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 profiles

Students 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.  

• Select four to six newspapers from this event; they should span two or three days and should feature engaging photos or large headlines.
• Using an ELMO or other projector, ask the class to look at all four newspapers.  Tell them that as a history publisher, you can feature only one newspaper as a graphic in the newest history text you are producing.
• Now ask students to answer the following question in writing, using examples from the papers they viewed:  "Which newspaper would be the best source for this event (assuming you can only pick one)?"  Their answer should include why the papers they didn't pick aren't as suitable.  Alternate assignment:  have students select the "best" elements from the four options to create the "perfect" newspaper for their history book.
• Share with the class how disasters happen so quickly that "news" has to be rewritten before it makes the history book.  Would the knowledge that the newspapers could be factually incorrect change their choice?  Why/why not? 
• Extension activity:  Now direct students to the Library of Congress's "Chronicling America" website, with newspapers from all over the country.  Select an event in the unit of time you are studying and have students analyze the newspapers using any primary source analysis tool. 

COMPARING TEXTBOOKS

This 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.)

1. Have small groups of students read different passages about the same event.  If you have three accounts, the groups should be of three.  [It is possible to differentiate reading by assigning the students to groups and giving the readings out personally.]

2. Each student should do the same activity as they read:  Note the subject and the verb in each sentence.  If the sentence is in the passive voice, the students must write in the margins who the subject would be if the sentence was in the active voice.  When done reading, students write their observations about the reading on the reverse side (or in their notes).  

3. When the entire team is done reading, each student shares in turn a) who is responsible for the events in the passage read; and b) what events happened.  Students should question each other and their own source as each person presents.

4. Students now discuss as a team a) which events are the most important for the reader to know about; and b) rewrite the story, using the active voice, to give what they think is the best account of this event.

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.