History&CriticalThinking

AHandbookfor

UsingHistoricalDocumentstoImproveStudentsThinkingSkills

intheSecondaryGrades

MichaelEdmondsJenniferA.HullErikaL.JanikKeliRylance

Madison:

WisconsinHistoricalSociety

LibraryArchivesDivision

2005

www.wisconsinhistory.org

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CopyrightWisconsinHistoricalSociety2005

Anythinginthishandbookmaybefreelyreproducedforclassroomorothernonprofiteducationaluse.

Nothinginitmaybecopiedforresaleorcommercialpurposes

withoutpriorconsentfrom

WisconsinHistoricalSociety816StateStreet

MadisonWI53706

TheentirecontentsofthishandbookarealsoavailableforfreeinPDFformatatwww.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints

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Contents

I.WhyThisHandbook? 4

II.TheElementsofCriticalThinking 610commonerrorsoflogicinargumentativewriting 14

III.NurturingCriticalThinkingintheClassroom 2330classroomtechniquesthatencouragecriticalthinking

IV.PrimarySourcesonWisconsinHistoryAvailableFreeOnline 291,000Wis.documentsatwww.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints

V.20ModelLessonsUsingPrimarySourcesfromWisconsinHistory 31 integratingtheseintoyourU.S.historytextbook 72

VI.WisconsinHistoryPerformanceStandards 80

VII.CriticalThinking:ASelectedBibliography 83

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PartI

WhyThisHandbook?

ThishandbookisdesignedforusewithdigitalcollectionsofprimarysourcesavailableattheWisconsinHistoricalSocietysWebsite(www.wisconsinhistory.org).

Itreproducesactivitiesfromworkshopsofferedtoteachersin2005bytheSociety.Itsfirsthalfreviewstheelementsofcriticalthinkingastheypertaintounderstandingandanalyzinghistoricalevidence.Thisincludes10handoutsthatcanbequicklyadaptedforusewithstudents,aswellasatoolkitofclassroomtechniquesforencouragingcriticalthinkingandaguidetoevaluatingit.Thehandbookssecondhalfoffers20modellessons,eachofwhichcentersonasingledocumentavailableonlineattheSocietysTurningPointsinWisconsinHistorycollection(www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints).TheselessonsspanallerastaughtinU.S.historyclasses,connectlocalWisconsinhistorytonationalthemesinstandardtextbooks,andwalkstudentsandteachersthroughtheanalysisofeyewitnessaccountswithspecificsuggestionsfordevelopingcriticalthinkingskills.

Usingprimarysources,especiallytodevelopcriticalthinking,isanunfamiliarpracticeinmostsecondarylevelhistoryclasses.Historyhastraditionallybeentaughtnotasapracticeinwhichstudentsengagebutratherasacollectionofdatathattheymaster.Comeon,Bart,MargeSimpsonsaysinarecentepisodeofthewellknowncartoonseries,TheSimpsons.Historycanbefun.Itslikeanamusementparkexceptinsteadofrides,yougettomemorizedates.(MagicalHistoryTour,whichairedDec.22,2004).

LikeMarge,wehatetoadmitthatmostkidsfindhistoryboringandwetrytopersuadethemthatitssomethingtheyshouldenjoy.But,lulledbyoversimplifiedgeneralizationsanddeadenedbyastreamofnamesanddatesunrelatedtotheirownlives,theyknowbetterthantobelieveus.Itsnowonderthattheycanbereluctanttoengageoriginalhistoricaldocuments.MyteachermadeususethisWebsite[AmericanJourneys],onestudenttoldusthroughourfeedbackbutton.Idratherhaveallthespinalfluiddrainedfrommybody.

Itssadthatayoungpersonwithsomuchspunk,intelligence,andeloquenceasthatcorrespondentshouldmissthebenefitsthathistoryhastooffer,especiallyitspotentialtobeawhetstoneforsharpeningcriticalintelligence.

Thepastisrarelysimple.Thereareusuallymorethantwosidestoaquestion:historicaleventsarenotneatlybalancedrectanglesbutirregularpolyhedronsthatshifttheirshapeasonechangesonesperspective.Whenstudentsengagetheirmindson

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historicalevidence,theypracticeinquiry,evaluation,problemsolving,judgement,andsynthesistheveryskillsneededtobeausefulfriendandaneffectivecitizen.Historicaldocumentsareoneoftheeasiestandmostengagingwaystoteachyoungpeoplehowtothinkclearlyandmakesounddecisions.

Butbecausestudentsdontusuallyseeprimarysourcesinhistoryclasses,theyreportinoverwhelmingnumbersthathistoryboresthem.Oneformerstudentcalledhishistoryclassesaboutasexcitingasaclamrace.Alltheywantedtotalkaboutwasnumbersanddates.Itceasedtobeaboutpeople.(RogerDaltryintheNewYorkPost,Oct4,2003).

Usingprimarysourcesputsthepeoplebackin;realpeople,whoactuallyatebreakfast,wenttothebathroom,hadpassionateemotions,andwerecaughtinterribledilemmas.Theirownwordsabouttheirownliveswilloftenseizeastudentsattention.Andbyusingeyewitnessaccountsthatcomefromthestudentsowncityorcounty,orthatwerecreatedbysomeoneintheirownethnicgroup,orwerewrittenbyapersonoftheirowngenderandage,teacherscanquicklyengagestudentswiththeirpast.Thisopensthedoortohelpingthemlearntothinkcritically.

NoteenagercaresaboutnamesanddatesfromtheCivilWar.Butgivehimorheramanuscriptletterwrittenbyan18yearoldfromthenexttownthatdescribeshislifeinaConfederateprison,andtheirinterestwillpickup.ShowthemtheironcollarthataWisconsinsoldierremovedfromanescapingslaveandletthemreadwhattheslavesaidaboutwhereitcamefrom,andtheirintelligence,imagination,andfeelingswillallshiftintogear.ManywilldisplayareactionliketheveryfirstwegottoourAmericanJourneysdigitalcollection,fromastudentinFlorida:Thisissoooocool!Thanks!

CausingtheseemotionalreactionsisoneofthegoalsoftheWisconsinHistoricalSocietysdigitizationprogram.WhenastudentexperiencesthatWow!orAha!moment,theycanbeinspiredtoanalyze,evaluate,andthinkcriticallyskillsthatenrichthemforanentirelifetime.Aseducators,weveencouragedkidsforyearstomakesmartchoiceswithoutalwaysteachingthemtheskillstodoit.Bymiddleandhighschool,theyreabletolearntheelementsofcriticalthinking;usinghistoricaldocumentsthatengagetheirheartsaswellastheirheadsisaperfectmethodforteachingthem.

Allthematerialshereeverypageofthehandbook,andeachofthe50essaysand900documentsontheTurningPointsWebsitemaybefreelycopied,downloaded,andreproducedfornonprofiteducationalusesuchasclassroomhandouts,homeworkassignments,andPowerPointpresentationstoteachersandstudents.Theymaynot,however,becopiedandresoldforcommercialpurposeswithoutpriorpermissionfromtheWisconsinHistoricalSociety,816StateSt.,Madison,WI53706.

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PartII

TheElementsofCriticalThinkingCriticalthinking:thementalprocessofactivelyandskillfully

conceptualizing,applying,analyzing,synthesizing,andevaluating

information toreachananswerorconclusion*

10ElementsofCriticalThinking

1.TheFiveWs p.72.IdentifyingCentralPropositions p.83.IdentifyingUnderlyingAssumptions p.94.IdentifyingPointofView p.115.EvaluatingReasoning p.13 10commonerrors p.146.EvaluatingInferences p.177.EvaluatingEvidence p.188.AssessingCompleteness p.209.ImaginingImplications p.2110.TakingaStand p.22

*WebstersNewMillenniumDictionaryofEnglishviadictionary.com

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STEPONE:TheFiveWs

Thefivethingsthatanewreporterlearnstocoverineveryarticlearealsothethingsyouneedtoconsiderasyoulookatatextorapicture.Beforeyoustartlookingatitclosely,glanceoverthedocumentandtrytoanswerthesequestions.Youmaynotbeabletoanswerallfiveofthematfirst.

1.Whocreatedit?Whositcreatedfor?Inmosttexts,anauthorsnameappearsnearthetop;sometimes,aswithletters,itwillbeatthebottominstead.Onpictures,thecreatorsnamemayappearinabottomcorner,inacaptionoutsidetheimage,ornowhereatall.Theaudienceusuallyhastobeinferredfromthedocumentscontent.Beforereadingclosely,justbrowsetheitemtoanswerquestionssuchas,wasthisaprivatecommunicationorapublishedone?Isitaimedatyoungpeopleoradults?Menorwomen?Thegeneralpublicorspecialists?Anyspecificethnic,cultural,orlanguagegroup?Anyspecificprofessionalgroup(suchasscientists,lawyers,orlegislators)?Peopleinanyspecificplace?

2.Whatkindofdocumentisit?Publishedbook?Speech?Privatediary?Letter?Magazinearticle?Photograph?Map?Pamphlet?Advertisement?Politicalhandoutorflyer?Unpublishedmeetingminutes?Legalbrief?Scientificreport?Poster?

3.Wherewasitmade,andwherewasitsupposedtobedistributed?Publishedworkswillusuallyhaveatitlepage,masthead,orbyline;letterswillusuallyhaveareturnaddress.

4.Whenwasitmade?Doyouknowaboutanythingelsegoingonatthetime?Publishedworkswillusuallyhaveacleardatesomewherenearthebeginning;letterswillusuallybedatedatthetop.

5.Whywasitmade?Whatdoyoususpectitscreatorwastryingtoaccomplish?Simplyinformasinglereader?Changepublicopinion?Persuadeinfluentialdecisionmakers?Createalastinghistoricalrecordforposterity?Winacontestsuchasacourtcaseorelection?Educateaparticularaudienceaboutnewfacts?

Knowingthesethingsaboutthedocumentinadvancehelpsyouunderstandwhatitsaysandtobegintoreachconclusionsaboutitsaccuracy,completeness,biases,andpointofview.

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STEPTWO:WhatsTheMainPoint(orPoints)?

Peoplewritebecausetheyhavesomethingtosayandmakepicturesbecausetheyhavesomethingtoshow.Butthemainpointsofadocumentarenotalwayseasytospot.AfteraddressingtheFiveWs,examinethedocumentthisway:Texts

1.Lookatthebeginning.Themainpointmaybeplainlystated,ortheauthormayposeaquestionheorsheintendstoanswer.

2.Lookattheend.Theremaybeashortconclusionwheretheauthorsumseverythingup.

3.Lookatthemiddle.Paragraphsmayopenwithatopicsentenceorendwithaconclusionreached.Chaptersmayhaveentireparagraphsthatdothis.

4.Lookforwordsthatargue:should,must,ought,necessarily,surely.

5.Lookforwordsthatexpresscausationorconclusion:because,andso,consequently,therefore,inshort,insum,thus,hence,asaresult,inthatcase,forthatreason,then,accordingly.

6.Lookforwordsthatexpresspriorities:essential,important,crucial,fundamental,basic.Pictures

1.Whatsthelargestobject?

2.Whatdidthecreatorputdeadcenterinthemiddle?

3.Whatspushedofftotheedgesorintothebackground?

4.Payattentiontothewayyoureyewandersfromoneobjecttothenext.Doesthissequencemakeapointortellastory?

5,Payattentiontoyourfeelingsasyoureyewandersaround.Whatobjectsinthepicturescausethemostpowerfulreactioninyou?Whenyouredone,completethesestatements:

1.Themainthingtheauthororartististryingtosayorshowisthat...

2.Twolessim