Finding a Place for CCSS Literacy Skills in the Middle School Social Studies Curriculum

Abstract

With the increased emphasis on college and career readiness resulting from the adoption of the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the need for students to be able to read and write proficiently has become well established. Social studies teachers are now expected to teach nonfiction reading and writing skills in their content-area courses. Many middle school teachers do not have a background in teaching literacy and are reluctant to incorporate literacy strategies into their curriculum because they feel ill prepared or inadequate to the task. They may also feel that their content instruction will suffer because of the time and instructional demands imposed on them by adding literacy to an already long list of learning objectives. The purpose of this article is to provide specifics on how middle school social studies teachers can incorporate content-area literacy skills without abandoning the curriculum and content of their classes.