Teach and Reflect Seminar 2010

Please share with others what you have gained from this online experience and any final thoughts you have about the lesson you developed and taught.

1.) State one strategy or idea that was demonstrated that you could incorporate into your own TPS lesson (or if not this lesson, another one where you use primary sources). 2.) Focusing on the Construct phase, which is often the most challenging for teachers and students: a) What kind of activity are they using fot this phase and why? b) What role do you see the teacher playing in this activity? c) What evidence do you see that students are constructing new understanding and supporting their positions with evidence?

Go to http://historicalthinkingmatters.org/ Select one of the topic areas (there are four to choose from) – they are written for students. Read through the warm up activity which asks you to compare two sources and answer questions about them. You don’t have to answer the questions or create an account, but note the methods used and how you might apply those to your teaching experience. Review the inquiry activity (you can just do a quick overview) which is designed as a lesson that answers the investigative question posed at the beginning. Click through each of the primary sources used, noting the contextual material provided. To the right are helpful resources, but be sure to click on the “Questions” tab – these are the strategies for getting students to think deeply about the primary sources. Note any that you think are particularly helpful. When you are done, post your review of the student lesson you selected in the forum, noting: a) which topic you selected, b) what you learned (anything new?) about the topic, and c) what strategies for analyzing and understanding primary sources you would recommend to the rest of the group.

Please post to the discussion forum telling us when you plan to teach your lesson. Some of you have given us an indication of the approximate time, but we are going to try to create a master list so everyone will have access to it in one place.

This week, we would like you to focus on two discussion topics: 1) Share with us the topic or focus of the lesson plan you are working on (this might be similar to what you shared on your activity in the face to face session in July for those who attended, or it might be a slightly different direction.) [reminder of due date for first draft of lesson plan: September 7 – and thanks to those who early birds who have already submitted] 2) Share either successes or challenges you are encountering in finding appropriate primary sources on the Library of Congress website. (use this to help each other out with tips and suggestions – we’ll enter into the discussion too.)

What are some key strategies you can use to help students get the greatest benefit from investigating primary sources?