Programs

Literacy in the History Classroom - Samples

Text Organization Chart (pdf) This chart defines and provides examples for students of the types of texts that they will encounter in the history classroom.

6 C's of Primary Source Analysis

Primary Source Analysis for Middle School

Primary Source Rubric--Rubric for grading source-based writing prompt

Primary Source Analysis Template for Documents (pdf) A template to use for detailed primary source analysis of documents.

Development of Modern Political Thought draft (pdf) This unit has been created as an introduction to modern political thought in the tenth-grade classroom. The lesson includes scaffolded literacy instruction so students can explore the connection of Ancient Jews, Christians, Greeks, and Romans in the development of democracy. Students will have the opportunity to read and discuss both primary and secondary sources.

Industrial Revolution (pdf) This unit explores the experience of womens' work during the Industrial Revolution. Through a textbook analysis lesson students learn how to preview a chapter by doing a close reading of the introduction. Students then compare womens' experiences of industrialization in Britain and Japan. Finally, the lesson supports students' to write an essay to using multiple primary source documents.

Fascism (MS Word) In this lesson, students create a definition of fascism through a kinesthetic exercise as well primary- and secondary-source analysis. By drawing students' attention to how information is organized in textbooks, the lesson helps students develop textbook reading strategies. The lesson covers History-Social Science standards 10.6, 11.5, and 12.9.

Southlake Middle School Literacy Presentation for History & Science teachers (Powerpoint). This powerpoint presentation, given at the Southlake Middle School in April 2006, offers an overview of literacy strategies for history and science teachers. The presentation also included two sample lessons, "Climate in the Andes" and "Using Functional Grammar in the History and Science Classroom," which are also linked to this page.

Climate in the Andes (MS Word). In this seventh-grade lesson, students learn about the Andean climate through close readings of textbook passages and examination of primary sources. The lesson covers History-Social Science standard 7.7.

Using Functional Grammar in the History and Science Classroom (MS Word). This exercise provides practical exercises for using functional grammar for descriptive texts found in history and science textbooks. The examples in the exercise are aligned to eighth-grade history and seventh-grade science standards.