Opposing Viewpoints Teaching American History In Miami-Dade County December 14, 2012 Fran Macko, Ph.D.

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 and 11-The Essential Question Why did the Union dissolve and what was done to ensure social, political and economic reunification after the war?

Modeling the Strategy Reconstruction Working with a partner, make a list of 5 major issues and challenges that surrounded Reconstruction.

Modeling the Strategy: Viewpoint #1 Read “Frederick Douglass, “What the Black Man Wants”, January 26, Discuss the text and complete the graphic organizer. Discuss your answers with your group.

Modeling the Strategy: Viewpoint #2 Read “Andrew Johnson, Third Annual Message”, December 3, Discuss the text and complete the graphic organizer. Discuss 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.