"It doesn't matter how much you know. It matters what you can do.”

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"It doesn't matter how much you know. It matters what you can do.”-- Thomas Gaffney, HS Math Teacher from Philadelphia


From Wineburg, “Thinking Like a Historian” http://www.loc.gov/teachers/tps/quarterly/1002/article.html


What is “historical thinking”?

Five core components of historical thinking

teachinghistory.org

Multiple Accounts & Perspectives

Analysis of Primary Documents

Sourcing Understanding Historical

Context Claim-Evidence

Connection


Dimensions of Historical Thinking

National Center for History in the Schools,

UCLA

Chronological Thinking Historical Comprehension Historical Analysis and

Interpretation Historical Research Capabilities Historical Issues-Analysis and

Decision-Making


Thinking Like a Historian

Sam Wineburg

“treat with skepticism any account that claims to present a full story of the past”

Sourcing: Think about a document's author and its creation

Contextualizing: Situate the document and its events in time and place

Close reading: Carefully consider what the document says and the language used to say it

Using Background Knowledge: Use historical information and knowledge to read and understand the document

Reading the Silences: Identify what has been left out or is missing from the document by asking questions of its account

Corroborating: Ask questions about important details across multiple sources to determine points of agreement and disagreement


Strategies

Strategies for using primary sources in the classroom:

PAPER

KWL

Political cartoons

Memorials & Monuments

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/langwitches/3557894144/


Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College

How to Read a Primary Source

Purpose of the author in preparing the document

Argument and strategy she or he uses to achieve those goals

Presuppositions and values (in the text, and our own)

Epistemology (evaluating truth content) Relate to other texts (compare and

contrast)


KWL Chart

what do I know

what do I want to know

what have I learned

Consider four ways that primary sources enhance history learning:

Motivate historical inquiry Supply evidence for historical accounts Convey information about the past Provide insight into the thoughts and

experiences of people in the past


Political Cartoons

Tool for understanding, interpreting, and engaging with the past


How to read a political cartoon

Symbol and Metaphor Visual Distortion Irony in Words &

Images Stereotype &

Caricature An Argument Not a

Slogan The Uses & Misuses of

Political Cartoons


Monuments and Memorials

Living pieces of history

How events are memorialized

Who erected them

Who designed them

How they've been related to and used by the community since their creation


Monuments have stories embedded within them

Vietnam War Slavery


TAH list: http://www.diigo.com/list/cdworrell/tah

Resources

"It doesn't matter how much you know. It matters what you can do.”

Documents

Transcript of "It doesn't matter how much you know. It matters what you can do.”