1. Emotional and Personal Connections Increase Literacy in High School Social Studies By: Frankie Jawidzik

2. Reforming History Instruction? Help students challenge information in textbooks History is not just content- based, it is also intellectually and culturally based Don’t just use one textbook—use various texts to promote critical thinking

3. Emotional Connections to History Find texts that will get students “fired up” to learn Use detailed texts that portray the information in an interesting way Select texts that students can relate to emotionally

4. Examples Poem about the sufferings of the slave trade Videos of the sufferings of Holocaust survivors Real newspaper articles from a time of war

5. Personal Connections to History Helps students realize that they have the same issues as those in past decades and centuries Have students use people and events in their own lives to improve understanding Connecting own life to events in history brings history to life

6. Examples Draw history vocabulary terms by using pictures from your own life to help remember the meaning Write a letter pretending you live during a certain time period and what your life is like Role-play reenacting a person in history Personal essays

7. Connections to History Tests Review everyday Make review fast-paced, asking test-like questions and calling on students for short responses Make review on-going, making every lesson connect along the way Use all modes of learning— talking, writing, practicing, connecting to self

8. Source Hansen, Jane. “Multiple Literacies in the Content Classroom: High School Students’ Connections to US History.” Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy. 52.7 (2009): 597-606. Web. 11 Apr. 2012. http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1b8d2dc6- c7d2-4be7-aaa5-f8c58cd1e19f%40sessionmgr115&vid=4&hid=110.http://0-web.ebscohost.com.helin.uri.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=1b8d2dc6- c7d2-4be7-aaa5-f8c58cd1e19f%40sessionmgr115&vid=4&hid=110