Teaching the West and Biography: Applying Content in Our Classrooms

1. Teaching the West and Biography: Applying Content in Our Classrooms

2. Studying History “History is not tidy. It contains conflicting narratives. Not all of the answers are known. Understanding requires active thinking. This is the brand of history that students want to inquire about, discover, and make their own.” “History: Uncovering the Past Through Inquiry,” Kathleen Anderson Steeves.

3. Learning Cycle • Before Learning • Introduction to the week/ Hook with the intro lecture on the west • During Learning/Building Background Knowledge • Background knowledge lectures and skills sessions • Cementing Knowledge • Application in the classroom

4. Presentation Questions Discuss with your group the questions given to you surrounding this weeks lectures. Decide on what the ONE most important idea is out of your list of questions and be prepared to share as a large group.

5. Big Ideas • What “big ideas” have you gleaned from this week pertaining to the west, biography, gender, race and ethnicity? • Can bios be used in the classroom as a credible way to teach history tapping on time and place helping students to become critical thinkers while dissecting history • In the context of history how can teachers select and use biography to effectively teach time and place • How has the concept of gender in the west changed over time and how can we address this in the classroom • Impact of place on reality and myths throughout history • How does the genre of biography allow the learner to compile different views and sources to understand the “real story” including that which is missing • It is important to use primary sources and examine the biographers background to distinguish between myth and reality when using biographies • What criteria do we use when gathering and evaluating any data and how might race gender and socioeconomic difference affect that interpretation • How can we teach students to analyze historical data and conflicting historic data while also considering missing sources framework bias and perhaps the existing official story

6. Group Activity Instructions: • Using the labeled shapes given to your group, design an instructional model for planning in your classroom. Consider the following: • How do you start to plan a lesson? • What are the key elements of instruction? • Design a graphic representation of an instructional model and be prepared to share it with the group in 5-8 minutes.

7. Understanding by Design Take a look at this layout:

8. Essential Questions for our Teaching • What have we considered this week? What are the large questions (overarching) that link this topic to others in a course? What are the essential questions that students should be able to answer after study of this unit/topic? Now: In what ways can they show you what they know?

9. Strategies for Learning in the Classroom • Before Learning : • Primary Source Activity : Foldable • Chipeta Activity • Building Background • Biography and Autobiography Activity • Empathetic Writing : I Am Poem , Bio Poem • Cementing Knowledge : • RAFT • Technology Components • Mojo

10. Foldable Activity • Select a primary source • Fold the primary source to illuminate what you feel is most important to look at in the source itself • Tape the source up on the wall • Large group debrief

11. Chipeta “Quray’s Squaw” or “Queen of Utes”

12. Competing Interpretations • http://museumtrail.org/chipeta.asp • http://theautry.org/explore/exhibits/lodo/chipeta.htm • http://chipeta.wordpress.com/

13. Philosophical Considerations • The Nature of Bias • Values • The Nature of History • Two steps: • Selection of events • Significance • What is critical thinking anyway? • Multiple perspectives • Understanding does not mean agreement

14. Building Knowledge Phases Working with your Autobiography and Artifacts • Read their autobiography • Come up with two questions that you would still like answered • Add their source documents/artifacts to your collection of information (DO NOT explain the source document to your interviewer) • Be that person’s biographer and write 8-10 trying to answer the questions you want answered or add new ones based on the artifacts • Share out with the group

15. Building Knowledge • What did you find most surprising in the account you read about this person? • In what ways was she similar to other people in her time and place? • In what ways was she unique and very different from others? • Is this a person you would pick as a friend and why?

16. Building Knowledge Phases Empathetic Writing Formats • Poetic response templates Where I Come From I Am Poem Bio poem • RAFT - Role, Audience, Format, Topic

17. Cementing Knowledge • Technology Applications: http://psi21.pbworks.com • Creating a wiki • Glogster • Animoto

18. Ideas for assessing knowledge • Create a FACEBOOK or MY Space profile • Twitter your character for a week • Make a calendar for a week in the life of your character • Fill in the personality head for a biographical figure • Design a Monument or a Stamp • Write a Eulogy or Epitaph • Venn Diagram

19. Resources for Educators https://mollybrownteacherresources.pbworks.com http://www.teachertravel.wordpress.com

20. Keeping the Mojo Alive • Evaluation • Hands-on wrap up activity • TPS debrief • Announcements from Molly Brown • Our Best Wishes!