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Developing Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Historical Thinking Skills: Lessons from U.S. History Teachers for Newcomer English Language Learners

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Teaching History and Social Studies to English Language Learners

Abstract

This chapter provides readers with three case studies of high school U.S. History teachers who are working to develop historical thinking skills for their newcomer English Language Learners (ELLs). Using a theoretical framework for culturally and linguistically relevant historical thinking, this chapter analyzes how three teachers engaged with newcomer ELLs’ cultural, linguistic, civic, and historical knowledge and skills while teaching U.S. History in their social studies pedagogy. The three teachers included in this chapter provide varying contexts, perspectives, and strategies for how to teach U.S. History for newcomer ELLs, providing multiple examples and contexts for pre-service and in-service teachers to analyze and apply to their own classroom settings. I discuss each case study in-depth providing the case context, a lesson vignette, and pedagogical themes. I conclude the chapter with a discussion of the implications and applications of the case studies for teacher education.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    “Newcomers,” also defined as newly arrived immigrants in the literature, are born in their native country and have arrived in the USA within the last 5 years (Suárez-Orozco, Pimentel, & Martin, 2009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA

    Ashley Taylor Jaffee

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  1. Ashley Taylor Jaffee
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA

    Luciana C. de Oliveira

  2. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

    Kathryn M. Obenchain

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Jaffee, A.T. (2018). Developing Culturally and Linguistically Relevant Historical Thinking Skills: Lessons from U.S. History Teachers for Newcomer English Language Learners. In: de Oliveira, L., Obenchain, K. (eds) Teaching History and Social Studies to English Language Learners. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63736-5_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-63736-5_2

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-63735-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-63736-5

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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