Common Core State
Standards Professional
Learning Module Series
Content Literacy in
History/Social Studies 6-12
Unit 2: Close Reading in
History/Social Studies
CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Tom Torlakson, State Superintendent of Public Instruction
Unit 2: Learning Objectives
• Understand how the practice of close reading can be used to address the
CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy, the CA Historical and Social Sciences
Analysis Skills, and the CA History-Social Science Standards.
• Explore how to use central, inquiry-based questions to guide students’
close reading of history/social studies sources.
• Examine several ways to direct students to use text-dependent questions
to analyze the evidence of primary and secondary sources.
• Consider approaches to aiding English Learners and students with
disabilities in accessing and analyzing text in history/social studies.
• Explore a process for guiding students in collaborative conversations to
discuss the evidence and argument of history/social studies sources.
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What is Close Reading?
Close reading practices:
• Focus on text meaning
• Minimize background preparation/explanation
• Students must do the reading/interpretation
• Teacher asks text-dependent questions to guide
analysis
• Extend time commitments to both short and long
texts with purposeful rereading
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Multiple Reads in History/Social Studies
“When historians read primary documents, they read
at many different levels. They simultaneously pay
attention to argument, purpose, context, content and
credibility."
• Bernard Faithfull, Mentor Teacher, 2013
• Read “Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary
Documents” by Faithfull.
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Inquiry-Based Instruction for Close
Reading in History/Social Studies
• Using a central inquiry question to organize instruction:
– Promotes close reading of primary sources
– Develops students’ historical literacy skills
– Promotes 21st century skills of critical thinking and problem
solving
– Addresses standards (for example):
• CA HSS Analysis: Research, Evidence, Point of View, 6–8
1. Students frame questions that can be answered by historical
study and research.
• CA CCSS.WHST.6-8.7: Conduct short research projects to answer a
question (including a self-generated question), drawing on several
sources and generating additional related, focused questions that
allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
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College, Career, Civic Life (C3)
Framework Inquiry Arc
“The C3 Framework is centered on an Inquiry Arc-a set of interlocking
and mutually supportive ideas that frame the ways students learn social
studies content. By focusing on inquiry, the framework emphasizes the
disciplinary concepts and practices that support students as they develop
the capacity to know, analyze, explain, and argue about interdisciplinary
challenges in our social world" (p.6 ).
“The C3 Framework's Inquiry Arc is divided down into "four dimensions
for informed inquiry in the social studies: 1) Developing questions and
planning inquiries; 2) Applying disciplinary concepts and tools; 3)
Evaluating sources and using evidence; and 4) Communicating
conclusions and taking informed action" (p.17).
“Central to a rich social studies experience is the capability for
developing questions that can frame and advance an inquiry (p. 23).
C3 Framework, 2013
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Central Historical (Inquiry) Questions
“The first step in designing history instruction around complex texts is to give
students an intellectually stimulating purpose for reading. A central historical
question focuses students' attention and transforms the act of reading into a
process of active inquiry. Historical questions share two key
characteristics: 1) they are open to multiple interpretations; 2) they
direct students to the historical record, rather than to their
philosophical or moral beliefs. For example, a good historical question
asks, ‘Why did the U.S. drop the atomic bomb?’ rather than ‘Should the U.S.
have dropped the atomic bomb?’ and forces students to support their
claims with textual evidence. ‘Should’ questions, while important, too often
lead students astray, and the resulting discussion leaves the text far
behind….
The most important consideration when designing a central question is
whether it can be answered with evidence from the document, or
whether it diverts students' gaze from the textual evidence at hand.“
Reisman and Wineburg, 2012
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Central Inquiry Questions Examples
• Watch “Reading Like a Historian: Focus Questions”
– http://myboe.org/portal/default/Content/Viewer/Content?
action=2&scId=508656&sciId=16171
• Read “What is an ‘Inquiry Lesson’?”
• Sample Lessons:
– “Japanese Segregation in San Francisco” Stanford
CA HSS Standard: 11.2
– “Lincoln’s Speeches” California History-Social Science Project
CA HSS Standard: 8.10
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More Inquiry-Based Lessons
• California History-Social Science Project:
History Blueprint Units
http://chssp.ucdavis.edu/programs/historyblueprint
• Stanford History Education Group:
Reading Like a Historian Curriculum
http://sheg.stanford.edu/rlh
• Picturing Modern America
http://cct2.edc.org/PMA/
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Inquiry-Based Question Activity
• Read two documents about the meeting between
Montezuma and Cortez in 1519
– CA HSS Standards:
7.7 Students compare and contrast the geographic, political,
economic, religious, and social structures of the MesoAmerican and Andean civilizations.
– 7.7.3. Explain how and where each empire arose and how the
Aztec and Incan empires were defeated by the Spanish.
• Write a central inquiry question to guide students’ close
reading of the primary sources.
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Time to Reflect
To what extent does organizing your
classroom instruction around a central
inquiry question support, extend, or
challenge your current practices?
Explain.
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Text-Dependent Questions
“Text-dependent questions specifically ask questions
that can only be answered by explicitly referring back
to the text being read. It does not rely on any
particular background information extraneous to the
text nor depend on students having other experiences
or knowledge; instead it privileges the text itself and
what students can extract from what is before them."
– Student Achievement Partners, 2013
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HSS Text-Dependent Questions for CCR
Anchor Standards for Reading
1. Provide at least 2 quotes of evidence to support each claim.
2. What is the central idea (main claim or thesis) of the text?
What are the author’s supporting claims or reasons?
3. How does the author’s use of the word ____ emphasize the
point of the text?
4. What are the author’s occupation, religion, class, etc.? How
might that affect his/her biases and ideas? What is the
author’s purpose?
5. Evaluate the author’s argument and claims. Is the evidence
relevant and sufficient?
6. Was this source created at the time of the event, as a
remembrance, or as analysis?
History Project at UC Davis
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HSS Text-Dependent Questions Activity
• Consider the inquiry question:
– How did Pope Urban II inspire Christian Europeans to join the
First Crusade?
• Consider the CA HSS Standards:
– 7.6 Students analyze the geographic, political, economic,
religious, and social structures of the civilizations of Medieval
Europe.
– 7.6.6 Discuss the causes and course of the religious Crusades
and their effects on the Christian, Muslim, and Jewish populations
in Europe, with emphasis on the increasing contact by Europeans
with cultures of the Eastern Mediterranean world.
• Read Pope Urban II’s “Call to the First Crusade”
• Use the Sample Questions to create at least two textdependent questions for this document.
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Author’s Point of View in Standards
Reading Standards for Literacy in HSS
• RH9–10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and
secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the
information.
• RH.6–8.6 Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author’s point of view or
purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of facts).
• RH.9–10.6 Compare the point of view of two or more authors for how they treat
the same or similar topics, including which details they include and emphasize in
their respective accounts.
• RH.11–12.6 Evaluate authors’ differing points of view on the same historical
event or issue by assessing the author’s claims, reasons, and evidence.
CA HSS Analysis Skills: Research, Evidence, Point of View 6-8
• 5. Students detect the different historical points of view on historical events and
determine the context in which the historical statements were made (the
questions asked, sources used, author’s perspectives).
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Sourcing to Unpack Point of View
Sourcing asks students to consider who wrote a document as
well as the circumstances of its creation. Who authored a given
document? When? For what purpose? These questions remind
students what to ask before reading a document:
• Who wrote this?
• What is the author's perspective?
• Why was it written?
• When was it written?
• Where was it written?
• Is this source reliable? Why? Why not?"
Reading Like a Historian
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Sourcing Video
• Watch: Reading Like a Historian: Sourcing
– http://www.myboe.org/portal/default/Content/Viewer/Con
tent?action=2&scId=508656&sciId=16178
– Gulf of Tonkin Lesson
CA HSS Standard: 11.9.3
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The Importance of Context
“Primary source texts-including poetry and literature from
previous eras-do not exist in a vacuum, ready to release
universal truths to the careful reader. They are embedded
in two crucial contexts that teachers must address to help
students derive meaning from what they read."
"The first context is literary (the missing text from a
document that is excerpted)…
"The second context is historical. Primary sources are
typically drawn from a world that differs from students'
own time or place-or both."
Dave Neumann, 2012
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Context: The Foundation of Close
Reading of Primary Texts
• Read Neumann’s article, “Context: The Foundation
of Close Reading of Primary Source Texts” found on
pages 5–6 of The Source: Point of
View/Perspective (California History-Social Science
Project, Fall 2012).”
Read and Discuss:
• What are Neumann’s suggestions for providing
context? Which suggestions will you try to
implement in your classroom?
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Contextualization Questions
Contextualization asks students to locate a document in time and place
and to understand how these factors shape its content. The following
questions guide students in the practice of contextualization:
• When and where was the document created?
• What was different then? What was the same?
• How might the circumstances in which the document was created affect
its content?
• Watch “Reading Like a Historian: Contextualization”
– http://www.myboe.org/portal/default/Content/Viewer/Content?action
=2&scId=508656&sciId=16181
– Colonial Independence Movement Lesson (CA HSS Standard:
10.4.3 & 4)
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Historical Point of View/Perspective
Continued
• Sourcing and contextualization helps to analyze the
author’s background and the time and place in
which the author lived (context) to better understand
the point of view, meaning, and argument of a
primary source.
• This historical perspective, defined as “attempting to
see through the eyes of people who lived in times
and circumstances far removed from our presentday lives.”
Sexias and Morton (2013)
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Guideposts for Historical Perspective
• Read “5 Guideposts for Historical Perspective” by
Kathleen Kipp on pages 9–10 of The Source: Point
of View/Perspective (California History-Social
Science Project: Fall 2012).
• Watch “Historical Perspective” by Critical Thinking
Consortium.
– http://www.myboe.org/portal/default/Content/Viewer/Con
tent?action=2&scId=508656&sciId=16182
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Evidence, Claims, Arguments
• Emphasis on evidence, claims and arguments throughout CA
HSS Analysis Skills and CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy
(Reading Standard 1 and 8)
• Reading Like a Historian’s strategy:
– Close reading helps students evaluate sources and analyze
rhetoric by asking them:
– What claims does the author make?
– What evidence does the author use?
– What language (words, phrases, images, symbols) does the
author use to persuade the document's audience?
– How does the document's language indicate the
author's perspective?
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Claims and Evidence Activity
• Read “A Vindication on the Rights of Woman” by
Mary Wollstonecraft
Read, Reflect, Discuss:
• What claims does Mary Wollstonecraft make?
What evidence does she use?
• What language does Wollstonecraft use to
persuade the document’s audience? How does the
document’s language indicate the author’s
perspective?
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Corroborating Multiple Documents
Corroboration asks students to consider details across multiple
sources to determine points of agreement and disagreement. These
questions are helpful guides to students when corroborating documents:
• What do other documents say?
• Do the documents agree? If not, why?
• What are other possible documents?
• What documents are most reliable?
Watch “Reading Like a Historian: Corroboration”
• http://www.myboe.org/portal/default/Content/Viewer/Content?action=
2&scId=508656&sciId=16150
• March on Washington Lesson Materials (CA HSS Standard 11.10)
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Supporting English Learners with
Historical Texts
• Watch “Text Complexity, the Common Core, and
ELLs” by Lily Wong Fillmore.
– http://www.myboe.org/portal/default/Content/Viewer/Con
tent?action=2&scId=508656&sciId=16151
• Read “Understanding Language: What Does
Text Complexity Mean for English Learners and
Language Minority Students”
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Supporting English Learners with
Historical Texts Continued
• Read “The Grammar of History Textbooks Part II: Questioning the
Text”
• 5 Recommended Questions for Language Support:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Who or what is doing or being something?
What are they doing or being?
What are the relationships between ideas in the passage?
Can we determine the author's perspective?
How does this information help us answer the larger investigative
question?
Read and Discuss:
• How can you use these ideas to help your English learners with
language and content?
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Text Organization for English Learners
• Historical Texts are often organized in a few patterns:
–
–
–
–
–
Chronology/change over time
Cause and effect
Description/definition
Compare and contrast
Argument/Thesis/Claim and evidence
• Read “English Learners and Reading Comprehension: Text
Organization in History” by Phyllis Goldsmith and Tuyen Tran.
Read and Discuss:
• What suggestions from the article can you use to help
address the CA CCSS with your EL students?
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Academic Language and Vocabulary in
the Reading Standards for HSS
Reading Standard 4
•
RH.6–8.5 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including
vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
•
RH.9–10.5 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social
studies.
•
RH.11–12.5 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text,
including analyzing how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the
course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10).
Language Standard 6
•
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.L.6 Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic
and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking and listening
at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering
vocabulary knowledge when encountering an unknown term important to comprehension or
expression.
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Teaching Academic Vocabulary in
History/Social Studies
• Read “Reframing English Language Development,” by
Shannon Carey
• Read “Teaching Vocabulary,” by Lisa Meyers, on pages
13-14 of The Source: Teaching the Common Core
(California History-Social Science Project: 2013).
Reflect and Discuss:
• What strategies or ideas from the articles could you
implement in your classroom to aid the development of
students’ academic language and vocabulary?
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Supporting Students with Learning
Disabilities in Reading Primary Sources
Teaching History to Support Diverse Learners recommendations:
• Establish Purpose
– Provide essential questions with background knowledge about the documents.
– Provide the documents in multiple formats, allowing students to hear, read, observe,
or experience these concepts.
• Evaluate Sources
– Provide text-dependent questions to support students’ recognition and strategic
learning, both principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
– Guide exploration of digital materials that support recognition and strategic learning
as well as students’ affective learning, another UDL principle, as they offer students
choices and multiple paths of exploration.
• Corroborate Sources
– Embed scaffolds to aid in synthesizing multiple perspectives across conflicting
sources.
– Provide a graphic organizer to record and organize answers using a digital
environment where they can highlight, sort, or otherwise annotate information.
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National Center for Technology Innovation and Center for
Implementing Technology in Education (CITEd), 2007
Document-Based Whole Class
Discussion
Speaking and Listening Standard 1
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.S.1: Prepare for and
participate in a range of conversations and
collaborations with diverse partners, building on
others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and
persuasively.
• Read “Document-based Whole Class Discussion”
– Texas Independence Lesson: CA HSS Standard 8.8.6
– Refer to “Seven Teacher Moves” handout
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Supporting All Students in Collaborative
Conversations
Recommended Reading
• “Extending English-Language Learners'
Classroom Interactions Using the Response
Protocol”
• “Kagan Structures for English Language
Learners,”
• “Principle 2: Provide Multiple Means of Action
and Expression.” Guideline 5.
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Unit 2 Summary
• Close reading requires active involvement in the text: drawing understanding,
inferences, and meaning directly.
• Close reading can help address the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy, the CA HSS Analysis
Skills, and the CA HSS Standards.
• Students need to be explicitly taught how to find textual evidence to answer questions
and support inferences from the text.
• History/social science inquiries around inquiry questions is an effective way to engage
close reading of primary and secondary sources and meet the Reading Standards for
Literacy in History/Social Studies.
• Thoughtfully planned text-dependent questions, aligned to the CA CCSS for
ELA/Literacy, also promote students to develop disciplinary skills in history/social
studies.
• Assisting students with the common structure and academic language of history/social
studies texts can aid English Learners and struggling readers access and analyze the
reading.
• History/social studies teachers can also address the Standards for Speaking and
Listening by establishing protocols for whole-class discussion of primary sources and
incorporating support for English Learners and students with disabilities.
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Learning Objectives Revisited
• Understand how the practice of close reading can be used to
address the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy, the CA Historical and
Social Sciences Analysis Skills, and the CA History-Social
Science Standards.
• Explore how to use central, inquiry-based questions to guide
students’ close reading of history/social studies sources.
• Examine several ways to direct students to use text-dependent
questions to analyze the evidence of primary and secondary
sources.
• Consider approaches to aiding English Learners and students
with disabilities in accessing and analyzing text in history/social
studies.
• Explore a process for guiding students in collaborative
conversations to discuss the evidence and argument of
history/social studies sources.
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Talk about…
• Some of the new ideas you have gained in
this introductory unit
• Questions you have
• Some of the challenges that you anticipate as
you prepare to support your students in their
use of the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy in
history/social studies lessons
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Think about…
• How will you teach history/social studies so that
students may engage in the CA CCSS for
ELA/Literacy?
• How will you provide opportunities and support
for all students to meet the CA CCSS for
ELA/Literacy in history/social studies
instruction?
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