A Case Study of Rural Elementary Teachers Integrating Social Studies with the Science of Reading

This study presents a qualitative case study that occurred in a rural school and was bound to the seven second and third grade teachers who taught English Language Arts, their instructional coach, and their 106 students over the 14 weeks they participated. The researchers provided professional development around supporting linguistic comprehension with interactive social studies read alouds. Data sources included professional development materials, lesson plans, videos/transcripts of lessons, grade-level debriefing interviews, individual teacher exit interviews, student artifacts, and instructional materials. The data coding process utilized a priori and open coding. Findings indicate teachers a) recognize social studies aligns with the Science of Reading, b) had a high level of implementation when pairing social studies content knowledge with textual knowledge, and c) implemented strategies aligned with active-self regulation the least. Implications for linguistic comprehension instruction and professional development within the context of Science of Reading are discussed.