Elementary Teachers Symposium
Stacy Salter – Instructional Effective Facilitator
Timber Ridge Elementary School
Learning Goals
SS3H2B
SS3G3
What it IS and What it is NOT
Disciplinary Literacy
is an approach where students engage in literacy techniques
(Information and Processing Skills - IPS and/or Map and Globe Skills - MGS)
to think like a historian or geographer.
I: indicates when a skill is introduced in the standards and elements as part of the content
D: indicates grade levels where the teacher must develop that skill using the appropriate content
M: indicates grade level by which student should achieve mastery, the ability to use the skill in all situations
A: indicates grade levels where students will continue to apply and improve mastered skills
Georgia Department of Education
What do you see or notice?
SWIRL
To enhance social studies learning using SWIRL teachers can integrate these skills by having students:
How It started … Where It’s Going
FROM A Social Studies Classroom where… | TO A Social Studies Classroom where… |
Students experience an additional nonfiction reading class or textbook focused instruction | Students learn to read, discuss, and write like social scientists. |
Students develop literacy skills and social studies practices separately | Students develop disciplinary literacy skills and social science practices in tandem. |
Students learn content knowledge | Students integrate and apply concepts, skills, and content knowledge. |
Balanced Model of Instruction
Why is it Important?
ELA STANDARD
K-K-12.L.V.1: General, Academic, & Specialized Vocabulary
Knowing how these disciplines approach reading can help students read texts in more nuanced, sophisticated ways.
Why Bring Social Studies into ELA?
Show Me the Evidence…
Social studies is the only subject with a clear, positive, and statistically significant effect on reading improvement. On average, students who receive an additional thirty minutes of social studies instruction per day in grades 1–5 outperform students with less social studies time by 15 percent of a standard deviation on the fifth-grade reading assessment…
What are Primary Sources?
Remember…
Primary sources are a natural way for students to explore both written and visual text and develop literacy and college and career ready skills
(Library of Congress 2015b, paragraph 5)
Primary sources are:
immediate, first-hand accounts of a topic, from people who had a direct connection with it.
Unit 4 Let’s Go Exploring
Historical Understandings SSH2b - Jacques Cartier
Geographic Understandings
SS3G3
Document Analysis Frames
Exploration Through Their Eyes
Jacques Cartier, his first interview with the Indians at Hochelaga now Montreal in 1535 - Library of Congress c1850
Primary Source Documents
Imagine you just landed in an unfamiliar land-
no maps, no phones, no GPS.
What’s the first thing you would do to survive and explore your surroundings?
Think
Pair
Share
At your tables you have been provided with Explorer Survival Cards. Review the cards and be prepared to discuss:
How would you adapt?
What resources would you need?
What obstacles would you face?
How did your environment influence your choices for survival and success?
What choices did this explorer
make that changed history?
How might this environment
have affected trade, settlement,
or exploration routes?
What evidence helps us know if
the explorer succeeded or failed?
Historian Stems
How does the land shape what people can do here?
What natural resources are available for survival or trade?
How might climate or location impact travel and success?
Geographer Stems
Document Analysis Frames
A Map of Jacques Cartier’s voyages
Document Analysis Frames
Document Analysis Frames
A 15th–16th century illustration�of a ship or settlement attempt
Primary Source Documents
Primary Source Documents
When Jacques Cartier explored North America, he and his crew faced brutal winters along the St. Lawrence River, where the river froze solid for months. They were unprepared for the extreme cold and lacked fresh food, which led to scurvy and the deaths of many crew members.Cartier’s most important adaptation was learning from the Indigenous Iroquois people, who shared a tea made from the bark and needles of the white spruce (anneda tree). This natural remedy cured the scurvy and saved the remaining crew, showing how adaptation through collaboration and cultural exchange was key to survival.
Jacques Cartier Summary
He also adapted by fortifying his camp with a stockade and cannons when tensions grew with the Iroquois, and his navigational skills helped him successfully map the St. Lawrence River, an achievement that supported future French exploration. However, Cartier failed to prepare for the harsh environment, misjudged resources (mistaking minerals for gold and diamonds), and his relations with the Iroquois deteriorated after acts of mistrust, including kidnapping their chief. These failures—along with his inability to secure a sustainable food supply—caused his colony to collapse and his mission to be viewed as unsuccessful by France.
Jacques Cartier Summary
Paired Text Opportunities
Why was Jacques Cartier’s relationship with the Indigenous peoples important to his survival in North America?
(state claim and evidence)
Writing
Evidence Illustration | Cause and Effect Drawing | Map Connection Drawing | Comic Strip or Sequence Drawing | Claim & Evidence Visual Organizer |
Purpose: Show the evidence that supports the student’s claim visually. Example (Jacques Cartier lesson): Students draw Cartier’s ship stuck in the ice with the Iroquois showing the bark medicine, then label it. This is evidence that Cartier depended on the Indigenous people to survive. Connects to Evaluating Sources & Using Evidence → “Show thinking through illustrating” (SWIRL) | Purpose: Show how geography or environment influenced human systems. Example: Students illustrate how the frozen St. Lawrence River affected Cartier’s expedition (no ships could move, crew got sick). Add arrows or captions showing: “cause” (frozen river) → “effect” (could not leave, got scurvy). Connects to SS3G3 – explaining the connection between geography and human systems. | Purpose: Reinforce spatial reasoning while supporting the claim. Example: Students draw a simple map of Cartier’s voyage with key places labeled (France → St. Lawrence River → Iroquois Village).They could highlight where an event happened that supports their claim (e.g., scurvy cure). Supports disciplinary literacy in geography and “understand and practice how to think like a geographer. | Purpose: Retell a sequence of events that leads to the claim. Example: Frame 1: Cartier’s crew getting sick Frame 2: Indigenous people sharing bark remedy Frame 3: Crew recovering Final frame caption: “Because of Indigenous knowledge, Cartier’s men survived the winter.” Connects to disciplinary literacy (history sequencing + evidence use). | Purpose: Help students connect written and visual thinking. Example: Split page into two boxes: Left: Draw your evidence Right: Write your claim sentence: “I claim that… because…” Combines writing + illustrating (SWIRL) and provides scaffolding for early writers. |
Illustrating / Drawing
Compare what your group predicted using your Survival Card to what happened to Jacques Cartier and be prepared to share.
How did he adapt—or fail to adapt—to his environment?
Physical System | Effects on Human System | Example with Jacques Cartier |
Cold climate and frozen rivers | Affects food supply, trade, and survival | Cartier’s crew suffered from scurvy and hunger due to the harsh Canadian winters |
River systems | Provide travel routes and trade access | The St. Lawrence River helped exploration and mapping for future colonization |
Natural resources | Determine economic opportunity | Cartier mistook quartz for diamonds – misunderstanding local resources |
Geography barriers | Influence protection, conflict, or isolation | Fortifying the camp with cannons to defend against Iroquois attacked |
Why Does this Matter to Students?
Students learn that humans depend on, adapt to, and sometimes change their environments.
It builds understanding of:
Framework Phase | Connection to Learning Target |
Set the Purpose | Engaged in the Explorer Survival Card simulation — predicting survival strategies in different environments. |
We Do / You Do | Compared group predictions with the summary of Cartier’s real experiences, then analyzed how geography impacted his success and failure. |
Apply to Practice | Plan how to replicate the inquiry process in their own classrooms—writing possible student questions, identifying sources, and creating success criteria. |
Secure the Learning | Reflect: How did this activity help you think like a student historian/geographer? How might you adapt it for your class? |
Where is the Disciplinary Literacy?
Resources
Success Criteria
By the end of this session, I can:
Questions / Contacts
Keith Haber
Coordinator of Social Studies & Advanced Learning
Dr. Kimberly Miles
Social Studies,
Professional Learning Specialist
Jake Kessinger
Social Studies,
Professional Learning Specialist