Writing In Elementary School Social Studies

This book is designed to provide elementary school teachers with information, suggestions, and models for using writing in the social studies, from early primary to middle grades. There are four major chapters to the book. Chapter I is titled "Research on the Teaching of Writing." The articles in this first section move from a survey of research in writing to a survey of classroom practice in the use of writing in elementary school social studies and finally to a specific classroom study that integrates the two areas and presents specific implications for the study and teaching of writing. Chapter II is titled "Developing Readiness in Writing." The first two articles stress two important aspects of a classroom environment that nurtures and supports student writing. The remaining five articles describe techniques such as interviewing, exploring the past, and brainstorming that teachers can use to initiate writing. The title of Chapter III which contains seven articles is "Using Writing to Learn Social Studies Content." The articles describe ways in which writing can be used to help students learn social studies information or develop social studies generalizations. Another describes how writing can be used to conduct simulated field trips in the social studies classroom. The title of Chapter IV is "Combining Writing with Social Studies." Discussed are three essential supports for a successful program: a detailed curriculum guide, inservice teacher training, and cooperative teacher/administrator assessment procedures. The book also cites related resources in the ERIC system. (Author/RM)