Teaching Social Studies to
English Language Learners
BÁRBARA C. CRUZ
STEPHEN J. THORNTON
Target Audience
 Pre-service social studies teachers
 Practicing social studies teachers
 ESL aides/support staff
 Social studies teacher educators
 ESL teacher educators
 District curriculum superviors
 Administrators
Purpose & Structure of the book
 Purpose
 To provide practical methods (learning activities) that are
“good recipes” on sample topics in secondary social studies
curriculum.
 Structure
 1st part covers second language acquisition theory written by a
language scholar – Tony Erben
 2nd part covers elements of an instructional program
(classroom environment, strategies, etc.)
 3rd part covers social studies teaching strategies and activities

(last two parts are written by a group of experienced social studies
teachers)
Part 1: Process of English Language Learning
 Language is acquired in a predetermined
psychological order of complexity
 Educators must create a “acquisition-rich classroom”
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1. Give ELLs many opportunities to interact with English
(read, write, listen to, and discuss oral and written text).
2. Draw attention to patterns of English language structure
3. Give ELLs classroom time to use their English productively
4. Give ELLs opportunities to notice and correct their errors in
English
5. Create activities that maximize opportunities for ELLs to
interact with others in English.
Corrective Feedback Strategies
 Explicit Correction
 Metalinguistic clues
 Requesting Clarification
 Elicitation
 Recast error (provide
 Repetition (adjust
correction)
intonation)
Levels of language proficiency “natural approach”
 Preproduction
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Unfamiliar with English
Comprehend more than they
produce
Nonverbal responses
Follow simple commands
500 vocab words
 Speech Emergence Stage
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 Early Production Stage
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Many encounters with meaningful
English
Respond with one or two word
answers
Taking risks with English
Repetitive strategies are key at
this level
Vocab: 1,000 receptive; 500 active
Interact more freely
Between 1 & 3 years’ exposure to
English
Advanced organizers are key
Teach metacognitive strategies
Allow for cooperative groups
Vocab: 7,000 receptive;2,000
active
 Intermediate Fluency

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Dominate English socially but not
academically
Content-based literacy key
Vocab: 12,000 receptive; 4,000
active
Teaching for English Language Development
 Jim Cummins Research
 Found positive cognitive outcomes in ELLs who were able to
develop high levels of proficiency in both languages (home
language and English)
 Two different types of English language skills
BICS – Basic interpersonal communication skills (used on the
playground, at home, shopping, playing sports, and interacting
with friends)
 CALPS – Cognitive academic language proficiency (abstract,
decontextualized, and scholarly in nature)

Part 2: Principles of Social Studies Teaching and
Learning
 Social studies is a school program concerned with
how people, past and present, live together.
 Teachers must be certain of what topics they will
teach and why they are important for the students to
learn.
 Teachers cannot make assumptions about student’s
comfort with various pedagogical strategies
 Educators must be aware of special challenges that
social studies places upon ELLs
Challenges for ELLs in Social Studies
 Higher-level thinking
 Complex Concepts
skills
 Note-taking weakness
 Abstract language
 Lack of knowledge on the
 Text based content
 Seldom equipped with
manipulatives to provide
hands on instruction
American culture
Confronting the challenges
 Crandall (1994) suggests
using content-centered
language learning or
authentic text

Cooperative learning,
task-based or experiential
learning, “whole language”
approach, and graphic
organizers
 Link social studies
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concepts to prior
knowledge
Accommodate different
learning styles
Use cooperative learning
strategies
Link instruction to
assessment
Thematic-based
curriculum
Part 3: Teaching Social Studies
 Several learning activities are described
 For middle school and high schools
 Each subject has activities:
 Geography
 United States History
 World History
 Governement and Civics
 Economics
 Anthropology, Sociology, and Psychology
 Controversial Issues
Geography
 Aims to teach about spatial relationships between
the natural world and human activity (Hardwick &
Holtgrieve, 1996)
 Activities:

Scale the classroom (kinesthetic)

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Students measure dimensions of classroom and object placements
then draw an overhead view of the classroom. Then compare with
others. Finally lead the students in a reflective discussion.
Africa Visual (kinesthetic & visual)

Students are to outline a drawing of Africa from memory and then
compare with real map. Have students note differences.
United States History
 Most widely taught social studies course is U.S.
History (American history).
 Single most important course ELL students take as it
can serve as an introduction to American culture.
 Students are to relate the American past to the
demands of living today
 Activities:

Lewis and Clark expedition
Students draw maps
 (questions asked are according to language acquisition stage)

World History
 In a way world history, like U.S. history, is an
expression of nationalist values therefore key for ELL
students
 Goal is to provide a background for understanding
the contemporary world (diversity)
 Activities:

World origins of our class
Students are given a sheet to use when they interview their family
and are to come back and describe their heritage
 A bulletin board will display the classroom diversity and “global
community”

Government and Civics
 Citizenship education is a central focus for many
social studies educators
 National Council requires that content knowledge,
intellectual skills, and civic values necessary for
fulfilling the duties of citizenship in a democracy be
taught.
 Activities

Political Cartoons

Students analyze political cartoons with a peer and identify
characteristics and discuss concepts
Economics
 Students must acquire the essential real-life
economic skills to be informed consumers, wise
savers, and investors, and productive workers.
 ELLs must be educated about economic literacy
since many are new arrivals
 Activities

Role-playing a scenario

Students must understand the economic language and perform
such actions listed in the scenario
Critique
 Well organized
 Excellent selection of activities
 Language acquisition section is a bit extensive
 Correlation to the class
 EVERYTHING. (BICS, CALPS, Natural approach, culturally
sensitive teaching, etc.)
Recommended?
Sí