Strategy Collection

EDU 415

Dr. Wargo

Morgan Showalter

11/28/2022
Strategy #1: Graphic Organizers

Standard 3:

CC.8.5.6-8.C.

Identify key steps in a text’s description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill
becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).

A. Trade books

Topic: Identifying steps regarding a historical topic (how a bill becomes law, how to become an
American citizen)

i. Slade, S. (2020). A bill’s journey into law. Picture Window Books.

This picture book tells how a bill becomes law, but through the story of a little boy, Ramesh, who
wanted to pass a law for free ice cream. Eventually, Ramesh gains support for his idea, and readers
follow the journey, with all the twists and turns, of this bill becoming a law. Although this is a picture
book and it is a very basic book, I think that it would be a great way to introduce the topic. It would give
students a background knowledge of the process from a bill to law, and as you teach, your students
could add on to and develop that knowledge.

A graphic organizer is a way to visually organize information in order to trace relationships within the
prescribed topic of study. Often, graphic organizers include vocabulary words that are vital to
understanding the topic. Examples can include charts, timelines, or tables. In this instance, the book is
about a bill becoming a law. In a social studies or civics classroom, this is a very common idea that
students should be able to understand. The graphic organizer that would work the best for outlining this
would be a chart following the steps from the creation of the bill to the bill becoming law. Students
would read this short book that presents the information at a lower reading level. This would help them
to develop a general understanding of the topic. Then, the teacher could discuss how a bill becomes a
law and the students could read the assigned portion of the textbook for that topic. After all of this, the
students should have a more complete understanding of the process than when they started. To apply
what they learned, the teacher would pass out a graphic organizer, specifically a chart, for the students
to fill out. Working either individually or in groups, the students would write the steps in the chart using
the information from the tradebook, their class notes, or the textbook.

Note: I got the information to make the chart from the following website because I did not have access
to the book listed above.

Office of the Clerk, U. S. H. of R. (n.d.). Kids in the House. Kids in the House - Grade School -
How a Bill Becomes a Law. Retrieved November 28, 2022, from https://kids-
clerk.house.gov/grade-school/lesson.html?intID=1

A person has an idea
that they want to be
turned into a law
It’s a bill!
A member of Congress
supports the idea and
sponsors it.
This Photo by
Unknown Author is
licensed under CC

The bill is voted on

and discussed in
The bill goes to a the House of
House Committee, Representatives.
where it is discussed.

The bill is voted on

and discussed in
The bill goes to a the Senate.
Senate Committee,
where it is discussed.

If the President signs it, the bill

The bill is sent to becomes a ________!
the President to
review.
Directions: Assuming that your bill passes every stage of the process, trace the steps your
bill would make, starting from an idea until it becomes a law (Hint: look at the pictures)

This Photo by
Unknown Author is
licensed under CC

If the President signs it, the bill

becomes a ________!
Strategy #2: Unsent letters

Standard 1:

CC.8.5.6-8.I.

Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.

Topic: Primary vs. Secondary Source (Anne Frank, 9/11, Slavery/Civil Rights)

A. Trade books

ii. Frank, A. (1993). Anne Frank: Diary of a young girl. Bantam/Doubleday.

This trade book is the diary of Anne Frank. Before her and her family went into hiding from the Nazis,
Anne received a diary where she began to record her life in hiding. She wrote about all aspects of being
in hiding, including relationships, boredom, fighting, and the fear of being discovered. Her diary is long
and some of the material could be considered a little too mature for the middle school age range. I still
think that certain excerpts would be beneficial for middle schoolers to read, however. Students could
read this primary source and compare it to the biographic telling of her life. This will allow them to know
not only the facts of her life, but also how she felt about the things that were happening to her and her
family.

An unsent letter is a way for students to interact more deeply with a text they have read. It forces them
to think about what happened to the character they are writing about and put themselves into that
person’s shoes. In addition to helping the student form a more complete analysis of the text, it can also
help a student recall specific aspects of the plot. In this way, teachers can check to see not only if their
students read the text, but also if they comprehended the material enough to pull out certain plot
points and summarize them. For this specific text, the teacher would have the students read the
assigned sections of the diary. After the students completed the assigned reading, they would get into
groups and discuss what they found to be most interesting or surprising about what they read. In those
groups, they would brainstorm several ideas about what they still want to know about Anne Frank’s life.
Then, each student would receive a worksheet to compose their letter to Anne Frank. The teacher
would tell the students that the letter needs to include one specific thing that happened to her and how
she felt about it. It also needs to have at least one questions the student still wants to know the answer
to. After all the students complete their letters, they could trade with each other in their original groups
or new groups to see what other students wrote. Hopefully, this would jumpstart another discussion.
Directions: Write a reflection letter to Anne Frank after you finish
reading her diary. Topics in this letter could include…

- A connection that you made with Anne Frank

- Questions that you still have after you finished reading
- Any comments that you would want to tell Anne

Sincerely,
___________________
 Directions: Write a reflection letter to Anne Frank after you finish
reading her diary. Topics in this letter could include…

- A connection that you made with Anne Frank

- Questions that you still have after you finished reading
- Any comments that you would want to tell Anne

Dear Anne,

I just finished reading your diary, and I really enjoyed your honesty and deep

insights into everything that you were facing. Truly, I cannot imagine what it

was like for you to have to be in that hidden space, afraid that any move would

give away your location. Recently, the world shut down due to a disease called

COVID-19, and everyone was stuck inside. It was called quarantine and we were

not allowed to leave our homes except for necessities like food. But your

situation was much harder than that because you had to be quiet and you were

not allowed to leave. I was at least allowed to go outside and make noise. What

was the hardest part of living in the attic for you?

Sincerely,
Morgan Showalter

Note: Students’ responses will differ. This is just an example of what a possible student response could look like.
Strategy #3: Anticipation Guide

Standard 2:

CC.8.5.6-8.G.

Integrate visual information (e.g., in charts, graphs, photographs, videos, or maps) with other
information in print and digital texts.

Topic: Visual information incorporated with text (Women in World War II)

A. Trade books

i. Colman, P. (1998). Rosie the Riveter: Women working on the home front in World War II. Yearling.

This book tells the story of the millions of women who entered the work force during World War II. It is
full of pictures of the real women who worked hard to help the US win the war from home. It also
includes a list of facts about the war in the back of the book in addition to a timeline of the war. This
would be a good book for students to interact with because it integrates visuals with the text of the
book, which is full of good information and facts. Students could choose a picture from the book or
another source and use the timeline to figure out roughly when the picture was taken.

An anticipation guide is a worksheet that allows student to answer a series of questions before and after
reading. The questions pertain to the subject that the students will be interacting with in either their
textbook or a tradebook. Typically, they are facts that have a correct or incorrect answer. Before
reading, students will answer the questions with a plus sign if they believe that the statement is true and
a minus sign if they believe that the statement is false. Then, the students will complete their assigned
reading. Once they have completed it, the students will return to the anticipation guide and answer the
same questions. This gives students the opportunity to change any answers that they did not have
correct before they interacted with the text. Additionally, it allows teachers to see what prior knowledge
their students have on the topic and the students’ comprehension of the text. This resource covers a
wide array of information about the things that women did to support the war effort in World War II.
The anticipation guide for this tradebook would have facts about the women from this time period. As
explained above, the students would agree or disagree with these facts before and after their reading.
The topics could also be a starting place for in-class discussions. The student’s responses could be used
as a formative, low-stakes assessment.
Anticipation Guide: Rosie the Riveter

Instructions: Before you begin to read the selected book, read each statement and respond with a (+) if
you believe that the statement is true, and a (-) if you believe it is false. After completing the assigned
reading, you will read the statements again. Using the knowledge you gained from reading and the book
itself, you will respond to the statements again.

Most Americans wanted to enter

the war.

The stock market crash in late

1929 marked the beginning of
the Great Depression.

Everyday items like sugar,

rubber, and gasoline were in
short supply during the war.

During the war, more women

entered the workforce in place of
the men who were fighting.

Women kept their jobs in

factories and labor even after the
war concluded.

Advertisements encouraged
people to plant “Victory
Gardens,” to produce more food
in the midst of rationing.

American citizens collected

rubber, tinfoil, scrap metal, and
any other items that could
provide materials critical to the
war effort.
 ANSWER KEY for Anticipation Guide: Rosie the Riveter

Instructions: Before you begin to read the selected book, read each statement and respond with a (+) if
you believe that the statement is true, and a (-) if you believe it is false. After completing the assigned
reading, you will read the statements again. Using the knowledge you gained from reading and the book
itself, you will respond to the statements again.

Student Response
Most Americans wanted to enter -
the war.

The stock market crash in late

Student Response 1929 marked the beginning of +
the Great Depression.

Everyday items like sugar,

Student Response rubber, and gasoline were in +
short supply during the war.

During the war, more women

Student Response entered the workforce in place of +
the men who were fighting.

Women kept their jobs in

Student Response factories and labor even after the -
war concluded.

Advertisements encouraged
people to plant “Victory
Student Response Gardens,” to produce more food +
in the midst of rationing.

American citizens collected

rubber, tinfoil, scrap metal, and
any other items that could
Student Response provide materials critical to the +
war effort.
Strategy #4: Compare and Contrast Chart/ Venn Diagram

Standard 4:

CC.8.5.6-8.E.

Describe how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, casually).

Topic: Civil Rights Movement

A. Trade books

iii. Armand, G. (2021). Black leaders in the Civil Rights Movement; A black history book for kids.
Rockridge Press.

This book tells the story and legacy of many black leaders during the Civil Rights Movement, including
Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr. among many others. Rosa Parks spoke up and refused to give up
her seat on the bus, while Martin Luther led marches and speeches where he encouraged peaceful
protests. This text also follows James Meredith and Claudette Colvin. I think that this is a great book
because it introduces students to the big names from the Civil Rights Movement and gives a biography
of each one. To align with the standard, the students could read about two people in this book and
decide how the text presents the information about them, which would be sequentially. Then, they
could compare the two people using that same information.

Compare and contrast charts give students the opportunity to visually display the information they read
in a tradebook. The most common representation of this type of chart is a Venn Diagram. A Venn
Diagram is composed of two circles that overlap in the middle of the paper, producing three sections of
the diagram. The sections on the right and the left are labeled with the two things that are being
compared/contrasted. In those sections, their differences are recorded. In the middle, overlapping
circle, the similarities between the two items are placed. In the case of this tradebook, I would have
students each select two leaders from the Civil Rights Movement. Then, their job would be to compare
and contrast the leaders with one another. After each student has completed their own Venn Diagram,
the students could discuss in groups what similarities and differences they discovered. Through this
discussion, students would hopefully realize that even though black leaders of the Civil Rights
Movement may have done different things to oppose racism and segregation, they generally believed in
and stood up for the same things.
What have you learned?
 Example of possible student work:

Martin Luther King Jr.

Rosa Parks
-refused to give her seat up so a -gave many speeches encouraging
white passenger could sit down, Did not believe in the Jim people to stand up for civil rights
for which she was arrested Crow Laws in a peaceful manner

Wanted to be treated as
equal citizens
-her actions jumpstarted the -assassinated for his leadership of
Montgomery Bus Boycott Arrested for their actions the Civil Rights Movement

Non-violent resistance
-“I Have a Dream Speech”

African American

What have you learned?

The black leaders of the Civil Rights Movement all believed that African Americans were
being treated unfairly and wanted that to change. However, the ways in which they
protested this treatment differed; some staged sit-ins, boycotts, marches, or spoke in favor
of the cause. However, they all contributed to the changes that were made in society.
Strategy #5: GIST Summary

Standard 5:

CC.8.5.6-8.D. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.

A. Trade books

Topic: The Holocaust

i. Herman, G. (2017). What was the Holocaust? Children’s Press

This book explains to students what the Holocaust was. It traces the story of the Holocaust from the
strict laws, to the ghettos, and eventually extermination camps. The book itself offers a very good
historical overview of the Holocaust without becoming too graphic for younger audiences. This
would be a good trade book because it could be used to help students determine the meaning of
words and phrases pertaining to the Holocaust. For example, while students are reading they could
define terms such as genocide, ghetto, anti-Semitic, and the Final Solution.

A GIST summary is a strategy that stands for Generating Interactions between Schemata and Text. The
summary is meant to be drawn from a small portion of a text. It helps students to draw out the who,
what, when, where, why, and how of the text. Teachers can then look at the summary each student
writes after picking out those key details. Looking at the summaries will help a teacher to gauge
student’s understanding and comprehension of the material. Then, if there is something that the class is
not understanding, the teacher can review it. This tradebook introduces the sensitive topic of the
Holocaust and attempts to present the information in a way that is appropriate for late elementary
school and middle school students. The covered topics include Anti-Semitism, the Final Solution, and life
in the ghettos. This strategy would be useful for this tradebook because it would help the students break
down the topics into more manageable chunks. I pulled a small excerpt out of the book to serve as an
example of how this strategy could be implemented to aid students in their comprehension.

It was the start of World War II, which lasted in Europe until May of 1945. Many local people waved Nazi
flags. They cheered for their leader, Adolf Hitler. They were glad Hitler had taken over Poland. Hitler
hoped to take over all of Europe. The Jews of Bielsko were not happy at all. They knew of the Nazis’
hatred for Jews. Gerda and her family were told to leave their home so local German-Poles could move
in. Gerda’s garden was fenced off with a sign that read: “No dogs or Jews allowed.” They lived in a
basement, with no water or electricity. After a while, all Jews in Bielsko were rounded up. Trucks took
them to different prison camps. Gerda was separated from her mother. She never saw her again. She
never saw anybody else in her family again, either. Through the rest of the war, Gerda was moved from
one concentration camp to another. She labored in Nazi-run factories. She hauled coal onto trains. By
1945, she was half-dead. And yet Gerda was one of the more fortunate ones. She survived. Six million
Jews did not. They were killed by the Nazis in concentration camps. About six million other victims were
also led to their deaths; gay people, the Roma, disabled people, and people from certain religious and
political groups.
Summary:
 Hitler and the Nazis put Jews into ghettos and
concentration camps, where
millions died.

Start of World War II until 1945 Germany and Poland

Hitler and the Nazis hated the Jews. Hard labor, starvation, poor
living conditions

Summary:
Hitler and the Nazis hated the Jews and took over Germany and Poland until 1945. During that
time, they put Jews in ghettos and concentration camps. In the camps, the conditions were
horrible, there was little food, and they were worked to death. In the end, millions died,
including other groups of people hated by the Nazis.