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 SOURCESPrimary 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

TopicA. Read to Learn and Construct Meaning about Social

StudiesIndicator1.Use strategies to monitor understanding and derive

meaning from text and portions of text Objectivesd. Look back through the text to search for

connections between and among idease. Make, confirm, or adjust predictions about the textf. 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 SourcesBy 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.

D3.1.9-12. 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.

D3.2.6-8. Evaluate the credibility of a source by determining its relevance and intended use.

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 HistorianWhen 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 QUESTIONS-

Focus 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 INVESTIGATIONSourcing

o What is the text?o Who created it and when?

Close Reading and Asking Supporting Questionso What does the text say explicitly?o What claim does the author/creator make?o What evidence does the author/creator make?o What is the author’s/creator’s perspective?o What is its purpose?o Does this text seem credible? Why or why not?

Contextualizing o What else was going on at the historic time this source was created?o What else was going on during this time (historic setting)?o How did the historic setting influence the creation of the text?

 Corroboratingo Where do the multiple texts agree and disagree?o Which texts are more reliable?o Which 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?