ESU 13, Scottsbluff, Nebraska February 17, 2014 Randal M. Ernst INQUIRY, ENGAGEMENT, & HISTORICAL THINKING: TRANSFORMING TEACHING AND LEARNING

ABOUT ME

WITH GRATITUDE Kevin Bower, Nebraska Wesleyan University Susan Wunder and Kathy Wilson, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Michelle, Penny, Terry Teresa Wanser Art and Jane

REVIEW OF MORNING OBJECTIVES 1.Explain the importance of engagement relative to learning 2.Explain the concept of historical thinking as a means to engage students with history 3.Use close reading as a strategy allowing us to read for deeper meaning

AFTERNOON SESSION OBJECTIVES By the end of the afternoon, participants should 1.Have a proficient understanding of historical thinking 2.Be able to teach students how to think critically using close reading

How do you respond to good news? ACR (active, constructive) PCR (passive, constructive) ADR (active, destructive) PDR (passive, destructive) REVIEW & PRACTIC ACTIVE CONSTRUCTIVE RESPONDING

REVIEW: WHAT IS HISTORY? Historia A verb “knowledge acquired through investigation” Students->Detectives

WHAT IS HISTORICAL THINKING? A PROCESS to get to The PRODUCT

HISTORICAL THINKING: THE PROCESS OF discovering how we know what is and what is not true about the past “doing history” rather than memorizing a set of facts

PARTS OF HISTORICAL THINKING Note that we typically teach Historical Thinking through an Inquiry Based Teaching Model. There are other options, but we will not have time to review them today. If you are interested, check out the SHEG website ( and look at Structured Academic Controversy and Opening up the Textbook

CREATING AND TEACHING A HISTORICAL THINKING LESSON 1.Frame the Inquiry. 2.Consider Perspectives, Gather Resources (and build knowledge)

CREATING AND TEACHING A HISTORICAL THINKING LESSON 1.Frame the Inquiry. 2.Consider Perspectives, Gather Resources (and build knowledge) 3.Apply the Skills (chosen to meet your objective). Note: This is where a multiple reading strategy (like this morning) could apply.

CREATING AND TEACHING A HISTORICAL THINKING LESSON 1.Frame the Inquiry. 2.Consider Perspectives, Gather Resources (and build knowledge) 3.Apply the Skills (chosen to meet your objective). 4.Drawing Conclusions (students drawing conclusions, that is) NOTE: This is another opportunity to use creative strategies. Lots of graphic organizers and cooperative learning strategies (Kagan, History Alive!, etc.) can be adapted to fit this phase.

CREATING AND TEACHING A HISTORICAL THINKING LESSON 1.Frame the Inquiry. 2.Consider Perspectives, Gather Resources (and build knowledge). 3.Apply the Skills (chosen to meet your objective). 4.Drawing Conclusions (students drawing conclusions, that is). 5.Demonstrating Historical Understanding. NOTE: This is where summative assessment comes into play. It doesn’t always have to be a test. There are, of course, many ways to demonstrate understanding.

BIG FIVE SKILLS Sourcing Contextualization Corroboration Close Reading Using Multiple Perspectives

SOURCING Before reading the document ask 4 questions: 1. Who wrote this? 2. Why was it written? 3. When was it written? 4. Is it believable? Why? What might make it questionable?

CONTEXTUALIZATION What was the time and place in which the document was created? What was different? What was the same? How did the circumstances in which the document was created affect its content?

CORROBORATION What do other sources say? Do the sources agree? If not, why? What are other possible sources? What sources are most believable? (also called cross-checking)

USING MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES Multiple sources Missing information Whose voice would we like to hear? Can we access that voice? Misinformation (corroboration?)

WHAT IS CLOSE READING? practices and strategies that allow students to engage more deeply with a text emphasizes how our students access and draw meaning from text allows us to access the Big 5 skills of Historical Thinking

FIRST READ: TEACHER TIPS read with a pencil in hand. No talking during the reading. Pair and Share During discussion, instruct students to answer only the questions asked.

Source the document Main idea LET’S CLOSE READ AND APPLY THE SKILLS

SOURCING DOCUMENT (WRITE THESE THINGS DOWN) 1. Who wrote this? 2. Why was it written? 3. When was it written? 4. Is it believable? Why? What might make it questionable?

FIRST READ DISCUSSION What is the main point of the document? Who wrote it? When was it written? Why was it written? Is it believable?

SECOND READ: TEACHER TIPS 1.Using a different color of pen might be helpful to students. 2.Requiring students to use text evidence when answering your questions. 3.This is a good time to create “teachable moments” by reminding students of the skills and prompting them to access prior knowledge from your course.

CONTEXTUALIZATION What was the time and place in which the document was created? What was different then? What’s was the same? How did the circumstances in which the document was created affect its content? Circle the key words or phrases that support your the notion of context idea

DOCUMENT 2

NEXT STEPS: CORROBORATION Let’s add a new document to the mix. We’ll close read this document using a different strategy than the one we used this morning.

CORROBORATION What do other sources say? Do the sources agree? If not, why? What are other possible sources? What sources are most believable? (also called cross-checking)

THIRD READ Read the document again. Remember that we read documents with a pen or pencil in our hand. Using evidence from the text, write a paragraph answering “what did liberated former slaves value about freedom?”

THIRD READ DISCUSSION Please discuss your answer with your shoulder partner. What evidence was used?

THIRD READ: TEACHER TIPS 1.The possibilities are endless. We focused on a summative assessment. 2.Build on this exercise by adding more documents (and we will this afternoon). 3.Create a “historical vocabulary” we can return to throughout the school year (comparisons across time and place).

PROBLEM: FINDING USEABLE DOCUMENTS Resources for Finding Documents Library of Congress, loc.gov National Archives, archives.gov

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS RESOURCES

NATIONAL ARCHIVES RESOURCES

FINISHED LESSON PLANS

SUMMER WORKSHOPS

CLOSURE (REMINDERS) 1.Close Reading helps access the other skills of Historical Thinking. 2.The skills are not natural. We must help students develop these skills. 3.When using close reading: a. Provide a direct task for each reading. b. Remind students to read with a pencil in hand. c. Consistently require students to use text evidence in answering questions. d. Consistently prompt students to access prior knowledge and corroborate with other resources (“the textbook is a good servant but a bad master….”)

CLASS IS OVER Go back and look at your notes. Consider how you felt after each reading. How did your understanding of this document deepen over time? What allowed this to happen?

THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING!

WELCOME TO MR. ERNST’S 4 TH PERIOD U.S. HISTORY CLASS 1.Read document #1. Remember that we read documents with a pen or pencil in our hand. 2.In one or two full sentences, write down the main point, or gist, of the document. 3.Framing question: What did liberated former slaves value about freedom