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- Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
- Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
- Sprache: Englisch
Make History with Your Students From bestselling author Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and Art Worrell, Uncommon Schools' Director of History Instruction, comes Make History, an inspiring book on how educators can take history instruction to the next level. History teachers face unique challenges in introducing history lessons to students, and they are under increasing pressure to get it "right" in an age of social progress and social divisiveness. This book is a guide to bring the past to life while teaching students how to make sense of history. Use the ideas and techniques to turn your history students into writers, readers, and thinkers who are ready not only to succeed in college, but also to become leaders and change agents. By showing how to teach rigorous, engaging lessons that center student thinking and voice, Make History turns history class into the most exciting part of a student's day. * Reimagine history education to help students build their own unique arguments about the past * Ask tough questions to help students grapple with difficult historical periods * Set the stage for authentic discourse that students remember long past the bell * Give students the tools to become socially aware, build their own identity, and think and write like historians Teachers and instructional coaches in grades 5-12 will love this new, insightful approach to history--one that works for today's classrooms.
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Seitenzahl: 343
Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023
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Table of Contents
Cover
Praise for
Make History
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Online Content
APPENDIX—PRINT‐READY MATERIALS
VIDEOS
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Introduction: Make History
ART'S STORY
PAUL'S STORY
OUR STORY
A “PRACTICAL GUIDE”: WHAT YOU'LL FIND IN THIS BOOK
TURNING ON THE LIGHT: MAKING GOOD TEACHING VISIBLE
MAKING HISTORY—STARTING THE JOURNEY
NOTE
Part 1: Define the Destination
LEARN MORE—ENRICH YOUR HISTORY MAP
FINALIZE THE DESTINATION
CHART THE PATH
CONCLUSION
KEY TAKEAWAYS
SELF‐ASSESSMENT
PLANNING FOR ACTION
NOTES
Part 2: Build Knowledge
ACTIVATE KNOWLEDGE
FRONTLOAD KNOWLEDGE—TELL A STORY
CONCLUSION
KEY TAKEAWAYS
BUILD KNOWLEDGE LESSON ONE‐PAGER
SELF‐ASSESSMENT
PLANNING FOR ACTION
NOTES
Part 3: Grapple with Evidence
PLAN FOR PRODUCTIVE STRUGGLE
SET THE STAGE—ACTIVATE WHAT THEY NEED
LET THEM GRAPPLE—GUIDE SENSEMAKING
CONCLUSION
KEY TAKEAWAYS
GRAPPLE WITH EVIDENCE—ONE‐PAGER
SELF‐ASSESSMENT
PLANNING FOR ACTION
NOTES
Part 4: Make Sense of It Through Discourse
GIVE STUDENTS HABITS
SET THE STAGE FOR DISCOURSE
CONCLUSION
KEY TAKEAWAYS
INQUIRY LESSON ONE‐PAGER
SELF‐ASSESSMENT
PLANNING FOR ACTION
NOTES
Part 5: Stamp and Measure the Learning
STAMP IN STUDENT VOICE
STAMP IN WRITING
STAMP THE THINKING (GO META)
APPLY IT—ASSESS
CONCLUSION
KEY TAKEAWAYS
SELF‐ASSESSMENT
PLANNING FOR ACTION
NOTES
Part 6: Put It All Together
IMPLEMENTATION RUBRIC—MAKE HISTORY
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS—RECONSTRUCTION (AP US HISTORY)
SAMPLE LESSON PLANS—WESTERNIZATION OR SOUTHERNIZATION? (AP WORLD HISTORY)
NOTES
Conclusion
NOTES
Index
End User License Agreement
Guide
Cover Page
Praise for Make History
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Online Content
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
Table of Contents
Begin Reading
Conclusion
Index
Wiley End User License Agreement
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Praise for Make History
“You've heard about the Science of Reading. This is a book about the science of history: How to plan the knowledge students need to have the richest and most informed discussions of major historical questions. For a student whose experience of history has been carefully shaped by teaching tools that do those things, the sky's the limit and this book is your roadmap.”
—Doug Lemov, author of international bestseller Teach Like a Champion
“Worrell and Bambrick‐Santoyo put all the pieces together in this excellent book. They provide models and examples of techniques that get young people thinking, talking, and doing history. From retrieval practice to high‐level discourse, the book makes it all clear and accessible to teachers who want to take their game up a level.”
—Jonathan Bassett & Gary Shiffman, authors of From Story to Judgment: The Four Question Method for Teaching and Learning Social Studies
“Make History brings an important and crucial perspective of historical context to light. It not only teaches the practical and essential way to learn, discuss, and understand history but also provides the significance of learning history through a variety of sources to affect student perspectives and, in turn, our future. As a History major and coach of teachers, Make History inspires me to get back into the classroom and utilize these replicable instructional strategies for bringing history to life!”
—Amanda McDonald, principal, Denver (Colorado) Public Schools
“Make History is a must‐read for all leaders and educators who are eager to increase the rigor in History for all students. The book gives practical, easy‐to‐follow guidance on best practices that will affect how you teach History with a focus on equity and high expectations.”
—Laura Garza, associate superintendent, Dallas (Texas) ISD
“When I was searching for what we were missing to help our students achieve, think, and learn, at a deeper level, the systems and tools of Paul Bambrick‐Santoyo gave us a base, a true north for what good instruction looked like. Who better than he and Art Worrell to finally provide History teachers a resource to help facilitate deeper thinking and high expectations for our scholars. This book is an exciting new tool in the arsenal of History educators around the world to maximize learning in their classrooms.”
—Dr. Jimmy D. Shaw Jr., superintendent, Florence (Alabama) City Schools
“Wherever I go, I bring my Paul Bambrick‐Santoyo library with me! The ideas and materials in this book are practical and field‐tested, and they provide all the required insight and resources needed to teach equity and high expectations without compromise.”
—Joshua Zoia, country director, One World Network of Schools
“Paul Bambrick‐Santoyo's research and subsequent teaching has lifted the quality of leader professional development in my school district. His ability to identify the levers that support improved student outcomes has changed the course of our work and the outcomes for our students.”
—Jacqueline Glasheen, executive director of school leadership, Holyoke (Massachusetts) Public Schools
“Make History is an actionable guidebook for creating the rich, rigorous, and empowering History instruction that our young people deserve—and that our communities need.”
—Rachel Willcutts, Director of Rhodes Scholarship, IDEA Public Schools
MAKE HISTORY
A Practical Guide for Middle and High School History Instruction
Art WorrellPaul Bambrick-Santoyo
Copyright © 2023 by Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and Art Worrell. All rights reserved.
Videos © 2021 by Uncommon Schools. All rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.Published simultaneously in Canada.
ISBNs: 9781119989868 (Paperback), 9781119989875 (ePDF), 9781119989882 (ePUB)
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Library of Congress Control Number: 2022053827 (print), 2022053828 (ebook)
Cover design: Paul McCarthyPhoto Permission: JJ Ignotz Photography
“A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.”
— Robert Heinlein
“History is not a burden on the memory but an illumination of the soul.”
— Lord Acton
“People are trapped in history, and history is trapped in them.”
— James Baldwin
Online Content
This book is supplemented with videos and print‐ready materials. Visit this site for additional content: www.wiley.com/go/makehistory
APPENDIX—PRINT‐READY MATERIALS
These online resources are ready for you to print and use in your classroom.
Resources
Description
Overview
Arc of Teaching History
Make History Implementation Rubric
Part 1: Define the Destination
Components of a Strong Prompt
Quick Resources for Finding Sources
Historical Thinking Skills (College Board)
AP Historical Reasoning Processes
Know‐Show Chart Template
Planning Template—Intellectual Prep for Instruction
Part 2: Build Knowledge
Build Knowledge Lesson Plan One‐Pager
DEI Checklist
Sample Notebook Rubrics
Student Notetaking Examples
Check for Understanding: Four‐Sentence Summary
Check for Understanding: Six‐Panel Storyboard
Part 3: Grapple with Evidence
Grapple with Evidence One‐Pager
Four‐Corner Annotation
Universal Prompts for Document Analysis
Monitoring Pathways: Rows and
U
‐Shape
Part 4: Make Sense of It Through Discourse
Inquiry One‐Pager
Habits of Discourse 101—Create Conversation
Habits of Discourse 201—Deepen Discourse
Universal Prompts for Discourse
Part 5: Stamp and Measure the Learning
Characteristics of a Strong Task Assessment
Sample Task Assessment
Part 6: Sample Lesson Plans
AP US History: Reconstruction
Build Knowledge Lesson
Grapple with Evidence and Inquiry Lessons
AP World History: Westernization or Southernization?
Build Knowledge Lesson
Grapple with Evidence and Inquiry Lessons
6th‐grade History: Pre‐Colombian North America
Build Knowledge Lesson
Grapple with Evidence & Inquiry lessons
8th‐grade History: Westward Settlement
Build Knowledge Lesson
Grapple with Evidence & Inquiry lessons
VIDEOS
BUILD KNOWLEDGE (PART 2)
Clip
Technique
Description
Where Referenced in the Book
1
Class Oral Review
“The Communists took over because the [Russian] people supported their slogan of ‘bread and peace.’”
Dan Balmert's students review the major outcomes of WWI and WWII in preparation for discourse.
p. 65
2
Class Oral Review
“What is the benefit of remembering events in chronological order when it comes to understanding history?”
Neha Marvania prompts students to connect chronology and causation to their analysis of Enlightenment‐era revolutions.
p. 66
3
Opening Hook
“So I want to draw a quick modern connection to what we're studying today.”
Cat Lum draws a historical parallel between the economic concerns of 21st‐century Midwestern voters and 19th‐century Gilded Age farmers.
p. 75
4
Opening Hook
“If you were an activist during this time, what do you think would be the most important issue to prioritize?”
Jillian Gaeta asks students to prioritize the issues facing African Americans following the Civil War by imagining themselves as Reconstruction‐era activists.
p. 77
GRAPPLE WITH EVIDENCE (PART 3)
Clip
Technique
Description
Where Referenced in the Book
5
Build Skill—Guided Practice
“Notice the key steps I take, strategies, or even questions that I ask myself while I go through this process.”
Art Worrell models how to unpack an AP US history prompt in a guided practice think‐aloud.
p. 101
6
Activate Skill/Activate Knowledge
“Annotate the prompt and identify the historical thinking skill. What do we already know about the debates and the antebellum period?”
After identifying the prompt's historical thinking skill, Michelle De Sousa's students activate prior knowledge of the Lincoln‐Douglas debates.
p. 104
7
Monitoring—Circulate with Purpose
“Is it a change or a continuity? Then tell me why and how it answers our prompt.”
Brendan Kennedy reviews student writing as he monitors during independent work time.
p. 110
8
Monitoring—Name the Lap
“I'm going to look at your point of view corner first.”
Courtney Watkins names what she's looking for at the start of each lap.
p. 112
MAKE SENSE OF IT THROUGH DISCOURSE (PART 4)
Clip
Technique
Description
Where Referenced in the Book
9
Set the Stage for Discourse
“Did these changes mark a social and/or constitutional revolution?”
Art Worrell's students debate whether Reconstruction should be considered a social and/or constitutional revolution.
p. 122
10
Rollout a Habit: Revoice
“We are going to learn a new practice for discourse—revoicing. There are three ways you can authentically revoice something …”
Tom Brinkerhoff introduces and models a new discourse habit.
p. 128
11
Authentic Student Practice: Revoice
“I see where you're coming from when you say that the theory of social death is useful, but Patterson's theory is actually a limitation.”
Students in Tom Brinkerhoff's class revoice to debate a social theory used as framework to analyze global slavery.
p. 130
12
Deepen Discourse: Drop Knowledge
“The Pinkerton Detectives [were] a private security force that businesses would hire to try to break up strikes.”
Scott Kern gives students an essential piece of schema they'll need to analyze the causes of the 1892 Homestead Strike.
p. 144
13
Deepen Discourse: Sophisticate
“Why weren't these challenges front and center to reformers?
Art Worrell prompts students to add nuance to an overly simple argument about the outcomes of the Progressive Era.
p. 145
14
Deepen Discourse: Problematize
“How is increased nationalism a social revolution, when we've seen high levels of nationalism throughout history?”
A student in Art Worrell's US History class respectfully challenges another student's assertion.
p. 146
STAMP AND MEASURE THE LEARNING (PART 5)
Clip
Technique
Description
Where Referenced in the Book
15
Stamp in Student Voice
“The 1920s was and wasn't a time of liberation for women. Women got more opportunities … [but] society was still having them follow traditional values.”
Students synthesize final thoughts after discourse.
p. 156
Acknowledgments
At its heart, teaching is a collective practice. And while the list of names we mention here is long, it is by no means exhaustive. Many have shaped our journey as educators. These acknowledgments shine a light on those who made Make History possible.
A special thank‐you goes to social studies and history teachers featured in this book: Amir Ballard, Brendan Kennedy, Cat Lum, Courtney Watkins, Dan Balmert, Duncan Miller, Edward Acosta, Jah'Nique Campos, Jillian Gaeta, Michelle De Sousa, Neha Marvania, Rachel Blake, Scott Kern, and Tom Brinkerhoff. Your dedication to your students and love of history gave this book life. We especially want to thank the associate director of 5–8 History at Uncommon Schools, Rebecca Gomez. Your creativity, insight, and passion for history have been invaluable in the shaping of our work over the past five years.
We owe an incredible debt of gratitude to Doug Lemov, Colleen Driggs, Erica Woolway, and the whole Teach Like a Champion team. Your partnership and research helped us set such a clear vision for our work in knowledge retrieval back in 2018. It has been such a pleasure to collaborate with and learn from your phenomenal team of educators.
Many of the best practices featured in their classrooms were finetuned in working groups over the years. Thank you to those indefatigable members: Brian Pullen, Daly Murray, Kacey Paige, Jeffrey Miller, John Fox, Joshua Sullivan, Erica Lim, Maya Park, Sara Burns, Shauntia Harrison, Stephanie Irving, and Stephen Cassady. You combed through countless sets of data, video, lesson plans, and student work to name the moves that would take our students from good to great. To Julie Jackson and Brett Peiser, co‐CEOs of our network of 55 schools and mentors to so many amazing educators throughout the country, thank you for your never‐ending support and encouragement and for creating the space for the completion of this book. The support and feedback of the Uncommon Schools Curriculum and Assessment Team, led by Christine Algozo and Erin Michaels, was invaluable to the creation of Make History. Thank you to team members past and present for the resources, ideas, and friendship: Aisha Butcher, Allison Johnson, Amy Parsons, Danny Murray, Emelia Pelliccio, Julia Addeo, Kevin Ozoria, Lauren Schmidt, Sean Healey, and Steve Chiger. Your work allowed us to innovate and codify what we do in history and social studies instruction.
Our colleagues in academia and education shared our vision for powerful history instruction and the toolboxes to make it possible. Their work made ours better. Kudos to Abby Reisman, Brenda Santos, Eric Foner, Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe, James Verrilli, Jon Bassett, Gary Shiffman, Sam Wineburg, Sonia Nieto, and Zaretta Hammond. We give special thanks to Joel Breakstone and the Stanford History Education Group. Their work has fundamentally shaped the way we teach history.
Many thanks to the Wiley team: Kezia Endsley, Amy Fandrei, Pete Gaughan, and Mary Beth Rosswurm. Thanks to those who gave feedback to those early drafts: Brett Peiser, Charles Mahoney, Dave Marshall, Jamielee Green, James Verrilli, Justin Rose, Kim Marshall, and Shana Pyatt. Your insights made the book what it is today. We are also grateful for our writing partner, Morayo Faleyimu, who nurtured the book from its earliest beginnings to its final form.
Art: The path that led me to this book was paved with the work and influence of so many people in my life. To Michael Mann, who saw something in me as a 21‐year‐old college kid and hired me as his founding middle school history teacher, thank you for being the best school principal I have ever known, for always believing in me, for being my advocate, and for never settling for anything less than the best for our students. You continue to inspire me. To Emily Mann and Jesse Rector: you were the two most important mentors whom I learned from in my first years of teaching. What I have learned from you continues to shape my work as an educator. To Mike Taubman, thank you for your brotherhood during this 18‐year journey as educators. You have been there for me at my best and worst moments and your research and thought partnership helped to shape this book. To my mother, Joan Worrell, thank you for your quiet strength and undying love. The sacrifices that you and dad made for me gave me the chance to do what I love; there is no greater gift that I could have asked for. To my sister, Shana Pyatt, I am an educator because of you. Thank you for instilling a love of learning in me, for loving me unconditionally, and for being the best sister, mother, daughter, and aunt anyone could ask for. Thank you to my aunts Ana and Ina and my Uncle Fred. This book was written at a very challenging time in my life. Your love and support shepherded my mother, sister, and me through our darkest moments and allowed me the opportunity to complete this work. To Brian Worrell, the cousin who became my brother, thank you for always being willing to listen to ideas and share a laugh during the long hours of work on this text. To my amazing wife, Juliana, you've always challenged me to be my best self. I have learned so much from you as a transformative school leader and as the amazing mother of our three children. You are my muse. Without you, this book would not be possible. I love you and thank you for taking this journey through life with me. To my children, Arthur Jr., Gabriel, and Isabella. The joy that you three have brought to my life is immeasurable. This book has been a labor of love, and if I didn't have you three to escape to each day, I'm not sure that I could have done it. To Jay and Juliana Collins, thank you for your support and guidance and for being amazing grandparents to my children. To Jay Collins Jr., thank you for being a role model and uncle to my children and a brother to me. Last, thank you to my dad, Johnnie H. Worrell Sr., and my brother, Johnnie H. Worrell Jr. I miss you both beyond what words can describe. I write this book in honor of your memory.
Paul: I was only 17 years old when my high school teacher Donald Sprague pushed me to make connections between the past and the present, and I will never forget it. Such a seemingly small moment in class was a key turning point in the trajectory of my life. In many ways, this book is a tribute to all teachers like him. And what a beautiful moment, that while writing this book, my daughter Ana graduated from college as a history major. I give thanks to all the history teachers of my children, and I give gratitude for the history lessons my children have taught me—Ana, Maria, and Nico. Thank you for all your support to me over the years! And to my wife of over 25 years, Gaby: you have walked by my side through every trial and highlight. What a blessed, beautiful journey it has been! Without you, none of this is possible.
About the Authors
ART WORRELL is the Director of History for Uncommon Schools. Throughout his career, Art's teaching and coaching of other teachers have been featured in some of the most influential books in education, such as Teach Like a Champion, Get Better Faster, and Leverage Leadership. His 18‐plus year career as a history teacher and instructional leader has included teaching and coaching both middle school and high school and designing rich curriculum and assessments. Art and his AP US History students achieved some of the highest results among urban schools and were featured in TNTP's “Room to Run” series as an example of what students can accomplish when presented with high expectations and rigorous work. In addition to his work at Uncommon Schools, Art has done adjunct work for the Relay Graduate School of Education. He holds a BA in history from Rutgers University and an MAT in education from the Relay Graduate School of Education.
PAUL BAMBRICK-SANTOYO is the founder and dean of the Leverage Leadership Institute, creating proof points of excellence in urban schools worldwide, as well as Chief Schools Officer for Uncommon Schools. Author of multiple books, including Love & Literacy, Driven by Data 2.0, Leverage Leadership 2.0, Get Better Faster, and A Principal Manager's Guide to Leverage Leadership 2.0, Bambrick‐Santoyo has trained over 35,000 school leaders worldwide in instructional leadership, including at multiple schools that have gone on to become the highest‐gaining or highest‐achieving schools in their districts, states, and/or countries. Prior to these roles, Bambrick‐Santoyo cofounded the Relay National Principal Academy Fellowship and led North Star Academies in Newark, New Jersey, whose academic results rank among the highest in urban schools in the nation.
Introduction: Make History
“History is not a set of facts but a series of arguments, issues, and controversies.”
—James Loewen
“History has to be rewritten in every generation, because although the past does not change, the present does; each generation asks new questions of the past, and finds new areas of sympathy as it re‐lives different aspects of the experiences of its predecessors.”
—Christopher Hill
In 1963, the United States was on the cusp of tremendous change. For a country still reeling from the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson's ambitious social agenda was an opportunity for the nation to realize a dream that had been abruptly cut short. During the 11 months prior to the 1964 election, Johnson passed the landmark Civil Rights Bill and the Economic Opportunity Act, along with several notable others. Once elected, he launched the Great Society program, a large‐scale social reform agenda that vastly expanded the government's role in alleviating the social and economic ills, the likes of which had not been seen since Roosevelt's New Deal.
For many students of history in the late 1960s, the Great Society looked to be a great success—it spawned programs like Head Start, Medicaid, and Medicare that still exist today. Yet as the years passed, the Great Society program found itself criticized on two fronts, by conservatives for increasing inflation and sparking an economic downturn and by liberals for being deprioritized in the tumult of the Vietnam War. It makes the curious historian wonder: What is the legacy of the Great Society? To what extent was the Great Society a success?
Scott Kern, a teacher of AP US History in Newark, New Jersey, brings this lesson to his class, which he adapted from the Stanford History Education Group. Let's see how they wrestle with it. We've included a transcript of part of the conversation. As you read, note what strikes you about the discussion. What does it say about how Scott teaches history?
Sample Class Discussion
Lesson Prompt: To what extent was the Great Society a success?
SCOTT (TEACHER):
Okay, based on the evidence that you and your peers analyzed, was the Great Society a success? Tim, please start us off.
TIM:
I think it's really hard to argue that it wasn't. Johnson's Great Society established some powerful programs that continue to combat poverty and improve the lives of Americans. Medicare and Medicaid are two programs that provide health insurance for the elderly and low‐income Americans and both are still popular today.
SHANA:
I agree with Tim. Johnson also started the Head Start program, and the data in source 3 show us how early childhood education intervention programs have huge positive effects on high school graduation rates. And that data from 2016 shows how the Great Society still benefits Americans.
MICHELLE:
That doesn't even include the impact that the Great Society had on the expansion of Civil Rights. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are noted in source 4 by Califano, who states “the Voting Rights Act opened the way for Black Americans to strengthen their voice in every level of government.”
[Scott charts these claims and evidence using the overhead projector.]
SCOTT (TEACHER):
Well said. Really interesting ideas. So far no one has cited our 5th source [Dr. Martin Luther King's speech at Riverside Church] or our 6th [Gregory Schneider's critique of the long‐term failures of the Great Society]. How do you reconcile those voices with your argument? Turn and talk with your partners.
[Scott circulates to listen to conversations. After 1 minute, he calls the class together.]
SCOTT (TEACHER):
What would you say?
COURTNEY:
Dr. King would not agree with our argument about the success of the Great Society. At least not entirely.
SCOTT (TEACHER):
Why do you say that?
COURTNEY:
Because in his speech at Riverside Church in 1967, Dr. King argued that the war in Vietnam drained the Great Society of the resources that it needed to really fight poverty. He saw the Vietnam War as an enemy of the poor. I think the Great Society was only successful in a limited way. It could have had an even greater impact if Johnson had not escalated the war in Vietnam.
SCOTT (TEACHER):
Darryl.
DARRYL:
I agree with Courtney that the Vietnam War limited the success of the Great Society. We see that idea also expressed in the 1967 Herbert Block political cartoon. Johnson gave everything to the Vietnam War while leaving the needs of urban America unaddressed.
JAY:
I hear you, Darryl, but I think King is still on the side of seeing the value of the Great Society. He thinks it doesn't go far enough. As the leading figure in the Civil Rights movement, and someone who played a huge role in getting key legislation like the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act passed, King clearly wanted the government, and the Great Society, to do more to protect civil rights. I think Schneider's critique is different. Schneider argues that the Great Society's government welfare programs burdened state budgets without significantly reducing the poverty rate. I think we have to look at the impact, not just the intent.
LUCY:
I'd love to see more statistics—on the economic impact and on the funding for the Great Society. How underfunded was it? I don't really know. But when I think about how long these programs have lasted—more than 50 years? That seems to outweigh your argument, Jay.
SCOTT (TEACHER):
Wow. Those are all powerful questions to consider. So we seem to have a few ideas emerging here. Could I have someone reframe our debate? To what extent was the Great Society a success?
LUCAS:
Well, Michelle and a few others have argued that the Great Society was a success due to the legacy of many of its programs that continue to shape America like Medicare, Medicaid, and the Head Start program. On the other hand, it could also be argued that the Great Society didn't do enough, or that the overspending negatively impacted our economy and caused more joblessness and poverty.
HAZEL:
Yeah, and we also talked about its impact on civil rights as an important part of its legacy.
SCOTT (TEACHER):
Well said. Thank you, Lucas and Hazel. Okay, everyone take a few moments to revisit your initial argument. Based on the evidence that we examined, to what extent was the Great Society a success? Write your thesis statement and the core evidence from at least two of our sources that you will use to defend it. And remember to acknowledge and address the counterarguments in your thesis. And as Lucy named, also consider what other types of sources you might want to examine to fully answer this question. Please begin.
Although this conversation appears ordinary on the surface, magic lies beneath it. Scott's students craft arguments using multiple perspectives and spar with one another to carefully shape their understanding of history. The work they do is more meaningful than memorizing a set of details or describing a key historical event. Instead of reciting history, Scott's students are piecing it together—source by source, event by event. By critically evaluating different perspectives to land on their own, they do something remarkable: they move from reciting history to making it.
Core Idea
Don't recite history; make it.
What makes Scott's classroom so special—and those of countless history teachers who carry on the same approach—is that students are invited to become historians as they strive to better understand the past. “Making history,” or piecing together the past to give it meaning, unlocks the mystery of what came before. This historical sensemaking transforms the act of learning history from passive absorption to active, earnest intellectual work. Once students are able to do that, the past unfurls around them in all its richness and nuance.
In observing and teaching history across multiple decades, we have encountered many classroom discussions like the one seen in Scott's classroom: teachers who have created cathedrals of learning where students are able to learn, probe, acquire knowledge, and critique it. These classrooms radiate with the knowledge and habits of mind necessary to make informed judgments and make sense of the history presented to them. These spaces cultivate students' sense of self and inspire them with a focused emphasis on agency. History is not just about teaching the past. It's also about teaching students how to participate in the present with empathy and purpose to foster a vision for a better future.
But classroom experiences like Scott's aren't built in a day (neither was Rome for that matter). They take time, skillful effort, and the expert leveraging of the resources around them. Thus the nature of this book and our desire to write it.
We met each other back in 2005, when Art was in his first year as a middle school history teacher in Newark, New Jersey, and Paul was a superintendent. While in different places on our journeys, our shared passion for teaching led our paths to intersect—and we've worked as friends and colleagues ever since.
But the real seeds of this book were planted far earlier.
ART'S STORY
When I think back to the beginning of my journey as an educator, 17 years ago, I now realize that my “why” began long before that. My father passed away on January 26, 2020, after a long struggle with cancer. In the months before he died, he and I were working on his memoir. It was a way for us both to fight through the pain of that time, to bond. But now, I also realize it was part of a larger journey I had been on to learn who my father really was.
Growing up, I was deeply afraid of my dad. He was a man of few words with a tough exterior: a larger than life, muscle‐bound cop who literally struck fear into my heart. As a kid, he was the disciplinarian that stepped in if my brother or I stepped too far out of line. In fact, the only time that he would really even begin to open up was when he would talk about his faith or when he preached from the pulpit on a Sunday morning. For most of my young life it was like that. My father—more myth than man. Always present, but never really within sight.
It wasn't until high school History, when I read James Baldwin's The Fire Next Time on my own that I started to unravel the mystery of my father. Baldwin reframes and retells the history of this country not from the perspective of the powerful, of the white oligarchy, but from the bottom up—the oppressed, disenfranchised, and often silenced. Through reading Baldwin I started exploring history in a new way, and it set me on a path to explore and learn for the first time about Cesar Chavez and the fight for the rights of migrant workers, about Ida B. Wells's work to stop the lynching of Blacks throughout the South, and about the harsh realities of life in the Jim Crow South–the same Jim Crow South that my father was born into in Como, North Carolina in 1946.
Learning about this history helped me see my past with new eyes. I finally understood why as a 5th‐grader, I often had to help my dad decode certain words while he studied his Bible. Growing up in a segregated South, he watched white students take the bus to school while he and his brothers worked on a small peanut farm to help his family survive. This illuminated why, after he and his brothers migrated to the Bronx, New York, in the 1960s, my father chose to join the police academy. It was a move designed not only to escape poverty, but to support his community, which he did through an NYPD community engagement program that he ran in the South Bronx until his retirement. I also came to understand why he and my mother, despite their modest income, spent whatever they had to provide the best education that they could for my brother, sister, and me. As my knowledge and understanding of a more complex, nuanced, and inclusive history began to grow, my little world in the Bronx, and my father as an individual, suddenly started to make more sense. I could finally see my father in his wholeness: his scars, his fears, and his hopes and dreams for his community and his family.
This “why” has sustained me for the past 17 years. It is what rescues me from my most tired or cynical moments. It is my hope that as history teachers, we can help students experience the same revelatory moments that I did when I read Baldwin and so many others. And in understanding the past, perhaps our students too will understand and shape their own world for the better.
PAUL'S STORY
I was only 17 years old when I walked into a class that would teach me a lesson I would never forget. Donald Sprague was officially a Latin teacher, but I learned more about history in that class than in any other I took in high school. It was the late 1980s, and Central America was in the midst of civil wars and battles between largely military‐led governments and guerilla forces. El Salvador was a prime example. On November 16, 1989, the Salvadoran army's elite counter‐insurgent unit entered the residence of the rector of Central American University and murdered Ignacio Ellacuría, a Jesuit priest and the rector of the university, along with five other Jesuit priests, a caretaker, and her daughter. The unprecedented nature of the murders would attract international attention and be a turning point for a cease‐fire and eventual settlement to the civil war.
When I walked into Latin class on November 17, I knew none of this. We had been in the midst of reading The Iliad in Latin, and had come to the final scenes where Achilles has gone through a conversion—where the savage anger that had driven so much of his military prowess converts to pain and later a humanizing self‐recognition that would end in his own death at the hands of Paris. Mr. Sprague put the New York Times article in front of us and asked us to read it. I looked around, and the looks on my peers' faces confirmed that none of us knew why we were doing this. After a pause, he turned and asked us, “Tell me about the hero theory. Apply it to Achilles.” After a few adequate responses, he asked, “Now apply it to today: tell me why hundreds of Jesuits today volunteered to immediately take the place of Ellacuría and his peers.”
