EDUC 431 (Conley Sowels)
Methods of Teaching Language Arts and Social Studies
Books
Academic books are one of the important places where scholarly research is published, and where overviews and historical background of subjects can be gathered quickly and in one spot.
Use the online catalog to research teaching strategies in social studies and language arts, especially if you can't find information in journal articles.
Social Studies - Study and Teachingmaterials are found in the LB 1584 section on the Third Floor. Language Arts - Study and Teaching materials are found in
LB 1141 and LB1528, also on Third Floor.
Here are some print books you may want to explore in Social Studies:
- The field trip book: study travel experiences in social studies by Ronald V. Morris
- Civic literacy through curriculum drama, grades 6-12 by Catherine A. Franklin
- Social studies on the Internet by Michael J. Berson
Here are a few print titles you may want to explore in Language Arts:
- Content-area writing : every teacher's guide by Harvey Daniels, Steven Zemelman, and Nancy Steineke
- Teaching writing with Latino/a students: lessons learned at Hispanic-serving institutions edited by Cristina Kirklighter, et al
- Because writing matters : improving student writing in our schools by the National Writing Project and Carl Nagin
Some of your results may list as "electronic resources", our term for online books. FLITE provides more than 100,000 online books, also known as as ebooks or electronic books. We have prepared a short tutorial Finding and Reading Online Books and a web document, Finding Online Books, as guides for you with tips for using the different interfaces from the four major vendors we use: Ebrary, Springer, Credo Reference, and NetLibrary. (Hint: always turn your browser's pop-up blocker off when accessing online books or articles from library databases.) Access our online books with your desktop or laptop computer, not an ereader like a Kindle or Nook.
Here are a few ebook titles you may want to explore in Social Studies:
- The essentials of social studies, grades K-8: effective curriculum, instruction, and assessment by Kathy Checkley
- Building literacy in social studies: strategies for improving comprehension and critical thinking by Donna Ogle, Ron Klemp, Bill McBride
Here are a few ebook titles you may want to explore in Language Arts:
- Inspired English teaching: a practical guide for teachers by Keith West
- Taking action on adolescent literacy: an implementation guide for school leaders by Judith L. Irvin, Julie Meltzer, and Melinda S. Dukes
Finding Journal Articles for Research (Databases)
Academic books provide background and comprehensive information about topics, but often you need to find journal articles about very specific topics and current information, like the topics for this assignment. FLITE purchases journals subscriptions so you don't have to buy them yourself. Our Education journal subscriptions are grouped together in databases and reached via the FLITE website. Some provide full text articles, while others only provide an abstract with a "find it" link to try to bring you full text.
Education Databases
- Educator's Reference Complete
This is my favorite database to begin with. It has a great deal of full-text, and provides full-text for half of the journals that are indexed in ERIC. It covers all aspects of education from pre-school to higher education. Limiting to peer-reviewed articles is an easy task using a check box. - Education Abstracts
Although Education Abstracts provides very little full-text, it does carry information not found in the other Education databases. The ability to link out to articles in using the "Find It" link makes this database more useful. Look for the check box for peer-reviewed articles under the "Limit to" section. Not finding enough? Add the full-text general database, OmniFile Full Text Select, under the "Choose Databases" link. - Education Collection - Sage Journals Online
Although articles are pulled from just 36 education journals, all are peer-reviewed and the articles are provided in full-text with coverage back more than 90 years. Use this database for in-depth historical and scientific research. It's all in full-text, but sometimes your topic may not be included. - ERIC
The premiere education database, ERIC (the Educational Resources Information Center), is a digital library provided by the Institute of Education Sciences of the Department of Education. Many of the resources are citations or abstracts only, rather than full-text, and using the "Find It" function to link to other databases will be necessary. Be sure to access ERIC through the FLITE web site in order to find your articles.
(Please contact Kristy Motz if you would like one-on-one help using this valuable resource.)
Suggestions to retrieve better/more results:
- Search topic as both a keyword and subject
- Combine terms with AND or OR
- Set date ranges limit to a specific time
- Use quotes for phrases
Getting the Article in Full Text
If HTML or PDF full text options are available, click the link to go directly to the full text.
If full text is not an option:
Click the "Find It", link or button; 
Select red GO button.
Sometimes the "Find It" button will provide a link to the Online Catalog. This indicates that the journal is found in FLITE's print collection.
Interlibrary Loan
If the only message you see is "Request document via Interlibrary Loan", you will need to order the article. By clicking on the link in the window provided, you will be directed to a blank Interlibrary Loan form to be filled out. You will need to register if you are a first-time user. Click here to learn more about Interlibrary Loan.
Scholarly Journals
The library has developed a Guide to Popular and Scholarly Periodicals to assist you in determining if articles come from Scholarly Journals, (also called Academic Journals), and Peer-Reviewed Journals, (also called Refereed Journals.) Most databases have a special tab or a special limit function, to allow you to select scholarly and peer-reviewed journals.
On the Web
There are several good sites on the Internet for resources about Language Arts and Social Studies. Additional websites and Education statistic websites are available on the Education Research Guide.
- 11 Language Arts Resources to Try
- 11 Social Studies Resources to Try
- Doing What Works
- Michigan Online Resources for Educators
MeL - the Michigan eLibrary
As a researcher or as an educator, the MeL collection of databases should be very helpful to you and to your students. Several of the major FLITE databases are available as free online resources to the citizens of Michigan, provided by the Library of Michigan without charge. Use this valuable tool yourself, and promote it to your students: MeL - the Michigan eLibrary Click on MeL Databases for a list of available resources, including Academic OneFile, ERIC, and Educator's Reference Complete. When you are not in a library, you will need to use either your Michigan library card barcode number or your Michigan Driver's License/ID number to access the databases.
Writing Assistance
The Ferris Writing Center offers free assistance to all FSU students, faculty, and staff. In addition to tutoring help on-campus, the Writing Center will do tutoring online, including reviews of research papers and citation consultations. Don't pass up this opportunity for help.
The OWL - Purdue University Online Writing Lab (http://owl.english.purdue.edu/) is an invaluable reference for writing research papers. Covering everything from creating a thesis statement and coping with writer's block to formatting citations and the principles of academic writing, this comprehensive web site is a resource tool for every paper you'll ever need to write.
APA Citations
Check out our Citations web page for help with your references and bibliographies! Avoid plagiarism by properly citing your sources.
The following link provides information on how to use APA:
Citation Style Guide: APA (PDF)
An APA Citation Style guide with examples created by FLITE.
The APA Style Guide from OWL (Purdue University Online Writing Lab)
Copies of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition, are located in the Reference section near the FLITE Oval Information Desk at FLITE itself, or you can contact any academic library near you to take a look at a copy of the manual. Or, just call (231-591-3602) or chat with the Librarian working the desk for help.
KnightCite and Son of Citation Machine - Help with Citations
KnightCite, a tool prepared by the Hekman Library at Calvin College, will help you format your citations properly if you are having trouble figuring out the proper form.
Son of Citation Machine is a tool which you can use to create bibliographies. Please be aware that you will have to review your bibliography to ensure it is correct.
KnightCite
(www.knightcite.com)
Son of Citation Machine
(http://citationmachine.net)
Contact: Kristen Motz / Email / Phone: 231-591-3625 / Office: FLITE 140H
Don't forget, you are welcome to come to the Oval Information Desk and ask for help any time. You can also call us 231-591-3602 or chat with us.
Make an appointment for a research consultation with a librarian - one-on-one personal library help.
Last update: September 4, 2012