Students as Historians in the ClassroomStrategies for teaching students how to think like historians. Bob Bain studied how students internalize the different voices in history classrooms: the teacher's voice as well as their own; the voice of the textbook author or other historians; and the voices from primary sources. In order to help students reliably identify these voices, he recommends textbook language analysis (along the lines of Mary Schleppegrell's work). He also recommends students actively construct history. The strategies below give some ideas about how teachers can have students do this in the classroom.
FAKEBOOK/FARCEBOOK profilesStudents created a profile page for a historical figure mentioned in one of the standards, then created wall posts and messages for that historical figure from contemporaries. Students had to research the historical figure's background to complete that person's profile. Whether teachers on our team used the template(s) for this project given below, or purchased poster paper for students to write on from vendors like Teachers' Curriculum Resource, we noticed that students were extremely motivated to complete the project. They were able to modernize the kinds of social interactions figures might have had and correctly identified probable networks and friends. Peer grading the project can be a part of the assessment as well, since students who have been assigned the same figure can argue about whether a particular post or message is likely. In fact, many students wanted to see other students' pages. We would not recommend, however, actually posting the assignments online unless students upload their work to a plagarism-checking website such as www.turnitin.com. Fakebook profile template: Background information Fakebook wall template: Networks of interests, friends, photos, and events
NEWSPAPER HEADLINES (ANALYSIS/WRITING)This strategy can be done any time a big news story that engages the students happens.
Your discussion about the newspapers of today's events should change the way they look at the newspapers of yesterday and add to their critical thinking.
COMPARING TEXTBOOKSThis strategy can be done with any controversial event in the textbook; the trick is finding the same event in an older textbook (try using yours from your school days, if you still have it!). For some passages from bygone textbooks, you can also search History in the Making for length- or age-appropriate passages. (NPR profiled author Kyle Roy Ward at this link.)
It is not necessary for students to know what "really" happened when this activity finishes; the whole-class discussion should focus instead on what the motives of the authors were. In other words, why were some people portrayed as actors and others as recipients of action? Why were some depicted as acting defensively rather than offensively? Because many older texts feature lots of passive voice writing, be sure to select textbook passages that make the point clearly; this requires some planning on the teacher's part. Document Actions
|