I attended a session @ FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) that was entitled 21st Century Reading and Social Studies. The presenters were fourth, fifth and special education teachers from P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School (PKY) which is located on the campus of the University of Florida. This school is funded as a special school district under the Florida Department of Education, and is given the responsibility to develop innovative solutions to educational concerns in Florida. The teachers are then responsible to share successful instructional programs with other school districts across the state.
Needless to say, these educators have a huge responsibility not only to their students, but also to every student in the state of Florida. Their passion for teaching and learning was apparent, and the presenters have spent numerous hours revamping how they teach Florida's 4th and 5th grade social studies content standards. Literature that offers text below, at, and above grade level reading expectations, and a variety of technology tools have been woven into their social studies curriculum. I left that session with some great ideas that I wanted to share with our K-5 SSt Committee.
I have shared a few Google Docs from the presentation with you, and below you will find the links to their 4th and 5th grade blogs and a sample of a reading weebly from PKY.
PKY 4th Grade Blog (Check out the Shelfari @ the bottom of the blog page. Great SSt literature has been shelved and summarized there.)
5th Grade Blog (This link will take you the Reading/SSt portion of their 5th grade blog.)
Reading/SSt Weebly
In addition to Google Docs and the sites above that I have shared with you, there are some great resources from others who attended the session as well. To check them out, log into your Edmodo account and join the group 21st Century Reading and Social Studies. The group code is cs6206.
Let me know if you any questions! Thanks~Kelli
