This presentation is for social studies and English teachers at the elementary grade level. It centers on the new Illinois social studies standards and reading/writing expectations within Common Core and the New Illinois Readiness Assessment for social studies and English language arts (non-fiction) as guideposts to demonstrate students’ learning and growth. It will show teachers to:

• consider new angles for teaching non-fiction, social studies, or history topics
• select age-appropriate curricula (children’s trade books and young adult literature
• incorporate free web-based resources (informational texts, primary sources, etc)
• integrate discipline-specific literacy strategies to guide close reading and text-based writing, which can then be used as growth assessments of students’ learning.

It can be applied to any grade in the elementary level in which students read and write about non-fiction topics.