Dialogue JournalsOverview of technique; see Wineberg's book Chapter xxx for more information. When Wineberg captured the essential differences between how a historian thinks and a student (even a very good, A.P. level student), he did it by having historians and students "talk back" to the text. The dialogue with the text captured the thinking process of each reader, and illustrated the differences between "historical thinking" and just decoding or comprehending the text. The chart blank below gives a very basic form for kids to follow when doing this activity, but it can be done just as well on a blank piece of paper. (The chart below works well when students are reading text on the internet because it can be saved to their desktop, then uploaded to a site like www.turnitin.com or sent to the teacher's email). On the left side of the chart, students record text from the source they are reading (along with page numbers, if they want the reference or the teacher wants them to note it). On the right side of the chart, students write down their thinking process as they are reading the text. The teacher should model this technique several times in class before asking students to read and complete a dialogue journal independently. (This also works well as a popcorn reading/guided practice in the early stages: Johnny reads three sentences, then calls, "popcorn, Anna!" Anna now chooses between reading or saying aloud what she was thinking as Johnny read.) It is important for early assignments to stress that the number of reflections is not the goal; rather, capturing the student's thought process is the goal. As the year goes on, the teacher can modify the goal of capturing the student's though process. The teacher collects the charts and can do a variety of things with them:
Click here for a blank dialogue journal chart.
Click here for a sample of student work from early in the year on the French Revolution.
Click here for a sample of student work from later in the fall semester on World War I.
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