THE HISTORY NOTEBOOK

1. THE HISTORY NOTEBOOK A Tool for Content, Connections, and Assessment Anthony Fitzpatrick Vice President of Professional Development Services The American Institute for History Education

2. California State Standards • Chronological and Spatial Thinking • Students place key events and people of the historical era they are studying in a chronological sequence and within a spatial context; they interpret time lines. • Students correctly apply terms related to time, including past, present, future, decade, century, and generation. • Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both similarities and differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the same. • Students judge the significance of the relative location of a place (e.g., proximity to a harbor, on trade routes) and analyze how relative advantages or disadvantages can change over time. • Historical Interpretation • Students summarize the key events of the era they are studying and explain the historical contexts of those events. • Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are studying and explain how those features form the unique character of those places. • Students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events. • Students conduct cost-benefit analyses of historical and current events.

3. Why is Note-taking important? • Students synthesize content and have the potential to connect content and prioritize information. • Students employ research based strategies and will be ready to formulate their own opinions. • Students begin to take ownership of the information.

4. Introducing it into your classroom. • Develop a format by which students will take notes in your class and model it. • Include a process by which students interact with the content via linguistic and non-linguistic means. • Linguistic = outlines, summaries. • Non-linguistic = Venn diagrams, T-Charts.

5. A Basic Note-taking primer: • Notes should not be verbatim. • Notes should be viewed as a work in progress. • Notes should be used as a study guide prior to assessments. • Effective notes tend to be more detailed. (A result of initial note-taking and secondary additions)

6. So what is a “History Notebook”?

7. The History Notebook is based on a note-taking form called “Cornell notes” and incorporates content, themes, questions and reflections. Before we get to the format, we need to talk about THEMES!

8. Social Political Economic Cultural Intellectual Religious Geographic SPECS-SPEECH Here are Generic History Themes Feel free to modify, add, delete as you see fit in your classroom.

9. Other Supplies for the Notebook • 3- hole Lined Paper. • Highlighters or some other color coding mechanism (post-it flags, stickers etc.). • 3-ring binder.

10. Standard Notebook Sample Political: These efforts give greater political power to the people Economic: The government is taking a larger role in controlling businesses and trying to ensure equity in competition. Social: Government intervention changes the dynamic of the family and tries to protect and enhance the lives of citizens The government took a larger role in the economy when we went from the Articles to the Constitution. The political system is corrupt now – did these measures really work I am confused about how public ownership of big business works?? Child Labor is interesting – do you know what it was like for the kids? • Themes of progressivism A. Democratizing government 1. Direct primaries 2. Initiative, referendum, recall, and other local actions 3. Direct election of senators B. Regulation of giant corporations 1. Public ownership 2. Trust-busting 3. Regulation of big business C. Social justice 1. Child labor 2. Night work and dangerous occupations 3. Stricter building codes and factory inspection acts 4. Pressure for prohibition

11. Notebook with Worksheets Things that are confusing or that I’d like to know more about. THEMES Trends I detect in themes and/or personal reflection. Worksheet or large diagram

12. Elementary Start-ups!(Just in case the Notebook isn’t your thing) Get kids to begin clarifying and reflecting with boxes: 1 box can be called a “Doubt Shout” Give students Quarter sheets of paper to place in a box at the very beginning or very end of class that contain questions they have (confusion or things they want to know more about) 1 box can be called a Think Tank This is where students put in their personal reflections.

13. Show it and 2.0 it! • Setting up online classroom collaboration can be a wonderful way to have students assist each other in alleviating “doubt”. If appropriate – have students log on and collaborate for a homework assignment. • Homework should be substantive and meaningful – it doesn’t have to be excruciatingly long.

14. The next few slides are a textual representation of the notebook. • Just in case some of you are wordier than I am.

15. LEFT SIDE Themes matched up with corresponding content Detection of trends AND personal opinions, reflections of the synthesis. RIGHT SIDE Outline, Lecture notes, Content diagrams Things that are confusing AND questions for further exploration Notebook Format

16. Notebook Process- Right Page • Students will take notes on the top ¾ of the right-hand page. (in-class or homework. The format can be outline, summary, diagram. • At the bottom of the right-hand page, students will make a note of anything that is confusing or anything they wish to know more about.

17. Notebook Process – Left Page • Students will indicate the content theme and why it fits with that theme. (top ¾ of page) • Students will then color-code the theme. • there can be more than one theme. • Everything won’t be themed – students should begin to prioritize better throughout the year

18. Left Page Process - Part 2 • At the bottom of the page, students will comment on thematic trends and provide personal reflections.

19. Also • In the spirit of 2.0 and going green – I’ve included a worksheet that can be manipulated online. Include that in your online classroom or modify it to suit your needs

20. Any Questions at this point?

21. How will this help me to assess my students? • Open-ended questions can be created broadly to allow students to generate their own opinions based on their reflection and interactions with over-arching themes. • As the year progresses, your questions will expand and the students will be able to identify trends and progressions within history.

22. Broad-range questioning Compare and contrast the SPECific motivations of migration of various immigrant groups over the course of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Evaluate and rate the effectiveness of administrative responses to the following economic crisis’ – The Panic of 1873, The Great Depression, The Recession of 2008.

23. So what is the next step? • Effective writing! • One of the greatest challenges (in my opinion) for students is to truly generate their own original thought. A true THESIS statement, backed up by rich content knowledge. • Hopefully, when students interact with the content and begin to introduce their own personal reflection – this will become easier.

24. Time to practice assessments Let’s try to come up with some questions based on the Content of this session (American Revolution) provided and your standards!

25. 8.12 Students analyze the transformation of the American economy and the changing social and political conditions in the United States in response to the Industrial Revolution. • Examine the location and effects of urbanization, renewed immigration, and industrialization (e.g., the effects on social fabric of cities, wealth and economic opportunity, the conservation movement). • 6. Discuss child labor, working conditions, and laissez-faire policies toward big business and examine the labor movement, including its leaders (e.g., Samuel Gompers), its demand for collective bargaining, and its strikes and protests over labor conditions. • Identify the new sources of large-scale immigration and the contributions of immigrants to the building of cities and the economy; explain the ways in which new social and economic patterns encouraged assimilation of newcomers into the mainstream amidst growing cultural diversity; and discuss the new wave of nativism. • Identify the characteristics and impact of Grangerism and Populism. • Name the significant inventors and their inventions and identify how they improved the quality of life (e.g., Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Orville and Wilbur Wright).

26. 11.6 Students analyze the different explanations for the Great Depression and how the New Deal fundamentally changed the role of the federal government. • Describe the monetary issues of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that gave rise to the establishment of the Federal Reserve and the weaknesses in key sectors of the economy in the late 1920s. • Understand the explanations of the principal causes of the Great Depression and the steps taken by the Federal Reserve, Congress, and Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin Delano Roosevelt to combat the economic crisis. • Discuss the human toll of the Depression, natural disasters, and unwise agricultural practices and their effects on the depopulation of rural regions and on political movements of the left and right, with particular attention to the Dust Bowl refugees and their social and economic impacts in California. • Analyze the effects of and the controversies arising from New Deal economic policies and the expanded role of the federal government in society and the economy since the 1930s (e.g., Works Progress Administration, Social Security, National Labor Relations Board, farm programs, regional development policies, and energy development projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority, California Central Valley Project, and Bonneville Dam). • Trace the advances and retreats of organized labor, from the creation of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations to current issues of a postindustrial, multinational economy, including the United Farm Workers in California.

27. Do I grade the notebook? • Yes – absolutely • I grade while the students are taking tests. • I grade on organization and completeness. • It is the only chance for students to “make-up” missed work. • It gets me away from my desk during the tests. It forces me to circulate around the room.

28. Any last questions, comments, suggestions? Remember: If you find only part of this useful, change it, make it your own.

29. afitzpatrick@aihe.info Please feel free to contact me if you need anything.