Opposing Viewpoints
Teaching American History
In Miami-Dade County
November 2, 2012
Fran Macko, Ph.D.
fmacko@aihe.info
Framing the Session
• What skills do the
Common Core State
Standards require
students to master?
• How will the CCSS impact
assessment?
• What strategies can
teachers use to support in
mastering the CCSS?
What are the Common Core Content Standards
for History?
• Embedded in the CCSS for Literary in grades 6-12 are
standards for literacy in history/ social studies.
• These standards:
– are based on teachers using their content area expertise to
help students meet the particular challenges of reading,
writing, speaking, listening, and language in their content
area.
– are not meant to replace content standards but rather to
supplement them. States may incorporate these standards
into their standards for those subjects or adopt them as
content area literacy standards.
– focus on the reading, comprehension and analysis of
increasingly complex informational text.
• The standards are
divided into three broad
categories:
– Key Ideas and Details
– Craft and Structure
– Integration of
Knowledge and Ideas
• Each category is further
divided into three specific
skills.
• Read the CCSS standards
for the grade you teach and
make a list of the skills that
students will need to master
to meet each of the
standards for that grade.
• Form groups of middle and
high school and discuss your
list.
• Create a master list of skills
for your grade level.
• What skills are consistent
across the grade levels?
• How do the skills build in
sophistication across the
grades?
• Where do the skills for
literacy and history
intersect?
• How might we organize
these skills to simplify the
process?
The Common Core Learning Framework
• Contextualization
– Establishing time, scope
and Sequence
– Understanding the big
picture
– Establishing the values
and beliefs of the time
• Craft and Structure
– Identifying and defining
key terms
– Determining the main idea
– Identifying the author’s
bias or point of view
• Key Ideas and Details
– Assessing the reliability of
the information
– Evaluation of argument
and reasoning
– Comparing ideas within
and across texts
• Integration of Knowledge
and Ideas
– Analysis of multiple
sources and perspectives
– Understanding multiple
perspectives
– Assessing different
interpretations over time
How will the Common Core
impact assessment?
• Common Core Assessments are currently in
development.
• They will most likely ask students to:
– read, comprehend and analyze a pair or set of
documents
• the documents may include fiction as well as
informational text
– compare and contrast documents and/ or identify
common thematic threads
– synthesize information and apply it to a writing task
Building Student Understanding
of Point of View
• Understanding point of view
is a critical skill of reading
and thinking like an
historian.
• Every document, image and
text is a reflection of its
author’s worldview and
beliefs.
• Bias and author reliability
need to be factored into the
reading and analysis of any
historical source.
What is the
Opposing Viewpoints Strategy?
• The Opposing Viewpoints strategy supports students
in many of the Common Core skills:
– comparing how individuals interpret the same event
– distinguishing fact from opinion
– analyzing information within an historical viewpoint
– constructing historical arguments
– writing coherent and well supported essays
• The strategy uses a graphic organizer.
What are the steps in the process?
• Develop the essay question that asks students to compare
two interpretations of an event, or select one interpretation
and support it.
• Select the sources for the activity.
• Ask:
– What point of view do the resources I use reflect?
– Are there other important viewpoints that are essential to a
deeper understanding of the event or concept?
– What resources will provide other points of view?
What are the steps in teaching the strategy?
• Build or access prior
knowledge of the event.
– What do we know about
this event?
– Who were the decision
makers at the time?
– What was their viewpoint
on the issue?
• Use the textbook
interpretation of the event
as a starting point.
• Introduce the first source
and establish the
historical context.
– What do we know about
the author of the
source?
– What is the significance
of the date of the
source?
– What is the historical
context of the source?
• Have students read/view
and discuss the source in
small groups.
• Have students complete the
graphic organizer with:
– What are the key points
or arguments presented in
the source?
– Summarize the viewpoint
expressed in the source in
a few sentences.
– Write a thesis statement
that reflects the viewpoint
of the author.
• Have students cite specific
text to support their
answers where possible.
• Repeat the process with the second source.
• Debrief the activity with the class.
• Guiding questions include:
– What did we know about this concept, issue or event? (our
prior knowledge)
– What do we now know? (as a result of the analysis of the
documents)
– How did our analysis of different viewpoints deepen our
understanding?
– How do the author and date of a source affect viewpoint?
• Have students apply their analysis to the writing task.
Modeling the Strategy
Grade 8-The Essential Question
• Beginning the new
nation: What were the
major issues and
challenges surrounding
the ratification of the
Constitution?
Grade 11-The Essential Question
• World Wars- What were
the major political,
social and economic
causes and effects of
World War I and World
War II?
Modeling the Strategy-Middle School
Ratifying the Constitution
• Working with a partner,
make a list of 5 major
issues and challenges that
surrounded the ratification
of the Constitution.
• Use document #1 as a
reference.
Modeling the Strategy:
Viewpoint #1
• Read “Anti Federalist
#84.
• Discuss the text and
complete the graphic
organizer.
• Discuss your answers
with your group.
Modeling the Strategy:
Viewpoint #2
• Read “Federalist #84.
• Discuss the text and
complete the graphic
organizer.
• Discuss your answers
with your group.
Modeling the Strategy- High School
Post War Arms Reduction
• Working in a group of 3,
make a list of 5-7 facts
about the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty.
• Use document #1 as a
reference.
Modeling the Strategy:
Viewpoint #1
• Read the excerpt from
Lyndon Baines Johnson
“Remarks on the Signing
of Nonproliferation Treaty
(July 1, 1968).
• Discuss the text and
complete the graphic
organizer.
• Discuss your answers
with your group.
• Select one of the
following documents:
– India and NPT
– France and NPT
– Australia and NPT
• Read your text and
complete the graphic
organizer.
• Discuss and compare
your answers with your
group.
Debrief and Discussion
• Debrief the activity with
your group.
• Guiding questions include:
– What did we know about
the topic?
– What do we now know?
– How did our analysis of
different viewpoints
deepen our
understanding?
– How do the author and
date of a source affect
viewpoint?
Factors to Consider in
Selecting Sources
• The selection of sources for Opposing Viewpoints
depends upon a number of factors:
– The content introduced
– The grade level
– The need to differentiate based on student
strengths and areas of weakness
• However, each source should provide a different point
of view on the topic or event.
Adapting Opposing Viewpoints
to Your Classroom
• How might you use Opposing
Viewpoints in your social
studies classroom?
– What adaptations would
you make to the strategy?
• What other document pairs
could you use to teach the
topic?
– How might you modify or
lift text for students?
• Turn and talk with a partner.
Next Steps for Opposing Viewpoints
• Once students have analyzed different points of view on a
topic, event or individual, they can:
– Debate a particular viewpoint or interpretation.
– Write a position paper in which they construct an historical
argument.
– Research other perspectives on the topic and add to the
graphic organizer.
– Select a point of view and role play, write a journal entry or
letter from that perspective.
– Research the author and date of the source and discuss how
historical context affects viewpoint.
• What other next steps can you think of? Turn and talk
with a colleague.