Exploring the Power and Possibility of Contextually Relevant Social Studies–Literacy Integration

The authors of this article describe a study designed to support first-grade students’ social studies knowledge and literacy development through a teacher–researcher co-constructed and teacher implemented integrated unit within the context of a rural community. The goals of the study were to determine the extent to which a contextually relevant unit of study affected the development of students’ content knowledge of key terms from the domain of social studies and influenced students’ reading and social studies interest. The researchers used a combined multi-phase and convergent mixed methods design, implementing a matched pairs design for the quantitative, quasi-experimental component of the study. Results indicated that assignment to the treatment condition was a predictor of students’ post implementation vocabulary scores and social studies interest. In pairing these results with the qualitative analyses of students’ end-of-unit retellings, researchers found that vocabulary can be a powerful bridge to cultural and content knowledge when the focus of instruction and texts is on local and community knowledge, demonstrating that contextually relevant social studies–literacy integration is a promising practice for building content knowledge and interest in first grade classrooms. Directions for future research are discussed.