United States History to 1877

Skills

SUGGESTED INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Provide opportunities for the students to view and work with primary and secondary source documents throughout the study of United States History to 1877.
• Conduct activities for students to identify and interpret primary and secondary source documents to increase understanding of events and life in United States history to 1877.
• Use the Word Sort Strategy.
  H. Taba, Teacher's Handbook for Elementary Social Studies Reading, Mass.: Addison-Wesley, 1967.
• Have the students complete a grouping and labeling activity prior to reading a primary source document. This word sort activity helps students predict and clarify the meanings of words and the upcoming text. The teacher might list the words thought to be unfamiliar or ask the students to brainstorm about the topic and identify such words. The teacher might provide the labels or ask the students to determine the categories. This activity requires classification, deductive reasoning, inference, and prediction. A similar activity after reading can help students absorb and comprehend the vocabulary essential to the topic of the primary or secondary source document.
• Assign the students to small groups, and instruct them to sort the words into categories, either predetermined by the teacher or developed by the students. The use of file cards is recommended.
• Model for the students the rationale for categorization of some of the words.
• Encourage students to verbalize the rationale for their categorization as well.
• Use the Group Summarizing Strategy.
  W. M. Olson and T. C. Gee, "Content Reading Instruction in Primary Grades: Perceptions and Strategies," The Reading Teacher 45 (1991): 298-307.
• Summarizing is difficult, and students need to be shown a variety of ways to perfect their skill at this. Rules, models, graphic organizers, and collaboration are all effective. The Group Summarizing strategy, based on the work of M. W. Olson and T. C. Gee, allows students to divide a text into manageable portions and to learn from each other during and after the summarizing process.
• Choose or write an informational text on the instructional level of students that has four subheadings in it. Distribute the text, and instruct the students to read it.
• Instruct the students to divide a piece of paper into four parts; do the same with a piece of chart paper for modeling and for posting student work.
• Model putting each of the subheadings into a quadrant of the chart paper, and have the students do the same on their paper.
• Divide the class into four groups, and assign each group one portion of the text to reread and summarize, using the back of the divided paper for drafting.
• Instruct students to record their group summary in the appropriate quadrant on their personal divided paper. Post the four group summaries in the appropriate quadrants on the chart paper, and have each group present their summary to the rest of the class. Have the students write the summaries presented by each group on their divided papers.
• Use the About/Point Strategy.
  R. F. Morgan, J. W. Meeks, A. Schollaert, and J. Paul, Critical Reading/Thinking Skills for the College Student (Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt, 1986).
• The About/Point strategy, developed by Morgan, Meeks, Schollaert, and Paul, is a versatile strategy for informational, persuasive, and expository text. With it, readers need to find the subject of the text and state it succinctly; they must enumerate the points made, as well. With such a chart, students can find and record the main idea as well as the supporting details. They can also recognize the author's viewpoint or bias. Teacher modeling is essential.
• Choose and distribute a sample primary or secondary source document. Read the text to the students, or assign them to read it with partners.
• Distribute and display an About/Point Chart, and model its use. Demonstrate, using Think-Aloud, how to find and record the main idea in as few words as possible in the space next to ABOUT. Demonstrate, using Think-Aloud, how to find and record the supporting details in the bulleted space next to POINT. In this space, the author's viewpoint can be highlighted as well.
• Choose and distribute another short text on the independent reading level of students. Assign the students to read the text, individually or with partners.
• Instruct the students to complete an About/Point Chart for this text. Discuss the student answers with the class, listing all the points made on a group About/Point Chart. There should be a fair amount of agreement about the main idea and a fair amount of variation in the points list.
• Repeat often with increasingly complex texts.

WEB SITES

http://www.archives.gov/education/lessons
Teaching With Documents: Lesson Plans from the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/97/firsthand/main.html
History Firsthand Primary Source Research in Elementary School from the Library of Congress Memory Project: Learning Page

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/lessons/fw.html
Library of Congress Learning Page: Framework for Using Primary Sources with Students

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/colonial.htm
Resources for grades kindergarten through 12 from James Madison University about Colonial America from 1600-1775

Copyright ©2008 Prince William Network/Virginia Department of Education