Capstone Practicum Proposal
Kimberly West
Concordia University, Nebraska
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements of EDUC 501
August 2015
Chapter 1 – Introduction
Students often moan and grown about many different parts of their school day.
Even the easy subjects earn a shrug of indifference from students; but the subject that
earns the most grumbles seems to be social studies. Students have a very specific distain
for social studies because it is difficult – especially if the child struggles in reading – and,
additionally, because it is boring. The consequences of these challenges are a decline
both in student content knowledge and in adult citizenship skills. Our schools, our
teachers, our students, and our society overall have a desperate need for a professional
development intervention in order to improve the reading abilities and social studies
content knowledge of students. Sunny Slope Elementary would benefit highly from this
intervention because of the academic challenges facing the school. Inadequate reading
proficiency scores and a school-wide observation of struggle and disinterest in social
studies makes Sunny Slope Elementary an ideal candidate for social studies and reading
professional development.
Chapter 2 – Setting
In the twelve months between June 2014 and May 2015, nineteen third through
sixth grade teachers in the Omaha Public School district trained with Dr. Iain Anderson
of Nebraska Wesleyan University learning a new teaching method. The program was
called Teaching Literacy with Historical Documents (TLWHD). This year was spent
collaborating together, practicing, and implementing a new approach to teaching reading
and social studies in preparation of spreading this methodology to other teachers.
In June 2015, ten Omaha Public School teachers ranging from kindergarten to
fifth grade and two department heads collaborated to revise and create a variety of tools
for teachers in the area of social studies. Five of these teachers were chosen because of
their previous participation and success in the TLWHD methodology. The K-5 tools
revised or created in the area of social studies included pacing guides, rubric-based
proficiency scales, content-based resource references (including technology and TLWHD
support), academic vocabulary definitions, academic vocabulary correlations to state
standards, and academic vocabulary word wall cards.
As one of the teachers able to participate in both of these groups, I aim to
collaborate with the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers at Sunny Slope
Elementary to implement the TLWHD methodology. In doing so, both reading and social
studies subjects will be positively impacted.
In the 2014-2015 school year, Sunny Slope Elementary enrolled 488 total students
and nine of the 29 teachers focused in grades three through six. School-wide, 59.7% of
students qualified for the Free and Reduced lunch program and 4.7% are classified as
English Language Learners. An additional challenge facing Sunny Slope in particular is a
mobility rate of 19.5% - 2.4% higher than the district average. In the last three years,
Sunny Slope has improved reading proficiency in grades three through six by 4.8%;
however, it continually falls short of their Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals
(Omaha 2015a). With no standardized form of social studies assessment, there is no
baseline of content proficiency other than teacher observation. The lack of a Nebraska
standardized assessment in the area of social studies demonstrates an additional
disinterest in the subject.
Chapter 3 – Research and Literature Review
All academic concern has been focused on math, reading, writing, and science,
leaving social studies neglected for years. Because there is no attention to this subject and
there are no standardized tests to provide much data, there is little research about the
current state of social studies in the classroom (i.e. the effectiveness of teaching). It is
clear, from a teacher’s perspective that this subject certainly receives little attention from
teachers and little fondness and interest from students. Fortunately, there are many other
teachers, programs, and institutions that are addressing the old-fashioned approach to
teaching social studies. Additionally, the close ties that social studies instruction has to
reading ability allows more research to be relatable to the teaching methods used in this
professional development intervention.
Currently, students and teachers, alike, believe social studies to be simple fact
memorization and the compiling of data. It is boring and it is irrelevant. The TLWHD
method functions on the assumption that students learn by doing. So if they are to learn
either reading or history, they have to do what historians do; this is the Historical
Thinking method. This process starts with changing students’ and teachers’ beliefs about
history and information gather to asking and answering interpretive questions about the
past. This sparks curiosity and increases investment, making all individuals involved
passionate about seeking answers.
Specific to reading are many resources supporting and guiding the
implementation of Close Reading strategies in the classroom and additional literacy
strategies to imbed into any reading instruction. While Close Reading is a major
component of Common Core reading curriculum and Nebraska does not follow the
Common Core curriculum, it is still a valuable strategy of teaching reading to students.
This is especially true for students in the intermediate grades that focus on reading for the
purpose of learning. As the participating teachers begin the process of implementation, I
will utilize Sheila Brown and Lee Kappes text, Implementing the Common Core State
Standards: A Primer on “Close Reading of Text”, to provide a foundational
understanding of the reading strategy (Brown & Kappes 2012). To identify literacy
strategies to imbed in Close Reading activities, Rachel Billmeyer’s Strategies to Engage
the Mind of the Reader will be of particular support (Billmeyer 2006). Because we are
imbedding literacy strategies into social studies lessons to teach both historical content
and reading skills, using literacy strategies specific to nonfiction reading is crucial. For
this reason we will be using strategies detailed in the text Teaching Text Structures
(Dymock & Nicholson 2007).
The Omaha Public School district provides a booklet to all teachers of the
research-based best practices that are expected of all teachers (Omaha 2014). This
booklet will be a strong resource during this profession development intervention to
provide the foundational strategies to ensure the highest model of learning for our
students.
As we begin to write lessons and utilize the TLWHD methodology, it is important
to reference the documents used in the methodology training. I have copies of these
documents from Dr. Iain Anderson, the individual who led the program during the 20142015 teacher training. Specifically, we will be referencing the resource guide to help us
find lessons and documents (Anderson, 2015), the methodology framework to help us
structure our own lessons (Bower & Caruso, 2012-a), and the application of skills
document to assist us in identifying the literacy skills and historical thinking skills in a
lesson.
Some of these social studies lessons are already created and ready to use but
because of the variation of topics covered between grade three through six, these
materials must be found in different places. Third grade will be using the Making
Invisible History Visible Project (Omaha 2010-a). Fifth grade will be using the Gilder
Lehrman Institute of American History (Gilder 2015). Third, fourth and fifth will all be
able to use The Omaha Public School District’s SITES page (Omaha 2015) and the
Omaha Project (Omaha 2010-b). Fifth and sixth grade will be utilizing the Stanford
History Education Group lessons (Stanford a). And finally, all grades participating in this
professional development intervention will accessing the Stanford History Education
Group’s ‘Beyond the Bubble’ assessments (Stanford b), the Nebraska Department of
Education (NDE) Standards Instructional Tool (Nebraska) and the text leveling tool on
readability-score.com (2015).
Chapter 4 – Plan of Action
As of August 12th, 2015, I have received willing agreement from all eight of the
current third through sixth grade teachers to participate, and recognition from Sunny
Slope’s principal and instructional facilitator to implement the professional development
intervention.
Beginning September 8th, 2015, I will begin scheduling and meeting with third,
fourth, fifth, and sixth grade teachers at Sunny Slope Elementary before school, during
planning times, and during teacher planning and preparation days. Meetings will be
scheduled for a minimum of one hour per meeting, once a week per grade level to discuss
and target the specific content focus of each grades social studies curriculum in
correlation to the literacy strategies enforced. There will be three grade-level meetings
per month total. This three-hour per month minimum per grade level will be in addition
to one hour per month meeting as a whole group – with all teachers involved in the
intervention. During the multi-grade-level meetings I will facilitate discussion and
development of a contiguous approach to increased focus on literacy strategies, the
application of Close Reading strategies, and the imbedding of these strategies in Social
Studies lessons utilizing the TLWHD methodology. These grade-level and multi-gradelevel meetings will continue as training and collaboration for reading and social studies
instruction until December 18th, 2015.
The instructional facilitator will work with this group and I to allow for teachers
to use one planning period per month to come observe the TLWHD and Close Reading
strategies in my own fifth grade classroom. The instructional facilitator will also work
with my classroom to allow me to visit and observe the other eight teachers participating
in this intervention.
Through collaboration, planning, and implementation, a focus on the neglected
subject of social studies will be targeted by way of utilizing its strong ties to reading.
Teaching literacy strategies to engage in social studies content in more authentic methods
is expected to increase reading abilities and interest in both content areas. The intention is
to accomplish this task and to meet the 2015-2016 AYP goals set for Sunny Slope
Elementary. This goal will be set in Fall 2015, assessed in Spring 2016 during state
testing, and reported in Summer 2016.
Each individual teacher has agreed to a minimum total of 22 hours dedicated to
the intervention from September 8th to December 18th. This breaks down into the 4 hours
per month outside of their classrooms for meetings (including three grade-level meetings
monthly, monthly multi-grade-level meetings), a one-hour observation of my classroom
and one hour for me to observe their implementation. Teachers must observe my
classroom three times and be observed by me three times during the intervention. These
observations will be scheduled at the first grade-level meeting.
Once meetings and observations are scheduled, a copy of the calendar will be sent
to the supervising mentor, Latasha Muhammad, Omaha Public Schools’ Social Studies
Curriculum Supervisor of Elementary Education. After each observation both participants
and I will provide feedback and I will transcribe a copy of minutes from the meetings.
This documentation will also be sent to the supervising mentor.
Resources
Omaha Public Schools. (2015a). Sunny Slope Elementary School Profile: 2014-2015. In
Open Book. http://openbook.ops.org/Portals/0/SchoolData/14_15/OPS%20
Budget_2014-2015_Sunny%20Slope.pdf
Annotated Bibliography
(2015). In Readability-Score.com.
Provides a tool to determine the reading level of any written text to guarantee
student fluency and comprehension.
Anderson, I. (August 2015). Resources for Learning More about Hitorical Thinking and
Close Reading. [Handout]. Historical Studies Program, Nebraska Wesleyan
University, Omaha, NE.
Provides a list of print resources and websites and their intent to support the
finding of primary source documents and lesson plans that support Close Reading
in Social Studies context.
Billmeyer, R. (2006). Strategies to Engage the Mind of the Learner: Building Strategic
Learners (Second Edition ed., Vol. 2). Omaha, NE: Rachel Billmeyer, Rachel &
Associates, Inc.
Provides overviews of literacy strategies and almost 100 lesson plans to engage
students in practicing a variety of literacy strategies. Each strategy is detailed with
examples for teachers of all grade levels in all content areas for easy
implementation to engage students in the learning process.
Bower, K. and Caruso, J. P. (June 1, 2012-a). A Method for Using Historical Thinking in
the Classroom. [Handout]. Teaching Literacy with Historical Documents,
Nebraska Wesleyan University, Omaha, NE.
Explains a structured framework for the basic method for involving students in
the process or “doing history”. The process of historical thinking helps develop a
deeper and more nuanced historical thinking, including the integration of literacy
strategies.
Bower, K. and Caruso, J. P. (June 1, 2012-b). Applying the Skills of Historical Thinking.
[Handout]. Teaching Literacy with Historical Documents, Nebraska Wesleyan
University, Omaha, NE.
Provides a detailed explanation of the skills of historical thinking (i.e. sourcing,
contextualization, corroboration, close reading). These skills can be applied to
individual primary documents, multiple documents, and secondary sources.
Brown, S., & Kappes, L. (2012). Implementing the Common Core State Standards: A
Primer on "Close Reading of Text". Washington, DC: The Aspen Institute.
Provides an in-depth understanding of Close Reading components and the
attributes of lessons that imbed Close Reading strategies.
Dymock, S., & Nicholson, T. (2007). Teaching Text Structures: A Ket to Nonfiction
Reading Success. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc.
Provides lessons that utilize research-based strategies for teaching students to
comprehend articles, textbooks, reference materials, and other nonfiction texts.
Nebraska Department of Education. (n.d.). In NDE Standards Instructional Tool.
Provides lessons, resources, and tools for all grade levels and across all content
areas. The materials on this website are listed and organized by the state standards
that it supports.
Omaha Public School. (2014). Academic Action Plan; Best Instructional Practices.
Omaha, NE: Curriculum Instruction and Assessment.
Provides a detailed collection of research-based best practices of effective
teachers. Each practice is explained with the gradual release of responsibility and
provides example activities that support the practice.
Omaha Public Schools. (2015). Elementary Social Studies. In Offic 365: Sites.
Provides grade level specific content created by a collaborative group of teachers
from the Omaha Public School district. These materials include vocabulary
correlations to state standards, proficiency scales to determine student mastery,
lesson plans that utilize the TLWHD methodology, and additional resources to
supplement district provided curricula for all grade levels.
Omaha Public Schools. (2010-a). In Making Invisible Histories Visible.
Provides digital history projects focused on Omaha’s hidden history. Students and
teachers together with professors, community members, and university students to
provide original content about the history of different cultures within Omaha
created this project initiative. These learning materials are supplementary to the
third grade curriculum and used in classrooms to engage students with multiple
perspectives to enhance their classroom experiences.
Omaha Public Schools. (2010-b). Teaching American History. In The Omaha Project.
Provides lesson plans, primary sources, and other learning materials to
supplement the third, fourth, and fifth grade curricula. The project compiles
resources from teachers and undergraduate students in the University of Nebraska
in Omaha’s History Department in collaboration with the Peter Kiewit Institute to
expand the available materials available to teachers.
The Gilder Lehrman Institue of American History. (2015). In Primary Sources
Collections.
Provides topic-focused primary sources, ready-made lesson plans, and other
classroom resources to supplement American History lessons for fifth grade social
studies curricula.
Stanford History Education Group. (n.d.-a) In Beyond the Bubble: A New Generation of
History Assessments.
Provides history assessments to capture students’ knowledge through writing
rather than their recall of discrete facts. The website provides 65 history
assessments of thinking that can be applied to any grade level utilizing the
historical thinking model of teaching.
Stanford University. (n.d.-b). Reading like a Historian. In Stanford History Education
Group.
Provides a supplementary curriculum to engage students in historical inquiry
using the Historical Thinking methodology utilized in the TLWHD program. The
curriculum provides 115 lesson plans for fifth and sixth grade social studies
content.