Derrick's Post for 4/27

Reading History: A Practical Guide to Improving Literacy

Chapter 3: Making Learning Meaningful

            In Chapter 3, Allen focuses on effective strategies that not only help students understand history, but help transcend it to different aspects of their lives.  Through such methods students will learn to “analyze, synthesize, apply, and extend their learning into independent learning and historical expertise” as text critics (P. 63).  I agree with Lindquist and Selwyn (2000, 19) that by incorporating students’ experience into lessons teachers make the content more relatable, therefore increase the likelihood of students learning.

            Two methods I found interesting are the Multiple Sources: Multiple Perspective and RAFT.  The Multiple Sources: Multiple Perspectives strategy uses a specific graphic organizer (Allen, 2000, 2002) to helps students sort information and description from multiple sources.  By examining multiple sources students are give the opportunity to see different points of view for an event they might not have been aware of before.  Christine used this strategy to help students explore different perspectives on the Vietnam conflict they were studying, since many debatable issues can arise from this topic.

The RAFT strategy promotes both reading and writing (Santa, 1998) with the assistance of a graphic organizer (Allen, 2004).  RAFT stands R – role, A – audience, F – format, and T – topic.  Students must be able to “think critically about their reading and study in order to take on a new role, match the audience to the role, create a format that would fit that role, and cover specified topics from the content” (P. 75).  For example, Christine’s students creatively brainstormed these four categories for their study of the Great Depression then chose a role, which ranged from journalists to people living in Hoovervilles.  These roles could use a variety of writing formats students explored to address their audience in a creative manner, such as letters, interviews, reports, and new articles.

I personally like both these strategies because it can be combined to form a cumulative assignment.  The RAFT strategy would assess students’ knowledge on a topic while the Multiple Sources: Multiple Perspective strategy would assess how students accurately research and evaluate sources, thereby further building upon their own knowledge.  Also, both strategies inform teachers how critically and analytically students can read and write in order to provide more help to students if needed.

Reading History: A Practical Guide to Improving Literacy

Chapter 4: Best Practice in Reading History

In Chapter 4, Allen explains how to create independent and self-motivated learners, which is what teachers hope their students become.  Although, there are many paths to achieve this goal no-one specific method is entirely correct, but “there are effective practices that create a foundation of support for making our study and reading of history accessible, informative, and enjoyable” (P. 92).

One way to do this is working from a theory base where teachers are continuously encouraged to build and refine other three critical areas; examining the needs of the learners in our classrooms, translating theory into practice, and using the theories we have inside our heads.  In following this theory base to plan a curriculum, instruction, and assessment teachers become reflective practitioners.  In order to determine, which students need choice, resources, support, and connections.  Through this teachers “examine the needs of students, the success and failures of plans, and the ways we ask students to demonstrate their learning” (P.95).  Reflective practitioners may also use feedback to examine how effective their chosen resources where in meeting students’ needs.

A few methods I particularly liked were use of students questions to inform curriculum and instruction, use of thematic approach to reading, use of graphic organizers and writing to help make abstract content more accessible and understandable, and use of supplemental resources (young adult fiction, nonfiction, informational texts, poetry, periodicals, historical newspapers, and artifacts).  These are things my CPD mentor incorporated into his activities on a daily basis because he truly believed in mixing things up in order to keep students interested and relevant.  Like a reflective practitioner he self-examined his lessons after each period and adjusted accordingly to make it more effective.