in general, as explained by McKenna and Robinson (1990) as
they state, On the other hand, content knowledge is a prerequisite of content literacy. (p. 185).
This knowledge helps to better decipher and form connections in the readings that are done in
Social Studies.
Social Studies has a variety of skills needed to understand a diverse content reading. One
skill needed is the ability to interpret and use maps. Social Studies textbooks will often times

Rollock 2
have maps depicting the general area of certain historical events or to show changes over time of
the political geography of an area. Maps also allow for content to be more easily visualized in
classes. Hirsch summarizes this idea, saying "Geography, whether it is a stand-alone course or an
extension of the lesson, will be a great visual asset to the material. (Hirsch, S., 2005). In
addition to maps, many words, such as words associated with governments or political
ideologies, can be difficult to decipher as a student. As such, this skill is vital in order to further
interpret readings. These words, along with the way in which many Social Studies writings are
done, require students to not only read difficult texts, but also sift through tough readings and
phrasings in order to pull out the main ideas and concepts authors of these texts are trying to
convey. Students will also need to be able to interpret different charts, and be able to read them
and apply them to knowledge or texts being read. The ability to read and connect multiple
documents at the same time is a vital skill needed by students. Social Studies often rely on the
use of multiple sources and documents in order to create a more complete image of past events,
as stated, The use of a variety of documents, rather than one textbook, requires additional
cognitive skills of the reader. (Ogle, D., & Klemp, R., 2007). All of these skills are needed in
order to become literate in Social Studies.
I learned more about how to be literate in Social Studies, it is not enough to be able to
read the texts but more so the ability to relate the texts to other concepts or readings. I always
knew that this was needed to a certain extent but this research allowed me to see how necessary
this was to a fuller extent. This also furthered my beliefs in the necessity of background
knowledge. All the texts I read emphasized how important proper background was for Social
Studies, something that I discovered over my years of learning more and more history. I found
that I personally understood more and got more out of the readings where I was given

Rollock 3
background knowledge or context for where or when the readings were taking place or written.
This knowledge allowed me to further interpret the texts and ideas that I read. This skill is so
vital and I was glad to see it portrayed as a vital skill needed to full understand Social Studies.
This makes it important for me as an instructor to make sure that I give my students proper
background information for the readings they are assigned, so they too can interpret the readings
and make connections as best they can.
This research has also brought up questions that I wish to have answered through this
class. One is how to better help my students understand what theyre reading critically? I still
want to know more techniques I could use in order to help them understand what theyre
supposed to read in a deeper sense, and how they can apply these skills to other readings that
theyll have throughout the rest of their lives. Another question raised is how to measure if a
student is reading critically and analyzing texts critically. This can be tough since the only way I
can think of is by testing or assigning a lot of assignments, which might not be the best way of
measuring it, since tests and occasionally assignments dont always portray an accurate depiction
of how well a student can think critically and make good analysis of texts they have read. The
last question raised by this research was how to make sure all my students know the background
and find new and exciting ways to give them or remind them of the background knowledge they
need. Since students all come from diverse and different backgrounds, this can be tough since I
dont know the prior knowledge they have when they come to my classroom. I would want to
know what different or unique ways I could go about finding out what knowledge my students
already know, and how best to convey this information to them if they do not already know it for
the texts or class. My hope is that this course will answer these questions and help me to become
the best teacher I can be.

Rollock 4

Hirsch, S. (2005). Developing Content Literacy for Social Studies Teachers, Teaching Today,
Glencoe Online. Retrieved September 10, 2015, from
http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/subject/dev_content_literacy_ss.phtml
McKenna, M., & Robinson, R. (1990). Content Literacy: A Definition and Implications. Journal
of Reading, 34(3), 184-186.
Ogle, D., & Klemp, R. (2007). Chapter 1. Reading Social Studies Texts. In Building literacy in
Social Studies Strategies For Improving Comprehension and Critical Thinking.
Alexandria, Va.: ASCD, Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.