Building Prior Knowledge in History

Teaching American History in Miami-Dade CountySeptember 21, 2012

Fran Macko, Ph.D.fmacko@aihe.info

Framing the Session

• Why are history texts often difficult for students to comprehend?

• What skills do students need to become expert readers of history?

• What strategies can history teachers use to help their students make meaning of history texts?

What factors affect the readability of history texts?

• What are the challenges that your students face when asked to read history texts?

• Make a list of 3 challenges.

• Turn and talk with a colleague.

What factors affect the readability of history texts?

• Lack of prior knowledge• Unfamiliar text structure or

schema• Difficulty identifying

important material from less important material

• Academic vocabulary and abstract concepts (“isms”)

• Level of analysis and synthesis

• Role of visuals, such as maps, graphs and charts, as sources of information

Our Focus: Activating Prior Knowledge Middle School Civics

• Our American ancestors subscribed to the most radical principles of individualism and liberty ever known to man. They truly believed the ideas set forth by John Locke and Thomas Jefferson — that people have certain fundamental and inherent rights — life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness — and that these rights have been endowed by "Nature and Nature's God," not by government.

To protect themselves and their property from the violent acts of others, and to provide a means by which people could peacefully resolve their disputes, our ancestors established a national government. But there was one overriding concern: what would prevent our government from becoming destructive of the very ends for which it was formed?

• What event does this passage describe?

• How did you know?• How did you acquire this

knowledge?• Based on this passage,

what questions might you have about this event?

• How does what we know about a topic generate further questions?

How does prior knowledge support learning?

• What is the role of prior knowledge in the learning process?

• What is one reason why teachers activate prior knowledge?

• What is one strategy you use to activate prior knowledge?

• Turn and talk with a colleague.

How does prior knowledge support learning?

• Prior knowledge:– supports students in making connections to the

text or the content.– creates a foundation for new facts, ideas and

concepts.– activates student interest and curiosity, and

creates a purpose for learning.

• A discussion of prior knowledge alerts the teacher to gaps in the students' knowledge and/or misconceptions the students have.

How do teachers activate prior knowledge?

• Popular strategies for activating prior knowledge are:– Brainstorming– Anticipation Guides– Semantic Maps/ Webs– KWL Charts

• What are the strengths and weaknesses of these strategies?

• All four strategies depend upon students’ having knowledge about an historical event or individual.

• The KWL strategy also depends upon students’ having questions about the event or individual.

• To what extent do our students have prior knowledge about history?

• What can we do as teachers when students lack prior knowledge or have inaccurate information?

Janet Allen on the KWL Strategy

• Janet Allen in Reading History: “In my classroom, I often tried using a KWL approach

at the beginning of a unit or the study of an historical event. I usually met with an amazing lack of success. I would ask my students what they knew about a topic and they would say, ‘Nothing.’ When I asked them what they wanted to know, they would say ‘Nothing.’ I finally realized that KWL was going to work with my students only if I did something to build background and create an emotional connection to the topic that we were going to study”.

So…how can teachers build prior knowledge and engage students?

• BKWLQ or Writing to Learn is a variation of the KWL instructional strategy that helps students build prior knowledge, make meaningful connections and ask questions. – B= building

background– KWL= know, want to

know and learned– Q= questions

What are the strengths of the BKWLQ strategy?

• BKWLQ: – takes 40-45 minutes or one class period.– can be used to introduce a unit, a topic, or an

individual person or event.– creates background for and interest in the unit of

study.– provides a visual structure for learning.– provides a springboard for inquiry and project-

based learning.– can be referred to and built upon throughout the

unit.

What are the steps in the strategy?

• In BKWLQ, teachers choose three different sources on the same topic.

• They choose and order the sources so that each new one builds on the previous one by adding more information and emotional content.

• The selection of sources supports students in understanding multiple perspectives on the same event in history.

• Why is an understanding of multiple perspectives important in history?

• Understanding multiple perspectives is critical for reading like an historian– Textbooks often present only one historical perspective– Primary and secondary sources reflect diverse and often

opposing perspectives

• Understanding multiple perspectives is critical for thinking like an historian– Historians don’t settle for one perspective on an historical

issue; they piece together many, sometimes competing, versions of events to construct an accurate interpretation.

– History is not a stagnant or closed-end subject. As new documents are analyzed and evaluated by historians, the interpretation of an event evolves

Step One

• Students read or view the first source and identify and list 3 facts about the event that they have identified from what they have read or viewed.

• This step supports students in distinguishing between fact and opinion in history.

Step Two

• Students then list one or more responses or connections to what they have read or viewed. These can be:– Text to text– Text to self– Text to world– Text to other events

in history

Step Three

• Finally, students list the questions that they have after reading or viewing the source.

• How does questioning support learning?

• Questioning improves comprehension in four ways:– by fostering interaction with the text– by creating motivation to read– by clarifying information in the text– by supporting inferring beyond the literal meaning

• Students who ask questions when they read assume responsibility for their learning.

• Effective readers ask questions when they learn something new or read something unfamiliar.

• Asking questions facilitates the learning of new material and leads to more sophisticated questions.

What types of sources can be used for BKWLQ?

• BKWLQ is a flexible strategy that can be used with a variety of sources and with a variety of grade levels and student populations.

• Primary Sources• Non-Fiction• Fiction• Interviews• Artifacts• Videos• Periodicals• Poetry• Music• Art

What are the criteria for selecting sources?

• The first source should be the most objective and fact-filled.

• The second source should be more narrative and personal.

• The third source should be the most subjective and emotionally compelling.

What types of sources lend themselves to each level of BKWLQ?

• Refer back to the slide on the types of sources that can be used for the BKWLQ strategy.

• Which sources would work best for each level (one, two, and three)?

• Make a list and share with a colleague.

What is lifting text?

• BKWLQ works best when the selections are “lifted” from longer texts.

• Lifting text involves the selection of a specific piece or pieces of text from a larger selection to give students a “taste” of the content.

• Lifting text for the BKWLQ strategy:– provides some, but not all of the information about

the historical event– supports the 45 minute timeframe– generates student interest and questions

The BKWLQ Graphic OrganizerTitle of Text #1 Title of Text #2 Title of Text #3

3 Facts I Learned 3 Additional Facts I Learned

3 Additional Facts I Learned

My Response or Connection to What was Read

My Response or Connection to What was Read

My Response or Connection to What was Read

My Questions about What was Read

My Questions about What was Read

I Still Want to Know (Additional Questions)

Modeling the Strategy to Build Prior Knowledge of an Historical Event

Middle School CivicsRule of Law

• Form groups of 3-4.

• Individually read each of the three sources and complete the graphic organizer for each source.

• Discuss your responses as a group and create a master list of facts, connections and questions.

The Constitution and Rule of Law Source #1

Overview of The Constitution and Rule of Law

http://www.thisnation.com/constitution.html

– Generic– Fact filled– Objective

The Constitution and Rule of Law Source #2

The Great Foundation of Our Constitutionhttp://www.firstprinciplesjournal.com/articles.aspx?article=1434&loc=r

– Narrative– More personalized

The Constitution and Rule of Law Source #3

Search and Seizure http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_stud.html

– First person narrative– Highly descriptive– Emotionally charged

Adapting BKWLQ to Your Classroom

• How might you use BKWLQ in your social studies classroom?

• What is one adaptation to the strategy would you make for the students you teach?

• What is one additional source you would use?

• Talk in your groups.

• Adaptations include those:– To the selection of texts/ sources (consider

adding a source that reflects local history)– To the template– To the method of use– To the length of the texts/ sources– To the level of vocabulary– To the timeframe– To the method of presentation

Next Steps for BKWLQ

• Once students have generated a lists of facts, responses/ connections and questions about a topic, event or individual:– Organize the facts into categories using a

brainstorm or concept map (SPEC is one organizational structure).

– Add to the list of facts at the end of each lesson.– Review the questions at the end of each lesson and

have students identify those that were answered. Then have students write a response to these questions.

– Add new questions that were generated as a result of the lesson.

– At the end of the unit, have students research questions that remain unanswered.

– Add new connections/ responses at the end of each lesson.

– What other “next steps” can you think of?

– Turn and talk with a colleague.