Fractured Social Studies Integration

Stealthy Integration

Healthy Integration

Small chunks of content area information related to the weekly reading or language arts activities are presented to students without much depth. 

Social studies content has no connection to children’s lives or to other areas of the curriculum. 

The purpose of social studies is mainly to enhance reading/language arts and is not focused on preparing students for effective citizenship.

 Does not inspire disciplinary modes of thinking because the content is disjointed. 

Disguises social studies content as language arts lessons. 

Covertly teaches social studies content in order to satisfy mandates to spend most of the daily instructional time on language arts activities.

 Teacher chooses reading/language arts materials with rich spatial or historical content, but focuses on reading/language arts skills. 

Reading/language arts are the center of the curriculum. 

Social studies has no pedagogy of its own. 

Does not inspire disciplinary modes of thinking because content is disguised as something else. 

The connection of social studies to children’s lives and other content areas is explicit and clear to students. 

Reading/language arts are recognized as tools for helping children come to an understanding of the world (and how to communicate that understanding) and are not considered the purpose of schooling. 

Children and their knowledge of the content are the center of the curriculum. 

Reading/language arts activities are focused on developing disciplinary frames of mind in students.