Teaching History – Effective Strategies
What is thinking? o Observing closely and describing what’s there o Building explanations/ interpretations o Reasoning with evidence o Making connections o Considering different viewpoints and perspectives o Capturing the heart and forming conclusions
 Business Day and product selling/ explanation of how local businesses impact local community based on products sold o Wondering and asking questions o Uncovering complexity and going below the surface of things o Identifying patterns and making generalizations o Generating possibilities and alternatives o Evaluating evidence, arguments, and actions o Formulating plans and monitoring actions o Identifying claims, assumptions, and bias o Clarifying priorities, conditions and what is known
What is historical thinking? o Events o Cause and Effect o Perspectives o Chronological o Connections to past, presents, and future o Reasoning with evidence o Determining motivates
What do historians do? o Continually, examine and evaluate history to provide historical evidence and alternative interpretations o Write books, journals, etc. o THINK
Why study history? o Sticky History o We should study history to learn about how our past has affected the present.
o History provides us with perspectives from the past. o History allows us to look at past issues and how they were solved to not repeat the past.
 Allow students to compare and contrast current issues.
 Allow students to interact with past issues and have them figure out a way to solve the issue and compare to how it was solved o Identify patterns o Know where we came from and how we got where we are

o A sense of pride for where and appreciation of where we came from o Helps understand our own culture o People in history provide lessons in courage, diligence, achievement o Provides identity o Good Citizenship o Learn important skills o Understand people and societies o Understand change o Remedy for selfishness
Historical Thinking:
• Chronological Thinking
• Distinguish between past, present, and future time
• Identify the temporal structure of a story or historical narrative
• Establish temporal order in their own narratives
• Measure and calculate calendar time
• Interpret data presented in time lines (create time lines)
• Reconstruct patterns of historical succession and duration (continuity and change)
• Compare alternative models of periodization (eras)
• Examples:
• Give students papers with pictures or/and words have them line in order without talking. (Chronological)
• Ideas:
• Have students make a visual timeline of the events of the local community
(Chronological).
• Historical Comprehension (vocabulary)
• Identify the author or source of the historical document or narrative and assess its credibility
• Reconstruct the literal meaning of a historical passage
• Identify the central question(s) the historical narrative addresses
• Differentiate between historical facts and historical interpretations

• Read historical narratives imaginatively
• Appreciate historical perspectives
• Draw upon data in historical maps
• Utilize visual, mathematical, and qualitative data
• Examples:
• Human statue- allowed students to learn about an important/impactful person and then how to demonstrate the information through a statue.
• Ideas:
• Having students compare historical maps to what our maps look like today to see how the world has changed.
• Have students do plays.
• Historical Analysis and Interpretation
• Compare and contrast differing sets of ideas
• Consider multiple perspectives
• Draw comparisons across eras and regions in order to define enduring issues
• Distinguish between unsupported expressions of opinion and informed hypotheses grounded in historical evidence
• Compare competing historical narratives
• Hold interpretations of history as tentative
• Hypothesize the influence of the past
• Examples:
• Games, plays, and cause & effect
• Performance tasks
• Fish bowl
• Talk show (controversial topics/ public issues): talk show host, then experts on the topic, commercial for each viewpoint ( four different groups a least)
• Simulations

• Debates
• Tips: Data Sheets/ Rubrics for different stages
• Clues that point to different ideas/ have to back up with evidence
• Different perspectives
Ideas:
• Students could get different clues about how people, goods, and ideas move throughout a community.
• Students could be given different perspectives about an issue from different cultures and have them sort them by cultures and then explain how each perspective differs and is similar.
• 3 words: Chronological, comprehension, and analyze
• Two Questions: How did the world operate in the past compared to the present? What is your interpretation of history?
• Other classmates Questions: How can you teach students to analyze if they have poor comprehension ability?
• Metaphor: Historical thinking is like your brain. Since your brain is composed of many different parts you have to use them to function.
• Historical Research Capabilities
• Formulate historical questions- What are historical questions?
• Cause/effects
• Connections to today
• Ask consistent questions … teach students routines
• Obtain historical data from a variety of sources
• Interrogate historical data
• Contextual knowledge of the time and place
• Employ quantitative analysis- look at stats and analysis
• Support interpretations with historical evidence
• Making sure you use both sides of the story

• Slavery
• 5 th Grade
• Simulation of Underground Railroad
• Simulation of working as a slave or plantation owner
• Books on the slavery/ freedom
• Relate to the world now days and issue, such a trafficking
• Have students create a freedom song
• Have students debate and pick sides of North and South
• Other students ideas: wax museum/ culture of slaves/ what it would be like to travel oversees/ famous slave- act who they are for the whole day/ interaction of white Northern or Southern
Video
The teacher talks to the students using higher vocabulary. The teacher also asks students to inquire and remember what they have learned by questioning them. The teacher is constantly questioning the students. She is wanting the students to express their thoughts not just what the book says. Modeling!!
Two Strategies/ note words she uses to the students
Different People. Different lives: empathy, tolerance and respect
The Cay book
Book Slave ship to freedom road/ better understand of the slave trade
See- think- wonder routine (Work in groups) o Look at the painting and focus hard on the painting- what do we see? What are we wondering about? o Then look at the words o Feeding off each other
Sentence- phrase-word routine o Captures big idea (sentence), phrase tells you what is going on, the word is something significant. o Looks for students to explain their choices and thinking.
The strategies provide students to explore their own perspectives of the slave trade and discuss the information about the slave trade.
Looking for connections with the story and what they have learned. How the students react to the story? The students are building the story together.
Look at the themes that the author is conveying. They look at implications as well. How does it relate to the present events?

I wonder: What modifications would you use for a LD or ELL student?
• Examples:
• Ideas:
• Historical Issues – Analysis and Decision-Making
• Identify the issue or problem in the past
• Look at the factors that created the problem (antecedents)
• Look at similar problems from the past
• Evaluate alternative courses of action
• Formulate a position or course of action on an issue
• Evaluate the implementation of a decision
• Examples:
• Role-play a family situation
• Ideas:
• Watch video – Add bullet points beneath the following outline
• Multiple Accounts & Perspectives
• Analysis of Primary Sources
• Sourcing
• Understanding Historical Context
• Claim-Evidence Connection
• How do these five areas fit with what we just talked about?
• Go back through the notes you just took
• List activities that could be used with each of the five above
• Role Playing
• Teacher centered instruction ( Make it Better )
• Stop every few minutes to ask a thinking question; students can TPS- check for understanding

• Structured Note taking
• Pictures/Videos
• Tell a story
• Model Thinking
• Keeping it sticky:
• Simple
• Unexpected
• Concrete
• Credible
• Emotional
• Story
3 words: analysis, comprehensive, and perspective
2 Questions: How do teachers help students with a learning disability or ELL students analyze historical information? How can teachers assist students who have a learning disability to share their perspectives?
Metaphor: Historical thinking is like a brain with many different nerves and pathways functioning to learn how to question, analyze information, and understand other perspectives.
Social Studies Technology:
Needs: Practice with Smart Boards, Practice with explaining how to use certain technology.
Excites you: Opportunities that it brings to the students to learn
Suggestions: Have a list of technology available. Provide ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. What are technology techniques that you have used?
Worries: Not being able to use the technology, not being able to explain how to use technology well.