Social Studies Methodology- Dialectical Journals

Philosophy  The main idea is to focus in on cross-curricular skill building techniques.  Reading comprehension, functional writing, research-oriented learning, and reflection are all components to the Social Studies methodology.  The source book is entitled “The Write Path” for a reason.  Writing is something that happens daily.

Instructions  Divide a piece of paper in half, i.e. T-chart.  Left side is the quote, text, fact, map, picture, graph/chart, or photograph.  Right side is a menu of options (similar to the left side of Cornell Notes).  *Could switch the sides so it is more consistent with Cornell Notes and have the students’ side be the left side.

Options for Student Reactions  Asking a question  Analyzing  Interpreting  Evaluating  Reflecting  Predicting the effect  Making personal connections  Create a drawing or illustration  Relating to text or visual  Summarizing the text

Great way to review understanding of difficult material. Dialectical Journals-Starting 1.Have students practice ideas of reacting to text by using easy reads first, such as the textbooks. 2.Build up to using small selections of primary sources of selections from novels or magazines. 3.Eventually, have students read larger passages and choose quotes that were meaningful or stuck out in their minds. 4.Adapt it to your needs. Find quotes for specific purposes. Only quotes that students liked.

Example Here is an example of how it works in history courses and looks very similar to Cornell Notes. You are not reinventing the wheel here. Just practice it as you go.

Example As you can see, this can be used with short stories or longer novels across curriculums. Just make it your own and you will see students organize their thoughts. These could be used to help lead class discussions and make literature discussions even greater.

More student examples involving large topics. In my classroom, I use this activity mainly for primary sources. This is a useful tool especially for those of you who are teaching Cambridge based courses. Examples

Here is another student sample so you can see how easy it is to get quality work with limited time. Will we receive results like this at first? Probably not. However, just like any other skill we work on, it is about practice.

Follow up questions  1. What did you learn or find interesting?  2. How can you apply this knowledge or information to your own classroom or lessons?  3. Did you find this information useful or relevant?  4. What specific information stood out for you? Please explain.  5. Do you have any follow up questions or comments?

Sources used  Dearie, Kurt and Gary Kroesch. (2011). The Write Path History/Social Science: Interactive Teaching and Learning Teacher Guide Grades AVID Press. San Diego

Contact Information  Jason Goodwin is in the Social Studies Department  If you have any questions about how to implement this strategy please contact him at: