UNDERSTANDING AMERICAN CITIZENSHIP A partnership between Orange County Department of Education and University of California, Irvine History Project

Agenda  Year, week, and day  Opening discussion of biographies and focus on individuals in history  Dr. Matt Mooney on Abolitionists and Frederick Douglass  Model lessons on The Autobiography of Frederick Douglass by Amy Hale and Kristi Peckham  Common Core Reading for History

Year Four: Understanding American Citizenship  Focus is on individuals who fought to define or redefine citizenship in America  Summer: Biography and Citizenship  Academic year: Citizens in our contemporary society

Year Four expectations  Each teacher will develop 3 lessons that:  Align to the UAC lesson plan template  Address reading or writing in the Common Core  Implement ideas, content, or sources from the UAC program To receive the stipend, please send all materials (lesson plan, sources, handouts, and student work) to Casey by our June meeting

Biography in history  Study of individuals in a discipline that can often focus on structural change—political, social, and economic  Highlights the important role of human agency in making change  Study individuals who are significant historical figures and others who are everyday people  Motivating and engaging for students

How do you use biographies or autobiographies in class? Biography/autobiography

Biographical primary sources Letters Memos Journals Autobiographies Photos Others?

Letters of note  Who is the correspondence between?  What is the topic?  When was it written?  What else was going on at the time?  What does the letter tell us about the person?  What does the letter tell us about the historical period?  What questions do you have about the letter?  What other sources might you want to look at to learn more about the person?

Online resources  Biographies:  History Today,  American Heritage,  Letters:  Letters of Note, lettersofnote.com  John Muir letters, llection/john-muir-letters/ llection/john-muir-letters/ Others?

COMMON CORE READING IN HISTORY

A major shift of the Common Core Standards is the focus on complex, informational text as a central component to classroom instruction What are some examples of complex texts used in the history classroom? Reading complex informational texts

Rationale for the focus on complex texts  The CCSS has as its goal college and career readiness.  A 2006 research study showed that students who performed better at benchmark reading tests were more likely to enroll in college, be successful in college, and return for a second year.  Reading complex texts was an indicator for college readiness.  Research shows the K-12 texts have become easier to read, while college-level texts have not  K-12 students need more practice with complex texts

How are complex texts defined by CCSS? Qualitative dimensions include multiple levels of meaning, purposes, structure, etc. Quantitative dimensions consider word and sentence length and complexity. Reader and task rely on teacher expertise to consider the appropriate texts for their students and the subject under study

Reading and the CCSS  Key Ideas and Details   Craft and Structure   Integration of Knowledge and Ideas   Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity

Key Ideas and Details Who created the text? What type of text is it? What is the main idea of the text? Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. Focus on primary and secondary sources and citation  Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.  Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.

Craft and Structure What language does the text use to develop meaning and/or a point of view? What is the structure of the text? Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.  Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole.  Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas How do a variety of texts on the topic each address the issue or main idea? What is the argument of the text and what evidence does the author use to make that argument? Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. *  Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.  Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.

Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity  Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently.

What does complex text look like in history?  Textbooks and other secondary accounts  Historical interpretations  Online or newspaper articles  Primary sources using archaic and academic language  Speeches  Political cartoons  Photos and art

How will you continue to increase the frequency and rigor of complex text reading in your classroom? How will you support struggling readers to grapple with and make meaning of complex texts? What types of complex text do you already use in your classroom?

Implications for Close Reading of Complex Text  Teacher-led, close reading of rich complex texts must be a regular part of student experience.  This means emphasizing questions that can only be determined from the text (text-dependent questions).  Students need to struggle with a variety of texts with teacher support  Students listen, speak and write about the text in order to develop deep understanding.

Smarter Balanced Assessments  Will measure a student’s ability:  To analyze a text  To synthesize multiple texts  To respond to a prompt using evidence from multiple texts

Examples of close reading Many approaches are similar to “close reading” or involve close reading. Teacher may “think aloud,” use probing questions, and guide students at beginning.  Cognitive Apprenticeship-explicit modeling of the habits of mind for reading  Socratic method  Reciprocal teaching  Think-alouds  Annotating the text

Text-dependent Questions Can only be answered with evidence from the text. Can be literal (checking for understanding) but must also involve analysis, synthesis, evaluation. Focus on word, sentence, and paragraph, as well as larger ideas, themes, or events. Focus on difficult portions of text in order to enhance reading proficiency. Can also include prompts for writing and discussion questions. *from Achievethecore.org

VideoVideo on text-dependent questions Video Activity 3: Things of interest to you about this scene 2: Two things that relate to what you already know 1: Question that this scene raises

Debrief  What ideas and strategies stand out from the video?  What questions about the close reading and text- dependent questions does this video raise for you?

Text-dependent Questions Typical text dependent questions ask students to perform one or more of the following tasks:  Probe each argument in persuasive text, each idea in informational text, each key detail in literary text, and observe how these build to a whole  Examine how shifts in the direction of an argument or explanation are achieved and the impact of those shifts  Question why authors choose to begin and end when they do  Consider the genre of the text and the structure of the text  Note and assess patterns of writing and what they achieve  Consider what the text leaves uncertain or unstated

Model lesson  Format  Text-dependent questions checklist What other questions might be useful for students to comprehend the text?

Shared practice  In partners, read the source:  Identify an excerpt that you would use in your class  Develop three text-dependent questions  Use the text-dependent question worksheet to check your work.