reading in history
TRANSCRIPT
Reading in History
Cynthia Shanahan, UIC
What is history reading? Reading of
texts that include:
Memoir
Biography
Historical fiction
Political map
Thematic
Data Tables
Textbook
Juried Essay
Polemic Essay
Editorial
News story
Political Cartoon
Graphic Novel
Graph, chart, table
Artwork
Interview
Documentary
Video
Trade books
Legislation
Legal Documents
Photographs
Historical artifacts
Translations
Blogs, tweets
Primary Sources:
artifacts, documents,
recordings, etc. from
time period
Secondary Sources:
interpretations of
primary sources
Tertiary Sources:
Interpretations of
secondary sources
What is history reading?
Reading that embodies ways that historians interpret
the world:
Historians create categories of historical study such
as
Political
Ideological
Social
Economic
Artistic
Historians study basic systems (feudalism,
monarchy, etc.)
What is history reading?
Historians study relationships among these
systems and categories:
Contingency
Chance; Coincidence
Chronology
Historians study change over time.
Contingency
Out of the conversations grew
Bunau-Varilla's conviction that if
the Panamanians tried to declare
their independence, the United
State would use force.
Because people had difficulty
finding work during the
depression, Roosevelt created a
number of works programs.
Chance; Coincidence
The balance is certainly struck in the history
of decisive battles: Those most contingent
of events whose effects alter the parameters
of possibility. In this context, the ‗great men‘
of history such as William the conqueror do
not control and predict the uncontrollable
and unpredictable. Rather they are those
best able to take advantage of the chances
thrown their way and make things happen.
Chronology
1790
By the American Revolution, 20 percent of the overall population in the thirteen colonies was of African descent. The legalized practice of enslaving blacks occurred in every colony. The economic realities of the southern colonies, however, perpetuated the institution, which was first legalized in Massachusetts in 1641. During the Revolutionary era, more than half of all African-Americans lived in Virginia and Maryland. Most of these blacks lived in the Chesapeake region, where they made up more than 50 to 60 percent of the overall population. The majority, but not all, of these African-Americans were slaves. In fact, the first official United States Census, taken in 1790, showed that 8 percent of the black populace was free. [Edgar A. Toppin. "Blacks in the American Revolution" (published essay, Virginia State University, 1976), p. 1]. Whether free or slave, blacks in the Chesapeake established familial relationships, networks for disseminating information, survival techniques, and various forms of resistance to their condition.
How do historians think about
history?
History is an interpretation
There are competing narratives
History is an approximation of the past
History is contested and contestable
To understand history, one must have
historical empathy
Historians care about historical
significance
Some events and issues are more
significant that others
How do historians read?
They engage in:
Sourcing (determining where information
came from)
Contextualization (determining what the
circumstances were when the information
was written)
Corroboration (determining the extent of
agreement and disagreement across
sources)
In order to evaluate the credibility and
trustworthiness of what they are reading
Sourcing:
I saw, oh…I don’t know him very well, but he [the author] is part of a right-wing group of southern conservatives who is a secessionist. I’m not sure that the best model for thinking about Lincoln as a president is one that comes from a racist. So I have my critical eyes up a little bit, so it’s a bit of a stretch to be friendly to, so I wanted to make sure to read it fairly.
Contextualization
I’d want to take up this book. It’s a 1984 book, and in Lincoln scholarship, that’s ages. There have been many books written since, and I would want to know how the arguments changed since 1984.
Corroboration
How does it relate to the other piece I just read?… The title in the Oates book doesn’t imply a particular perspective, except to say that it is published by Harper and Row, so it is for a popular audience interested in history. It may also be trying to reach the professional audience as well. Many historians try to write to both audiences simultaneously. When you compare that with the Bradford piece, it’s a very different impression. The title indicates that the author is writing from a particular perspective —southern and conservative. Immediately, that colors how you read the piece. You expect it to be critical of Lincoln. If anyone is critical, it would be a southern conservative. A southern scholarly press means it was probably not intended for a wide audience like the other book.
How do historians read?
Historians question how inclusive the interpretation is—what perspectives are included and what is left out
Historians question the coherence of the historical arguments—whether or not they make sense
Historians look at word choice as a signal of an author‘s perspective
Historians try to find out where a story begins and ends (periodization)
Historians read history as an argument—a presentation of warrants, claims, and evidence, even if the text has a narrative structure
What are the characteristics
of history texts?
Textbooks commonly combine narrative, exposition, and
description
Texts use conventions of chronology (before, after, next, In
[date], later)
Texts borrow technical vocabulary from the other social
sciences (economics, political science, sociology, etc.)
Texts have a lot of difficult general academic vocabulary.
Texts employ metaphorical language (e.g. The gilded age)
Primary sources often use outdated language and ideas
that are difficult and sometimes uncomfortable to read.
What are the characteristics
of history texts?
Sentences are complex—the information can be buried in long noun phrases
The enlargement of the nation’s industrial capacity, including the making of barbed wire and the advent of western train transportation, served the demands of the west.
Sentences are about time, place, and manner (over the next decade; they gathered in Philadelphia, their harsh stands made enemies)
There are participants/actors, processes, and goals
Place, Actors, processes,
goals, manner
At the same time, George II and
his ministers made enemies of
many moderate colonists by their
harsh words.
Example of history text:
By 1932 the unemployment rate had soared past 20 percent. Thousands of banks and businesses had failed. Millions were homeless. Men (and women) returned home from fruitless job hunts to find their dwellings padlocked and their possessions and families turned into the street. Many drifted from town to town looking for non-existent jobs. Many more lived at the edges of cities in makeshift shantytowns their residents derisively called Hoovervilles. People foraged in dumps and garbage cans for food.
The presidential campaign of 1932 was run against the backdrop of the Depression. Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the Democratic nomination and campaigned on a platform of attention to ―the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.‖ Hoover continued to insist it was not the government‘s job to address the growing social crisis. Roosevelt won in a landslide. He took office on March 4, 1933, with the declaration that ―the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.‖
Example of history text
The high level of unemployment, the decrease in national income, and the falling price level during the Great Depression seemingly caused the federal government to intervene to reduce this crisis. President Franklin Roosevelt stated in his 1933 inaugural address ―Our greatest primary task is to put people to work…It can be accomplished in part by direct recruiting by the Government itself…‖ In fact, his desire to use the government as a quick remedy to the Depression was so strong that he also stated in his address that if Congress failed to follow his recommended policies, he would request ―…broad Executive power to wage war against the emergency, as great as the power that would be given to me if we were in fact invaded by a foreign foe.‖ Although these statements indicate a strong desire to strengthen government powers to soften the economic downturn, the severity of the economic contraction cannot necessarily be deemed the direct cause of the rapid growth in government spending since the 1930s.
Purposes for reading history
texts
To be informed about the past
To learn how to think critically about multiple
perspectives
To inform understanding of the present
To understand the discipline of history—
what questions can be asked and answered
by a study of the past
To engage in argumentation based upon
historical evidence
Why is reading history important?
All historians are dependent upon reading
The documents and artifacts used to construct
history require nuanced and critical reading
The study of documents allows students to evaluate
different perspectives on the past (and present)
Why is reading in history important?
Reading is required for the reading portion of the
ACT.
After the opening of the Erie Canal in1825, the Legislature of
New York directed a land survey for a state railroad that was to
be constructed, at public expense, through the southern tier of
counties from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. The unfavorable
profile that the survey indicated apparently prompted the
legislature to abandon the project. But, the notion of an east-to-
west railroad spanning nearly the entire breadth of the state
continued to hold sway over the minds of many New Yorkers,
and the significant benefits that the Erie Canal had brought to
the Mohawk Valley and surrounding country led the southern
counties to demand a rail route that would work similar wonders
in that region. This growing sentiment finally persuaded the
legislature to charter, in April 1832, the New York and Erie
Railroad Company, and to give it authority to construct tracks
and regulate its own charges for transportation.
ACT Questions
As it is used in the passage, the word
subscriptions (line 72) most nearly
means:
F. an agreement to order a specified
number of issues of a newspaper.
G. receiving discounted tickets for a
series of railway trips.
H. contributions of a specified amount to
a project.
I. a membership fee paid regularly.
ACT Questions
Which of the following statements best describes the
author’s method and purpose for addressing his subject?
A. Presenting a comparative history of railroads to justify
the success story of the Erie Railroad
B. Constructing an argument for the construction of the Erie
Railroad based on the sentiment of the people of the state
of New York
C. Presenting the author‘s own personal experience in the
field of railway construction in order to acquaint the reader
with the financial hurdles faced by the Erie Railroad project
D. Presenting a series of researched facts in order to
provide a detailed chronological history of the Erie Canal
ACT Questions
The passage provides clearest support for which
of the following statements?
F. Constructing the Erie Railroad is a remarkable
feat of engineering.
G. The construction of the Erie Railroad was a
disaster of unimaginable proportions.
H. Subsequent surveys changed the planned
route during construction.
J. The proposed route for the railroad was
successfully completed and expanded upon
Why is history reading
important
It is a large part of the Common Core
Standards
Literacy in History/Social Studies (6-8,
9-10, 11-12) –Key Ideas/Details
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
Determine the main ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; summarize the source, basing the summary on information in the text rather than on prior knowledge or opinions.
Identify key steps in a text‘s description of a process related to history/social studies (e.g., how a bill becomes law, how interest rates are raised or lowered).
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
Determine the main ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; summarize how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
Analyze in detail a series of events described in a text and the causes that link the events; distinguish whether earlier events caused later ones or simply preceded them.
Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, connecting insights gained from specific details to an understanding of the text as a whole.
Determine the main ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide a summary that makes clear the relationships between the key details and ideas.
Analyze how ideas and beliefs emerge, develop, and influence events, based on evidence in the text .
Literacy in History/Social Studies (6-8,
9-10, 11-12) –Craft & Structure
Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
Identify how a history/social studies text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, causally).
Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author‘s point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).
Determine the meaning of words and phrases in a text, including the vocabulary describing political, economic, or social aspects of history.
Explain how an author chooses to structure information or an explanation in a text to emphasize key points or advance a point of view.
Compare the point of view of two or more authors by comparing how they treat the same or similar historical topics, including which details they include and emphasize in their respective accounts.
Interpret the meaning of words and phrases in a text, including how an author uses and refines the meaning of a key term over the course of a text (e.g., how Madison defines faction in Federalist No. 10 and No. 51).
Analyze in detail how a complex primary source is structured, including how key sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text contribute to the whole.
Evaluate authors‘ differing points of view on the same historical event or issue by assessing the authors‘ claims, evidence, and reasoning.
Literacy in History/Social Studies (6-8,
9-10, 11-12) – Integration
Integrate graphical information (e.g., pictures, videos, maps, time lines) with other information in a print or digital text.
Distinguish among fact, opinion, and reasoned judgment in a historical account.
Analyze the relationship between a primary and secondary source on the same topic.
Integrate quantitative or technical information presented in maps, time lines, and videos with other information in a print or digital text.
Assess the extent to which the evidence n a text supports the author‘s claims.
Compare and contrast treatments of the same topic in several primary and secondary sources.
Synthesize ideas and data presented graphically and determine their relationship to the rest of a print or digital text, noting discrepancies between the graphics and other information in the text.
Evaluate an author‘s premises, claims, and evidence by corroborating or challenging them with other sources of information.
Integrate information from diverse sources, both primary and secondary, into a coherent understanding of an idea or event, noting discrepancies among sources.
The Lessons
Essential Questions:
What is the purpose of our government?
Has the government become too large and/or taken on too much power?
Has the government become too involved in economics?
What is the government‘s role in our current economic situation?
What, or who, is to blame for our current economic situation?
What was the cause of the first Great Depression?
How is the first Great Depression related to the economic situation today?
Explicit Instruction: Modeling/explanation, guided practice, independent practice, feedback, transfer
The Texts Szulczyk, K. (2010). The Economics of Government
Brinkley. An American History: A Survey
Davis, K. Great Depression
Taylor, N. (2010). A short history of the Great Depression. NYTimes.com
Zemike, K. Generation OMG. NYTimes.com
Baker, P. Obama to Wall Street: ‗Join us instead of fighting us.‘ NY Times
Thomas, G. ―Institutions and Government Growth: Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review
Obama, B. (2010) The right thing to do.
McIntyre, D. (2009). The recession America needed. Newsweek
Lai, D. (2010). The great crash of 2008. Cato Journal
Vocabulary
• Economy
• Economics
• Socialism
• Democracy
• Communism
• Laissez-faire
• Monopoly
• Black Market
• Barter
• Tax
• Subsidy
• Depression
• Volatile
• Inflation
• Recession
Examples of Strategies
Before Reading
Quickwrites
Magnet Words
Smart
Anticipation/Reaction
During Reading
Summarizing
Annotation
Discussion Web
After Reading
Save the Last Word
The Most Important Word
Reciprocal Teaching
Collaborative Annotation
Cause and Effects Chart
Writing Activities
Writing to learn
Summarizing
What will teachers need to do to
teach the unit?
Decide how to introduce and frame/reframe the essential questions as they relate to each of the readings
Decide before teaching how the strategies can be used to help students understand the history texts, especially in relation to the essential questions and the practices of historians as they read history
Choose strategies that make sense for the discipline of history
Find a way to help students make connections across texts and to keep track of the different perspectives these texts represent.
The teacher provides the glue!
Text Example
By September of 1929, nervous investors began selling stocks in order to get out of the market while prices were still high. As the volume of selling increased, stock prices began to fall in October. On October 24 (Black Thursday) and October 29 (Black Tuesday), prices fell drastically as sellers panicked. By December, a staggering $40 billion in stock value had been lost. Hoover and business leaders attempted to calm Americans by assuring them that the country's economy was fundamentally sound. J.P. Morgan and other bankers bought $20 million of U.S. Steel to try to restore confidence, but to no avail. The Stock Market Crash of 1929 did not by itself cause the American economy to collapse. Many factors contributed to a situation so precarious that this event was but the first of a cascade of collapses on many different fronts around the entire world.
Text Example
One weakness in the American economy was lack of diversification. Prosperity of the 1920s was largely a result of expansion of construction and automobile industries and their corollary industries such as the petroleum industry. Older businesses, such as coal, declined.
Poor distribution of income and purchasing power among consumers also contributed. By 1929, the top 10 percent of the nation's population received 40 percent of the nation's disposable income, but this 10 percent did not purchase the mass quantities of food and goods that were being turned out in the nation's farms and factories. Many farmers and factory workers, on the other hand, were unable to make the purchases of cars and houses that would have sustained economic growth. Farm income actually declined 66 percent from 1920 to 1929.
Text Example
Overproduction of goods and farm products compared to
the public's ability to pay for them dragged the economy
down. Panicked farm and business owners plowed what
profits they made not into wages of workers who would
have been customers, but into ever-less-profitable plants
and acreage. Industrialists, rather than increase wages,
put their money into new production capacity. Massive
business inventories (up 300 percent from 1928 to 1929)
and food surpluses drove prices ever downward. As
farms and businesses faltered, unemployment rose
cutting the nation's purchasing power even more.
Overproduction drove down prices, and things were
cheap, but farmers and workers were too strapped to buy
goods at any price.
What should a teacher consider?
What does this piece say in regards to the essential questions? (Last two about the depression are the ones highlighted in the ex. text)
What stylistic features are in this text that your students should know? (chronology, cause/effect; description, narrative)
How is this text structured? (argument structure—few headings and subheading, graphics)
Which before, during, and after activities make most sense for your students?
Who wrote the text? For what purpose and from what perspectives? When was it written? Is it a trustworthy account?
Before Reading:
Anticipation/Reaction Guide Teacher constructs questions that have a yes/no
answer.
As students read, they revise their answers.
Agree Dis-
AgreeThe depression was only in the U.S.,
and not global
Pgs.
Evidence
Agree Dis-
Agree
At least people could go back to the
farm if they lost their city jobs
President Roosevelt ended the
depression
Before/During Reading: Magnet
Words
Have students read a short section and identify magnet words.
Put magnet words on the board. Students write magnet words on index cards.
Students recall important details related to the words—then check recall by returning to text. Put details on index cards.
Students finish reading the text, identifying magnet words (3 or 4).
Students add details in groups.
Students turn details in to summary statement, using magnet word.
Students combine magnet word summaries into a single summary in a group and then share.
Magnet words
Overproduction
Details:
Industries and farms overproduced goods but did not raise wages
The wealthy did not buy up the oversupply
The others didn‘t have enough money to buy the goods and farm products
Summary
Industries and farms overproduced goods that the wealthy did not buy and the others, because their wages weren‘t raised, couldn‘t afford.
After Reading: Save the Last Word
Students get in groups of 3-5
Students write a quote on one side of index card and
why they think it is important on another.
Individual shares quote only. The group responds with
their own ideas.
Individual shares what he or she wrote on the back.
Example: Overproduction drove down prices, and
things were cheap, but farmers and workers were too
strapped to buy goods at any price.
Wages must have been very low, because usually,
when prices go down, sales go up.
Strategies—During (and after)
Reading: Discussion Web
Reasons for
Yes1. Source 1
2. Source 2
3. Source 3
Reasons for
No
1. Source 1
2. Source 2
3. Source 3
The government
is too involved in
our economy
today
Our Answer:
Other things to consider:
Help students use sourcing, contextualization,
corroboration in evaluating the information they are
reading in the texts
Help students keep track of the different perspectives
they are reading in relation to the essential questions.
Perhaps put the essential questions on one grid of a
chart and the texts on the other, having students write
information that relates to that question in the box.
Help students look at word choice in the text as an
indication of an author‘s perspective.
Remember the purposes for
reading history
Common Core Standards
ACT
Helping students to make sense of the past
and to think critically about historical
evidence
THANKS!!!
Cyndie Shanahan