Using Literacy Strategies during your World War 2 Unit
We are almost always trying to incorporate literacy skills into our classrooms - no matter which subjects we teach. Sometimes, this can be tricky. From my experience, there are two literacy strategies that worked really well for my middle school students. I’m excited to share these strategies with you, so you can try them out in your classroom! I’ll walk you through them and give you links to other resources that you can use in your social studies classroom or any content.
This blog has a TON of information, so go ahead and print it out - you can thank me later ;)
If you’re already familiar with PALS and Reciprocal Teaching, scroll down to the next section to see how to use these strategies in your World War 2 Unit!
Introduction to two reading strategies
1. Peer-Assisted Learning Strategy, or PALS, is up first. This one is my favorite because it is really easy to implement. It will take a little practice in the beginning, but I promise, they’ll catch on and it’ll be smooth sailing!
PALS is a partner reading activity that will take roughly 35 minutes, depending on the length of the text. The main focus of PALS is reading comprehension, which is fantastic - even for social studies.
PALS Sample Pairing Guide
PAIRING: Students will be paired up based on their reading levels. In my experience, the best way to do this is to create a vertical list of your students in order of their reading levels (highest to lowest). Then, split that list in the middle. You’ll pair your top student in the first half (top) of your list with the top student of the second (bottom) list, and so on. See the image. This will appropriately pair them up based on reading levels. You’ll want a “higher” and a “lower” together, but if they’re too far apart, it may lead to frustration.
Before you begin the process, make sure students know which they are: A or B. I always announced for all Student As to raise their hand, then write their letter on the paper. Then, I’d repeat for B. This was a good visual for me to see that each group had at least one hand raised. Of course, I NEVER mentioned or insinuated that Student As were higher readers than Student B. Be discreet about this!
PROCESS: The PALS process is very specific, so try not to stray from it!
Step 1: Reading 10-12 minutes
Student A (higher) will read aloud for five minutes, while Student B (lower) follows along.
Next, Student B re-reads the SAME text aloud for five minutes, while Student A follows along.
Step 2: Paragraph Shrinking 10 minutes
Repeat step 1 - have Student A read for five minutes, and have Student B re-read the same piece of text for 5 minutes. Now, students will “shrink” the text they’ve read (even if they haven’t read the entire text). I required my middle school students to shrink the text into 10 words or less. Remind them to focus on just the main idea or what the text is mostly about.
Step 3: Prediction 10 minutes
Now, students will make predictions about what the rest of the text is about. Student A will make a prediction, read for five minutes, and determine if the prediction is correct. Student B will repeat the same process with the next paragraph. Students will take turns until the text is finished.
Need more information about PALS? Check out this great learning module! There are videos and samples included!
Want a ready-made PALS Bundle that you can use with ANY text? This PALS Reading Strategy Bundle includes student-friendly directions, student role cards, and a rubric, all for less than $4! This is made by The Sparkly Notebook, and she has so much good ELA stuff!
2. Reciprocal Teaching is another reading strategy that is great for all subject areas, even social studies! This is another strategy that will take some practice in the beginning, but your students will catch on in no time!
Reciprocal teaching is a group reading strategy, however, it allows for a little more independence than PALS. You’ll group students based on their reading level again, but there will be groups of four. You’ll also need to break the text into four parts. The grouping and breaking of the text should be done ahead of time.
Reciprocal Teaching Sample Grouping Guide
GROUPING: Students will be grouped based on their reading level. The best way to do this is to create a vertical list of your students based on reading levels (highest to lowest). Then count four and draw a line, repeat until the end of your list. See image. Unlike PALS, you want students to be somewhat close in reading level.
PROCESS: Each student will have their own role in reading the text: predictor, summarizer, clarifier, and questioner. I recommend giving students role cards, so before and during their reading, they know what will be expected of them.
The process is a little more flexible than PALS, in my opinion. You can have students read a certain section of the text independently, then meet as a group for the discussion. Another option is to have students read as a group; one student reads his section aloud while the others follow along. Then, they’ll discuss right then and repeat. The main purpose of this strategy is to have students go through all the “good reader” strategies.
ROLES: There are four roles in this strategy.
Summarizer: highlights the main points of the section of the text.
Questioner: asks questions about the section of the text.
Confusing parts of the text
Are there any connections between the text and something else we’ve learned?
Clarifier: attempts to answer the questions that were just asked and clear up any other confusion
Predictor: predicts what the next section will be about
Want a ready-made Reciprocal Teaching Strategy Bundle that you can use with ANY text? This Reciprocal Teaching Reading Strategy Bundle includes student-friendly directions, student role cards, teacher role, strategy breakdown, and grouping directions, all for $3! This is made by The Sparkly Notebook, and she has so much good ELA stuff!
How to use these strategies in your World War 2 Unit
PALS and Major Events in WWII reading packet
This nonfiction reading packet includes differentiated levels (level A is higher than level B). Since you’re using the PALS reading strategy, you don’t have to use both levels; you can likely use level A, depending on your class.
Once students are in their pairs and they have their roles (A or B), Start your 5 minute timer. Student A will read for this 5 minutes, while Student B follows along. If you feel that you have fast readers, you can modify this part. You can have Student A read page 1 and stop.
So, Student A will either read for 5 minutes OR read page 1 and stop. Then, Student B will re-read the same section of text. You will be walking around the room listening to each pair.
Now, the pair will work together to “shrink” this section of text into 10 words or less. Make sure you have students write down their answers for accountability. Plus, you can walk around and help guide them.
Next, students will make a prediction about what the rest of the text will be about. We can modify this next step to fit the particular text. Student A will read the next 2 paragraphs, then stop. The pair will discuss whether or not their predictions were correct. Then, they will make a prediction about the last two paragraphs. Student B will read the last 2 paragraphs and stop. Then, the pair will discuss whether or not their predictions were correct.
After reading, I like to bring the class together to discuss as a whole group. Ask a pair (or several pairs) to share their paragraph shrinking. Then ask pairs to share their predictions. If you have a class that is hesitant to respond in whole group settings, you can always let them know ahead of time that you’ll be asking them to share. If you discuss this with them beforehand and give them some encouragement (“That’s a great answer! I really want you to share that at the end of class!”), they may be more likely to share with the group.
Page 1 of Major Events of WW2 Reading Packet
Page 2 of Major Events of WW2 Reading Packet
2. Reciprocal Teaching and Major Events in WWII reading packet
Break the text into four sections (see image) and group your students into groups of four based on their reading level. Hand out each student’s role card, and give each group 4 sticky notes. Students will label each sticky note: Section 1, Section 2, Section 3, and Section 4.
The Summarizer student will read section 1 (see image) and stop. The Summarizer will highlight the main points of what he’s just read. The Questioner will ask questions about any confusing parts. The Clarifier will attempt to answer these questions. The Predictor will predict what Section 2 (see image) is about. Have the group underline key parts the Summarizer mentioned, and write on Section 1’s sticky note their questions and answers.
The Questioner will read section 2 and stop. The group will repeat the process above.
The Clarifier will read section 3 and stop. The group will repeat the process.
Last, the Predictor will read section 4 and stop. The group will repeat the process (except for the predictor).
After the reading, bring the class together and discuss whole group. Discuss the key parts of each section and clear up and questions or misconceptions.
If your class is new to this process, you may want to stop and discuss with the whole group after Section 1 - just to make sure they understand what to do. Depending on how that goes, you can choose to let them go on their own for the rest of the text, or you can stop after each section and discuss.
Page 1 of Major Events of WW2 Reading Packet
Page 2 of Major Events of WW2 Reading Packet
Literacy strategies are incredibly important to infuse into social studies classrooms. It will improve students’ understanding of social studies concepts and sharpen their reading comprehension. It’s definitely a win-win!
You can use these strategies with any of my social studies reading packets! Here is a list of World War 2 reading packets you can use with these strategies: