Transcript Slide 1

Engaging Students in History: Analyzing
Sources and Writing Historic Arguments
In many states and districts, teachers and their
students are preparing to meet guidelines and take
examinations that require close attention to single
documents. The educational benefits from such an
approach can be numerous: students learn to read
closely, to interpret documents in historical context,
to ground argument in concrete evidence, and to
explicate large historical meanings from primary
sources. But perhaps above all, such documents
can be a stimulus to the imagination. They can
“humanize” history. And once the imagination is
engaged, there is no limit to learning.
James G. Basker, Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. (2004)
WHAT ARE PRIMARY SOURCES
AND WHY SHOULD WE HAVE
STUDENTS USE THEM?
PRIMARY V. SECONDARY SOURCES
Primary sources are
the direct evidence of a
time and place that you
are studying – any
material (documents,
objects, etc.) that was
produced by
eyewitnesses or
participants in an event
or historical moment
under investigation
Secondary sources, in
contrast, are interpretations
– often generated by
scholars – that are based
upon the examination of
multiple primary sources.
WHY USE PRIMARY SOURCES
Primary sources provide a window into the past—unfiltered
access to the record of artistic, social, scientific and
political thought and achievement during the specific
period under study, produced by people who lived
during that period.
Bringing young people into
close contact with these
unique, often profoundly
personal, documents
and objects can give
them a very real sense
of what it was like to be
alive during a past era.
WE SHOULD USE PRIMARY SOURCES TO…
1. Engage students
2. Develop critical thinking skills
3. Construct knowledge
4. Defend a thesis in a historical argument
ENGAGE STUDENTS
Primary sources help students relate in a
personal way to events of the past and promote
a deeper understanding of history as a series
of human events.
Because primary sources are snippets of history,
they encourage students to seek additional
evidence through research.
First-person accounts of events helps make them
more real, fostering active reading and
response
DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
Many state standards support teaching with
primary sources, which require students to be
both critical and analytical as they read and
examine documents and objects.
Primary sources are often incomplete and have
little context. Students must use prior
knowledge and work with multiple primary
sources to find patterns.
DEVELOP CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS
In analyzing primary sources, students move from
concrete observations and facts to questioning
and making inferences about the materials.
Questions of creator bias, purpose, and point of
view may challenge students’ assumptions
CONSTRUCT KNOWLEDGE
Inquiry into primary sources encourages students
to wrestle with contradictions and compare
multiple sources that represent differing points
of view, confronting the complexity of the past.
CONSTRUCT KNOWLEDGE
Students construct knowledge as they form
reasoned conclusions, base their conclusions
on evidence, and connect primary sources to
the context in which they were created,
synthesizing information from multiple sources.
CONSTRUCT KNOWLEDGE
Integrating what they glean from comparing
primary sources with what they already know,
and what they learn from research, allows
students to construct content knowledge and
deepen understanding.
(National Archives website)
WHAT DOES COMMON CORE SAY?
Reading Standards for Literacy in History/Social Studies 6–12
Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:
7. Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and
media, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.
8. Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a
text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the
relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.
9. Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics
in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the
authors take.
WHAT DOES COMMON CORE SAY?
Anchor Standards for Writing Research to Build and Present Knowledge
7. Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects
based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of
the subject under investigation.
8. Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital
sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and
integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
9. Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support
analysis, reflection, and research.
WHAT DOES THE STATE CURRICULUM SAY?
6.0 CONTENT STANDARD: SOCIAL STUDIES SKILLS AND PROCESSES
Topic
A. Read to Learn and Construct Meaning about Social Studies
Indicator
1. Use strategies to monitor understanding and derive meaning
from text and portions of text
Objectives
d. Look back through the text to search for connections between
and among ideas
e. Make, confirm, or adjust predictions about the text
f. Periodically summarize or paraphrase important ideas while
reading
WHAT DOES THE C3 SAY?
C3 College, Career & Civic Life for Social Studies State Standards
DIMENSION 3 includes the skills students need
to analyze information and come to conclusions
in an inquiry. These skills focus on gathering
and evaluating sources, and then developing
claims and using evidence to support those
claims.
WHAT DOES THE C3 SAY?
Dimension 3, Gathering and Evaluating Sources
By the End of Grade 8:
By the End of Grade 12:
Individually and with others, students construct compelling questions, and …
D3.1.6-8. Gather relevant information
from multiple sources while using the
origin, authority, structure, context,
and corroborative value of the sources
to guide the selection.
D3.2.6-8. Evaluate the credibility of a
source by determining its relevance
and intended use.
D3.1.9-12. Gather relevant
information from multiple sources
representing a wide range of views
while using the origin, authority,
structure, context, and corroborative
value of the sources to guide the
selection.
D3.2.9-12. Evaluate the credibility of
a source by examining how experts
value the source.
LET’S LOOK AT C3 FRAMEWORKS D2, HISTORY
D2.His.11.9-12. Critique the usefulness of historical
sources for a specific historical inquiry based on their
maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and
purpose
D2.His.16.9-12. Integrate evidence from multiple
relevant historical sources and interpretations into a
reasoned argument about the past.
D2.His.17.9-12. Critique the central arguments in
secondary works of history on related topics in
multiple media in terms of their historical accuracy
LET’S BEGIN WITH WHAT HISTORIANS DO?
“Thinking and Acting” Like a Historian
When Historians think and act, they…

Construct arguments using claims and evidence from multiple
sources

Construct explanations using reasoning, correct sequence,
examples, and details with relevant information and data

Present arguments and explanations to others outside the
classroom using print and oral technologies and digital
technologies

Critique the arguments and explanations for credibility
Copyright @ 2012 by Maryland State Department of Education , Modified from C3
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF
HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION?
 Students
sources of information
(primary & secondary) to write
persuasive arguments.
WHAT DOES THE HISTORICAL INVESTIGATION MODEL LOOK LIKE?
ENGAGE THE STUDENTS
 Provide historic context by reading or sharing
a secondary source.
 Explain to the students that they will be using
several documents to address a compelling
question.
 Use a map, broadside, poem, political
cartoon, or journal entry to hook the students’
attention.
 Target the inquiry with a compelling question.
COMPELLING QUESTIONS…
Compelling questions focus on enduring issues and
concerns….and unresolved issues that require
students to construct arguments in response.
•
“Was the American Revolution revolutionary?”
•
Where is the balance between personal
freedoms and the common good?
SUPPORTING QUESTIONSFocus on descriptions, definitions, and processes
that require students to construct arguments in
response. They guide the development of an inquiry
into a compelling question:
“Does the second amendment support
‘stand your ground?“
CONDUCT THE INVESTIGATION:
 Teachers
and/or students collect relevant
and sometimes conflicting primary
sources that provide intrigue.
 Students
do an initial read and analysis
individually and prepare notes and
evidence for discussions in small groups.
THE HEART OF THE INVESTIGATION
Sourcing
oWhat is the text?
oWho created it and when?
Close Reading and Asking Supporting Questions
oWhat does the text say explicitly?
oWhat claim does the author/creator make?
oWhat evidence does the author/creator make?
oWhat is the author’s/creator’s perspective?
oWhat is its purpose?
oDoes this text seem credible? Why or why not?
Contextualizing
oWhat else was going on at the historic time this source was created?
oWhat else was going on during this time (historic setting)?
oHow did the historic setting influence the creation of the text?
Corroborating
oWhere do the multiple texts agree and disagree?
oWhich texts are more reliable?
oWhich are the best texts for answering the compelling question?
DISCUSSIONS

Students will work together in small groups and
share their interpretations of the compelling
question citing documents as evidence.
Supportive questions may be addressed at this
time.

Multiple interpretations can emerge and may or
may not be accepted by all.
WRITING HISTORICAL ARGUMENTS
REPORT FINDINGS:

Formulate an argument/opinion that answers the compelling
question citing evidence from the sources:
When you write an opinion piece/argument, remember:
 Reasoning used in building an argument should be logical and
clear.
 Arguments should have a beginning, middle, and end;
beginning with author’s claim.
 Cite evidence from multiple sources.
 Some arguments can include an opposing or alternative
opinion (younger students will need support to identify this
element).
WHY SHOULD TEACHERS USE
THIS MODEL?
It engages students
 It fosters higher level thinking skills
 It cultivates the relevancy of history
 It provides another way to assess student
understanding
 Connects C3 to CCSS

WHY SHOULD TEACHERS USE THIS MODEL?
HISTORICAL INVESGTIGATIONS
HOW MIGHT THIS CHANGE HOW YOU TEACH
HISTORY?