Analyzing Visual Sources Center for Latin American Studies 2014 Summer Institute for Teachers Emily Richards & Angela La Torre UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project erichards@berkeley.edu http://www.facebook.com/ucbhssp ~ http://ucbhssp.berkeley.edu Incorporate Visual Sources and Historical Writing into History Instruction 2
REFLECTION CYCLE OF INSTRUCTION Step 7: Analyze Data Step 6: Administer Assessment INSTRUCTION Step 5: Instruction, Learning, Practice Step 1: Frame Instruction with Focus Question Curriculum Development Reflection Classroo m Applicati on PLANNING Step 2: Map the Lessons LESSON DEVELOPMENT Step 3: Plan For Historical Thinking Step 3: Plan For Literacy ASSESSMENT Step 4: Design Assessment(s) 3 4 REFLECT 1. Does this interpretation raise new questions? 2.What new content did I learn? 3.How does this connect to the larger historical context? 4.What did I learn about how history is constructed? EXPRESS/SYNTH ESIZE Write an historical essay Make an oral historical presentation CONNECT Standard/Topic/Issue Historical Context Materials for the lesson Discipline- Specific Model of Historical Inquiry How do we teach students to think like historians? CONSTRUCT Develop interpretation/argument and thesis Choose key evidence from investigation What are the connections between pieces of evidence and each of those to the thesis? CREATE A HISTORICAL FOCUS QUESTION Teacher s question Working thesis (teacher s concise answer to the focus question) INVESTIGATE Evaluate Sources Analyze sources Gather Evidence -Does the evidence fit the question? -Does the question fit the evidence? -Are there new questions? -Do I need other sources?
How to Incorporate Multiple Sources into Instruction Backwards Planning for Unit/Lesson STEP ONE: Frame the unit with an focus question STEP TWO: Evaluate core text/source and select supplemental sources STEP THREE: Determine how to best integrate these various sources into unit/lesson STEP FOUR: Teach students to analyze and evaluate various texts/sources STEP FIVE: Teach students to use these sources as evidence in their writing 5 STEP ONE: Backwards Planning Create a Focus Question for the Unit Establish Teaching Thesis for Unit Identify Issues Identify Associated Standard Identify Historical Thinking and Literacy skills 6
STEP ONE: Framing instruction with a focus question Provides a significant focus for standards-based student learning. Creates connections across themes and unit topic. Requires students to utilize critical thinking and writing skills. Elicits an explanation or argument that will be used to generate a thesis statement supported by evidence (i.e. How? Why? What role?). Offers opportunities for students to generate multiple arguments based on the evidence from the text(s) 7 8
STEP TWO: Select Multiple Sources Identify the main/first source (text, visual, chart, graph, artifact) that relates to focus question Identify at least one supplemental source that complements or contests the argument of main/first source 9 STEP TWO: Select Multiple sources Supplemental sources help answer the focus question by: Supporting claim made by core source Elaborating upon the issue Serving as a specific example of the evidence Contesting the claim by presenting another point of view Helping to answer the unit focus question or writing prompt MAIN IDEA OF THE SOURCE The main idea or message of this source is APPLYING THE SOURCE The students will use evidence from this source in their written response because 10
STEP 2: Why I selected this source Supplemental sources help answer the focus question by: Supporting claim made by core text Elaborating upon the issue Serving as a specific example of the evidence Helping to answer the unit focus question or writing prompt MAIN IDEA OF THE SOURCE The main idea or message of these sources are To illustrate the differences between the Mexican and United States ways of creating and document land grants APPLYING THE SOURCE The students will use evidence from these sources in their written response to help explain how, when California became a state, the Mexican way of capturing land ownership was not honored by the Unites States government thus causing many Mexican families to lose thousands of acres of land. 11 STEP TWO: Evaluate the Sources Now that you have found your source: What kind of source is it? Are some sources more credible than other ones? What kind of evidence can the students get from this type of source? What do we know about the creator/commissioner? Relationship to events? Role in society? Does the creator/commissioner have a reputation or a particular perspective? Is there an argument made? What point of view does it represent? Does representation indicate bias? What s been left in, left out? How reliable is it? 12
STEP THREE: How to Integrate Sources into Lesson Introduce Units/Themes/Lessons Attention getter; Provides Background/Historical Context Illustrate/Exemplify Concepts from lectures/reading assignments. Explore or elaborate upon issue Provide a Different Point of View Counter evidence to other sources Review Lesson or Units Wrap up; assessment of learning, DBQ 13 STEP FOUR: ANALYZE THE SOURCE(S) 14
15 STEP FIVE: Use Source(s) in Writing I. Summarizing the Source is a (name, title of source) (type of source) that (describe content of source) II. Establishing Context of Source The was written (name, title of source) during a time when (describe historical setting) -for (audience) 16
III. Inferring the Message of Source suggests/shows that (name, title of source) (WHO? Author, other people) thought/did/had (WHAT? message regarding a person, place, event, idea) because (SPECIFIC EVIDENCE in source quotes, statistics, images, etc) IV. Connecting Source to Focus Question This shows that (how it answers the focus question) because (summarize how evidence from the source answers the focus question) 17 STEP 5: Structures for Writing (KEY) WRITING USING THE PRIMARY SOURCE Focus Question: How did Mexican landmaps of the 1840 s impact the Californios as they gained United States citizenship? The two different land grant maps from 1841 show the differences between the Mexican and United States way of surveying land and demarcating tract ownership. The lack of specificity and permanency in how the Mexican disenos portrayed land grant ownership caused the maps to not hold up in a court of law thus causing many rancho families to lose thousands of acres of land to the United States government. This primary source relates to the focus question because it shows the difference between the Mexican and United States way of creating land grant maps and how the lack of accuracy in the Mexican maps negatively impacted the Californios as they grained U.S. citizenship. 18