Year

1979

Paper Type

Master's Thesis

College

College of Education and Human Services

Degree Name

Master of Education (MEd)

Department

Education

Abstract

There is a concern that children with poor, i.e., below grade level reading ability, have trouble in content area subjects. The subjects of social studies, science, and health are often taught in the elementary grades through the use of textbooks. Because these texts prior to 1979 were written with a readability level at or above the grade level for which the book was designed, the poorer reader cannot read, and therefore learn, the subject matter presented.

Children need knowledge of these content areas to function in today's society. They also need the ability to read to increase their knowledge and to develop their interest in these areas. Our society also expects that certain aspects of social studies, science, and health will be taught to children. As teachers there is a responsibility to teach these objectives. The children are also graded and evaluated at the end of each school year in these subject areas. They I therefore I must acquire this knowledge to perform well on these tests. However, children with poor reading ability face difficulties acquiring this knowledge through a textbook oriented curriculum.

The problem to be dealt with in this project is how to teach social studies to children with poor reading ability. The ojective is to aid these children in obtaining an understanding of specific social studies concepts. Few materials in the content area are available in Duval County for working with the reader who is below grade level.

Specifically, this project will develop a curriculum of teaching techniques and materials to use with third-graders in the social studies area of map skills. This area was chosen because it is tested extensively on the third-grade Stanford Achievement Test. These materials will be used with a class of thirty third-grade students at Hyde Grove School in Duval County, Florida. These students are poor readers who read at least one grade level below their current grade in school, as measured by the Stanford Achievement Test reading section. The curriculum will attempt to facilitate map concept attainment for these children.

Included in

Education Commons

Share

COinS