Beyond Reading Comprehension and Summary: Learning to Read and Write in History by Focusing on Evidence, Perspective, and Interpretation

• DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-873x.2011.00547.x
• Publication Date: 2011-03-21T14:54:03Z
• Authors: Chauncey Monte-Sano
• Keywords: Historical Thinking

Basic reading comprehension and summary tend to be the focus in social studies history classrooms, if writing are included at all. But such a inhibits conception of as an interpretive discipline grounded evidence that is analyzed, not simply accepted. Understanding past impossible without historical reasoning, advanced literacy. This study examines discipline‐specific literacy instruction one teacher simultaneous growth his students' reasoning writing. Student data pre‐ post‐instruction samples well regularly assigned essays, interviews, annotations readings. Teacher observations, artifacts assignments feedback from term required 11th‐grade U.S. course. Analysis developing codes based on patterns, testing propositions, searching for alternative explanations. Through use, perspective, interpretation students learned construct more accurate, interpretations past. Three teaching strategies emphasized these aspects thinking: annotating primary source readings; regular informal prompts focused perspectives followed by called synthesis major issues; use accuracy interpretation. suggests ways can help understand learn think historically while skills.