English or social studies? In Pasco, students are learning both at once
Hudson Primary School second-grade teacher Shaunna Lubecki started her students’ day on a late August morning like most others — with a heavy dose of reading and writing.
With elementary grades required to have at least 90 minutes a day of English-language arts instruction, it made sense to keep the topic top of mind.
First, Lubecki recited simple sentences aloud for the children to write on white boards. Next, she switched to the reading concept of finding the central idea.
But the lesson wasn’t just about phonics and word identification. It also focused on what it means to be a good citizen.
“What is one way you can make a difference?” she asked the students as they watched a video titled “Get Involved. Be Awesome!” tied to the previous day’s readings.
The heightened attention to social studies came as part of the Pasco County school district’s new initiative to create a humanities block for its youngest learners. The goal is to develop strong readers who also have a solid foundation in the state and nation’s history, said Cassie Hernandez, a district humanities curriculum senior supervisor.
“Social studies content is often at the back when literacy is at the forefront,” Hernandez said. “This will turn it up.”
Unlike for language arts, Florida does not require a set amount of time for elementary schools to teach social studies, despite having a large and growing set of standards for the subject. The state also does not test the elementary students about history, civics and the like — and, as former Gov. Jeb Bush used to remind Florida, what isn’t tested often isn’t taught.
Districts have set goals for fitting in social studies. In Pasco, they’ve targeted 60 minutes a week, which many in charge have said is not enough. At some level, though, it’s always been up to teacher to try to make it happen.
To spur that effort, the Pasco school board this year chose to buy new social studies textbooks that have clear connections to state language arts standards. Board chairperson Megan Harding said it just makes sense.
“I don’t think this way of teaching is anything new,” said Harding, a former fifth-grade teacher who offers a course at St. Leo University called Teaching Across the Curriculum. “This is just more of a push for it. ... It’s really important we do expose kids to nonfiction texts.”
The administration has developed detailed lesson guides and provided two rounds of training for teachers over the summer. Hernandez agreed it’s a well accepted model, but said it’s not always done well because teachers aren’t shown how to do it.
“This is a potentially big shift,” she said. “This will require support for teachers.”
Hundreds of educators attended the summer sessions to learn more about how to best incorporate history into reading. Their biggest concern, repeated by several people, had little to do with the concept.
It centered on time available in the day.
One teacher wrote in the session chat box that she wished there were a designated time allotted to teach social studies. Several responded by writing that they were glad not to be the only ones with that thought.
Social studies senior instructional specialist Tina Stavrou-Klem told the group that yes, students deserve explicit social studies instruction. But she stressed that teachers can accomplish the two things at once.
Comparing the Florida and U.S. constitutions, for example, covers both reading and civics standards, she noted.
“It really is up to your (teacher team) how you craft that time,” Stavrou-Klem told the teachers. “We can leverage literacy skills across the board.”
Barbara Martin, a fifth-grade teacher at Chester Taylor Elementary in Zephyrhills, said she was excited about the initiative. Until this year, Martin taught middle school social studies, and she found the older students loved the subject matter but frequently were behind on some key content as they took sixth-grade U.S. history and seventh-grade civics.
By the time students arrive at middle school, she said, reading and writing, researching and annotating already are blended into the coursework. In preparing children for that style in elementary school, “when they come in they’ll be confident.”
“They’re still reading in social studies,” she said, adding that the state often use non-fiction passages on its reading tests. “There definitely is value in both. I definitely am stoked about making this work.”
Hudson Primary teacher Lubecki sounded equally enthusiastic. She said when she taught fifth graders getting ready for middle school, she did projects such as a living wax museum that her students researched, wrote and created.
She said she hoped to find engaging ideas like that for her second graders, and was hopeful the humanities block would provide the impetus.
“Since we’ve been integrating it into the classroom, the students have shown a light about learning, and they want to learn more,” Lubecki said. “Sometimes students don’t even know they’re learning social studies. They’re just doing it and enjoying it.”
Children working with her in a small group to read about citizenship, along with other multi-syllable words that they figured out, echoed the sentiment.
“We’re doing social studies, reading and writing too,” said second grader Hadley Little, 7. “This is fun back here. I like to read and it’s something that I like to do. It’s something I’ve never done before. And I like these chairs, too.”
The district plans to continue training its elementary teachers in crafting humanities blocks, with hopes that the results will be evident when students take their tests in the spring and years beyond.
Jeffrey S. Solochek is an education reporter covering K-12 education policy and schools. Reach him at jsolochek@tampabay.com.