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In this learning cycle, novice teachers learn what it means to model specific reading and writing strategies that help students understand historical sources. The materials used within this resource emphasize the importance of modeling as a tool for learning to ensure equity in the classroom.

This five class-session unit, designed for an elementary social studies methods course, focuses on supporting novice teachers to use primary source analysis to counter dominant narratives about Indigenous history.
Select a quadrant below to view related activities:
Introduce
Novice teachers familiarize themselves with reading and writing strategies used to model historical texts by viewing and decomposing examples of a teacher and teacher educator.
Prepare
Novices prepare to model reading and writing strategies by analyzing and constructing scripts of this practice. Novices are also guided on how to prepare for teaching a lesson of their own through rehearsals.
Enact
After preparing for their lesson, novices will teach a small group of children using a historical source while modeling a reading strategy.
Analyze
Novices will reflect on the lesson they've taught in several ways, including with another colleague, through video analysis, and written-reflection.
Tools
Teaching Explaining and Modeling Content in Social Studies
Tools
Teaching Explaining and Modeling Content in Social Studies

References and relevant readings

Austin & Thompson (2014). Examining the evidence: Seven strategies for teaching with primary sources. Minnesota: Maupin Press.

Collins, A., Brown, J. S., & Holum, A. (1991). Cognitive apprenticeship: Making thinking visible. American educator15(3), 6-11.

Delpit, L. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other peoples’ children. Harvard Educational Review, 58(3), 280-298.

Fillpot, E. (2012). Historical thinking in the third grade. The Social Studies, 103(5), 206-217

Grossman, P. (2018). Teaching core practices in teacher education. Cambridge: Harvard Education Press.

Lampert, M., Franke, M. L., Kazemi, E., Ghousseini, H., Turrou, A. C., Beasley, H., Cunard, A., & Crowe, K. (2013). Keeping it complex: Using rehearsals to support novice teacher learning of ambitious teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 64(3), 226-243.

McDonald, M., Kazemi, E., & Kavanagh, S. S. (2013). Core practices and pedagogies of teacher education: A call for a common language and collective activity. Journal of Teacher Education64(5), 378-386.

Reisman, A., & Wineburg, S. (2008). Teaching the skill of contextualizing in history. The Social Studies99(5), 202-207.

Teacher Education by Design. (2014). University of Washington College of Education.

Wineburg, S. (2001). Historical thinking and other unnatural acts. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Wineburg, S., Martin, D., & Monte-Sano, C. (2011). Reading like a historian. New York: Teachers College Press.