The Use of Literary Sources in Social Studies, K-8

Book excerpt: The Use of Literary Sources in Social Studies, K-8 is a resource for teachers who wish to include varied literary genres in their social studies instruction along with a required social studies textbook. The literature described and exemplified in this book includes fiction, nonfiction, biographies, autobiographies, historical fiction, poetry, fairy tales, folktales, tall tales, and legends. Throughout this book, different instructional suggestions are presented for inclusion with varied social studies topics and literature sources. Each chapter contains questions and pedagogical strategies for critically reading and responding to varied literary genres, modifications to meet the needs of diverse learners, assessment techniques, information tied to technology and the “new literacies,” and connections to the National Curriculum Standards for the Social Studies: A Framework for Teaching, Learning, and Assessment (2010) and the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History/Social studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (2010). The final chapter of this book describes the development and implementation of a classroom library for social studies teaching and learning.