American Revolution Texts

John Hancock

This 1777 woodcut shows John Hancock, and
in an article on “The Character of a Patriot.” Hanc

and also the first member to sign

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Rev

k (Bickerstaff)

Library of Congress

was published in Bickerstaff’s Boston almanac
cock was president of the Continental Congress,
the Declaration of Independence.

volution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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John Hancock (Littleford) Library of Congress

This mezzotint engraving of John Hancock, published in England in 1775, is attributed to
R. Purcell, under the pseudonym C. Corbutt. The caption says it was supposedly based on
a painting by Littleford, but historians feel that the name may be fictitious. The caption also reads,
“The honorable John Hancock of Boston in New-England, president of the American congress.”

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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Benjamin Franklin Yale University Art Gallery

Artist John Trumbull created this portrait of Benjamin Franklin in 1778. It is an oil painting
done on wood and is classified as a miniature, being only 5½ x 43∕8 inches, and was once carried

in an oval frame. At this time, Franklin had just been appointed as minister to France.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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Benjamin Fran

Benjamin Franklin’s reception by the court of France in 1778 is
Franklin is receiving a laurel wreath of enlightenment, cel
Also in the picture are Marie Antoinette a

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Rev

nklin in France

Library of Congress

shown in this hand-colored lithograph, published in the 1860s.
lebrating his scientific and intellectual accomplishments.
and King Louis XVI, seated on the right.

volution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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Benjamin Franklin Library of Congress

This 1846 engraving shows Benjamin Franklin holding a compass, with a globe nearby and a storm with
thunder and lightning taking place outside his window, all symbols of his interests and accomplishments.
The original painting was created by T.H. Matteson, and it was copied in this engraving by Henry S. Sadd.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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Library of Congress Suffrage

This cover illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly newspaper, on May 3, 1894,
shows women gathered at Sherry’s restaurant in New York City. They are society women who
are gathering signatures on a petition allowing women to vote in the state of New York. They were
presented at the state’s Constitutional Convention that year, but the suffrage amendment failed.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Peter Salem, Minuteman and Hero of Bunker Hill

By Kyley

Though Peter Salem is mostly known for his role
serving at The Battle of Bunker Hill, he played
a significant role in the Revolution that helped
lead to America’s success.

Peter Salem had a difficult childhood as
an African-American slave. He was born in
Framingham, Massachusetts in 1750. Salem was
born into an enslaved family owned by Jeremiah
Belknap. In around 1775, he was sold to Lawson
Buckminster. The names and occupations of his
parents are not known. Salem did not have a last
name so his first owner, Jeremiah Belknap, is
believed to name him Salem after his previous
residence in Salem, Massachusetts. Lawson
Buckminster freed Salem to let him enlist in
Captain Simon Edgel’s “minutemen.” He was
one of the only African-American men to be
a part of the company.

Peter Salem successfully served in the
American Revolution and participated in
important battles. Salem fought in in four
battles in all; The Battle of Concord, the Battle
of Bunker Hill, the Battle of Saratoga, and the
Battle of Stony Point. On June 17, Salem shot
and killed British Major John Pitcairn during the battle of Bunker Hill. Many people
recognized Salem’s act, and the musket he used to kill Major Pitcairn is now in an exhibit
at the Museum of the Battle of Bunker Hill.

Peter Salem had a quiet life after his service. Salem went to live in Leicester,
Massachusetts, and built a cabin to live in after he finished serving in the army. He
married Katy Benson in September, 1783. They did not have any children. After they
married, they both became cane weavers. Peter Salem died on August 16, 1816, at age of
sixty-six. In 1882, a monument was put up in Framingham,Massachusetts, his birthplace,
to commemorate him at the Old Burying Ground.

Brave and successful, Peter Salem played a significant role in the American
Revolutionary War that contributed to our country’s freedom.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Polly Cooper

By Su Shen

Polly Cooper cooked up strength and
perseverance for the American soldiers.

Little is known about Polly Cooper’s
childhood, but we know for sure the she was
born into the Oneida tribe.

Polly Cooper contributed in the war by
helping George Washington’s sick, starving,
and suffering soldiers. In this way, Cooper
was one of the many mothers of this country.
Chief Shenendoah sent Polly Cooper with forty
other warriors to deliver 600 hundred baskets
of corn to the starving soldiers at Valley Forge.
Cooper decided to stay at Valley Forge when
she saw how much the troops were suffering. She
made special medicine for the sick and wounded.
She taught the soldiers how to cook the corn, and
she cooked for them as well. Cooper also brought
water to the soldiers as they were fighting,
because most of them were dehydrated. She
must have been very brave and caring to do that.

Polly Cooper’s contribution to the war
may have changed people’s perspective
of American Indians. People back then thought
American Indians weren’t “civilized.” After they saw Polly teaching the soldiers how to
cook and make special medicine, people may have thought more highly of American
Indians and their contributions to the war for independence. She believed that all men
have mothers, and mothers didn’t send their sons out to kill other mothers’ sons. Cooper
would not accept money as payment for taking care of the soldiers. The officers’ wives
wanted to thank Cooper for what she did. She saw a black shawl and thought it was
beautiful. The officers’ wives bought it for her and it is now known as Polly Cooper’s shawl.

Polly Cooper sacrificed the company of her friends and family in her tribe for a few
years to help George Washington’s soldiers.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Esther Reed

By Caroline

Although little is known about Esther Reed, she
sewed through fabric and through the hearts of
the grateful American soldiers.

Esther Reed had a very pleasant childhood.
She was born on October 22, 1746 in London.
She had a happy family, and loved to read. She
lived in a wonderful house. She married Joseph
Reed on May 31, 1770.

Esther Reed played a simple, yet important
role in the Revolutionary war. She was the leader
of a group called The Ladies Association of
Philadelphia. They collected money and made
clothes for soldiers. In all she collected $7000,
and made 2000 shirts for soldiers.

When she died in 1780, Sarah Franklin Bache
took Esther Reed’s place, and became the leader
of the group. Esther Reed changed the way
people saw women. She inspired women to
help out in the Revolutionary war.

Esther Reed sewed the clothes of freedom
that the soldiers wore winning the battles for
independence. Although she may not still be
with us, Esther Reed taught us that just a little
needle and thread can go a long way.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Lydia Darragh

By Tatum

Sometimes great contributions to help one’s
country are made with just a few words.

Little is known about Lydia Darragh’s early
life. Darragh was born in 1728, in Dublin,
Ireland. She married William Darragh in 1753
at the age of twenty-four. She immigrated to
America, where she settled in Philadelphia
before the Revolutionary War.

All because of Darragh, George Washington’s
army was prepared for a British ambush.
Darragh was a Quaker, so the British wanted to
use her household for meetings. At one meeting,
the British demanded that the whole family stay
in one bedroom. Suspicious, Darragh snuck out
of the room and hid in a chamber closet. In the
closet, she overheard the British talking about an
ambush on Washington’s army. Hearing that the
meeting was concluding, she scurried back to the
bedroom and pretended to be asleep. The British
knocked on the door, but when she opened it,
they did not suspect anything was wrong. The
next morning, Lydia announced that she needed
flour. Instead, she delivered the information to a
general about the ambush. Washington’s troops
were ready for the ambush on December, 1777.

After the war, Lydia lived a normal life. Her husband died in 1783. In 1786, she moved
to a new house and ran a store. Darragh then died on December 28, 1789. In 1827, her
daughter Ann published a book on her mother’s spy work.

Darragh’s courage throughout the war proved that women can be just as good as men.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Joseph Brant

By Sarah M.

Joseph Brant was a courageous American Indian
who was determined to fight for his country.

He was born in 1742 in Ohio with the name
Thayendanagea, which means “two sticks bound
together for strength.” Before he was eleven, his
father passed away. After the tragedy, Brant,
his mother, and his sister moved to New York.
He attended Moor’s Charity School for Indians
in Lebanon. His sister, Molly, married
Sir William Johnson who led Brant into
the British Army at age fifteen during the
Seven Years War.

Brant had an important role in the
Revolutionary War because he was a
courageous leader. The Mohawk Tribe joined
with the British because their lands were being
taken over by American settlers and the military
and they wanted them off their land. The British
promised him that after the war he would
be given land in Quebec. He met with many
important politicians and traveled to London to
meet with King George III. He attacked colonial
outposts in New York. He also took part in the
Cherry Valley Massacre where many American
settlers were killed. Soon, it was clear that the
British would lose the war, and Brant no longer
took part in these important actions.

Brant had a peaceful life after the war. He moved to Canada with his tribe and was
rewarded a grant of land for his service in the war as promised. He ruled over the Mohawk
Indian tribe who settled there with him. He continued his missionary work and raised
funds for the first Episcopal church in upper Canada.

Brant’s courageous actions led him into a successful life where he earned the respect
of the Mohawk Indians. The most important lesson Brant learned was how to be a true
leader. Even though Brant’s country lost the battle, he was greatly respected for the role
he played in the war.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Deborah Sampson

By Tess

Deborah Sampson was not an average house
wife. She was born on December 17, 1760. She
had a very depressing childhood. When she was
little, her father abandoned her family to fight in
the Revolutionary war. A few months later, he
died at sea. Soon, her mother became very ill and
could not take care of the kids, so she sent them
all away to become indentured servants.

During the Revolutionary War, Sampson did
something that no one thought a woman would
do. She dressed up as a man and enlisted herself
in the military. She chose to fight under the
name “Robert Shirtiff.” Everything was going as
planned until she was shot in the leg. She knew
that if she let the doctor heal her, he would find
out her secret. She knew the only way to save her
secret was to pull the bullet out of her leg herself.
Soon, she was injured again, and the doctor
found out that she was a woman.

He sent her home, without letting her finish
her time in the war. Soon she became a teacher,
and fell in love with a man named Benjamin
Gannett. Together, they had three children, Earl,
Mary and Patience, and adopted one little girl
name Susanna. Sampson died on April 29, 1827,
at age sixty-six, in Sharon, Massachusetts.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

The Iroquois Tribe

By Mimi

If you thought that only Americans and
Europeans fought in the Revolutionary War,
then you are wrong.

The earliest record we have of the
Iroquois Tribe is the 16th century or earlier.
The Iroquois was not just one tribe, but
many. The original Iroquois was known as
the Five Nations. Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,
Cayuga, and Seneca joined together in harmony.
In 1722, a sixth nation joined. The Tuscarora
Tribe arrived, officially making the Iroquois
the Six Nations. There is a Grand Council
made up of fifty hereditary sachems to make
laws and to keep peace.

The Iroquois played a role in the
Revolutionary War. At first, the Great
Council had a hard time deciding which side
to be on, and decided to remain neutral.
Then the Mohawk chief named Thayendanega,
commonly known as Joseph Brant, wanted to
fight for the British because he was angry at
the Patriots for taking their land. He said they
would take even more land if they ruled this
land by themselves. He persuaded the Mohawk,
Cayuga, Onondaga, and Seneca to follow him.
The Oneida and Tuscarora were the only Iroquois who fought for the Patriots because
they were not convinced. An important battle the Iroquois fought in was The Battle of
Oristany. They helped bring down southern New York and northern Pennsylvania.

After the war, Americans were mad at the Iroquois for not fighting for them, so they
retaliated. In a raging frenzy, Americans destroyed and burned down villages, driving the
Iroquois out. Since the Oneida and Tuscarora were the only tribes that did not fight for
the British, they were allowed to flee with no harm. One of the Iroquois’s most sacred
beliefs is that they consider themselves a sovereign nation and, to this day, they maintain
their proud traditions.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Absalom Jones, Founding Father

By Laila H.

Absalom Jones was truly an extraordinary man for
his time. Although he was born into slavery, he did
not allow his “slave status” to prevent him from
accomplishing truly remarkable things as an adult.
In addition, he did not allow his position to define
who he was or what he could become in life.

Absalom Jones was an African American born
on November 6, 1746 in Sussex, Delaware. When
he was sixteen years old, he was sold to a storeowner
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by the name of
Mr. Wynkoop. Fortunately, for Jones, he was blessed to
be around a store clerk who taught him how to write.
This was the start of unlimited possibilities for Jones.

On January 4, 1770 at the age of twenty-three, Jones
married another slave by the name of Mary King.
He was always determined to change his enslaved
status. By 1778, he purchased his wife’s freedom so
that their children would be free and not be labelled
with the “slave status.” By 1785, he was triumphant
in purchasing his own freedom. With a new status of
“freed slave,” his future possibilities began to grow.

Absalom Jones became a minister for black
members in the interracial church known as
St. George’s Methodist Church. In 1787, Jones, along with Richard Allen, founded the Free
African Society which was to help newly freed slaves in Philadelphia. At the beginning
of 1791, Jones started holding religious services at Free African Society which became the
start of a new church. Wanting to establish a black church independent of white control,
Jones in 1792 founded the African Church. On July 17, 1794, this church became the
first African Episcopal Church. This became an opportunity for Jones to speak out
about anti-slavery during his sermons. Jones was ordained as a deacon in 1795 and
as a priest in 1804. He was the first African American priest in the Episcopal Church.

Throughout his life, Absalom Jones demonstrated determination. He always took
advantage of his opportunities to create change and to do what was right. He never
allowed his born slave status define him. Even though he did not really have a military role
in the war or an actual role, Jones was truly an extraordinary man who can be viewed as a
hero to me for his magnificent accomplishments.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Mercy Otis Warren

By Colleen C.

Mercy Otis Warren expressed her love and
passion for the Patriots by using a pencil
and her words.

Mercy Otis Warren had a very educational
early life which foreshadowed her part in
the Revolutionary War. She was born on
September 16, 1728 in West Barnstable,
Massachusetts to James Otis and Mary Allyne.
When Warren was little she would sit in her
brother James’ tutor lessons because girls at that
time didn’t have a proper education.

Later in life, Mercy Otis Warren had a great
impact in the Revolutionary War because of her
love for writing. Warren would try to persuade
the Loyalists to be Patriots by writing plays,
books, and poems, but she would never sign her
name to her books. When she wrote, Warren
would make the Patriots heroes and the Loyalists
villains. Everyone thought this was outrageous,
but nobody knew who to blame. Warren
opened her house to the Patriots and named
her house “One Liberty Square” in Plymouth,
where everyone could talk about politics. After
the Revolutionary War, Warren continued to
write on. Her husband, James, cheered her on
to write, along with her lifetime friends, Abigail and Samuel Adams. She started writing
the first three volumes of Revolutionary War history in 1758 at age thirty. In 1805, at age
seventy-seven, she finally published her three volumes after twenty-seven years of writing
her books. Her name was finally signed to her books for the first time. Her name was out!
Mercy Otis Warren died ten years after her book was published on October 19, 1814.

“The waves have rolled upon me, the billows are repeatedly broken over me, yet
I am not sunk down,” Warren once wrote. She truly followed her passion of writing
throughout her life.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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STUDENT PROJECT

Daughters of Liberty

By Greta

The Daughters of Liberty were women who were
ferocious with a spinning wheel and furious with
the British.

The birth of The Daughters of Liberty formed
in 1765. They supported American resistance
and boycotted British goods. They even made
their own goods so that British goods were
not needed.

Like many secret clubs at the time,
The Daughters of Liberty had many rituals.
They had secret code words and medals. They
also had confidential symbols. The Daughters
had these in their group so when they were
carrying messages the British couldn’t listen in.
In January 1770, 538 Boston women (including
The Daughters of Liberty) signed an agreement,
vowing not to drink tea as long as it was taxed.
Proving their commitment to “the cause of
liberty and industry,” they openly opposed
the Tea Act of 1773, and experimented to
find substitutes for tea. Discoveries like boiled
basil leaves to make a tea-like drink helped
lift spirits.

These women also helped the Boston Tea
Party. The Boston Tea Party of December 16, 1773,
took place when a group of Massachusetts Patriots, protesting the monopoly on American
tea importation recently granted by Parliament to the East India Company, seized
342 chests of tea in a midnight raid on three tea ships and threw them into the harbor.

During the Revolutionary War, their main activity was “spinning bees,” where women
would get together to spin thread and yarn. The Daughters held this event to see who
could spin the fastest. The main purpose of the “spinning bees” was to spin thread and
yarn to make cloth, so that colonists could boycott material and others goods from
England. Mostly women attended, but sometimes men did too.

They were American Patriots, Northern and Southern, young and old. They were
The Daughters of Liberty.

May be reproduced for classroom use. Toolkit Texts: Short Nonfiction for American History, American Revolution and Constitution, by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis, ©2015 (Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann).

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Educational Leadership

March 2012 | Volume 69 | Number 6
Reading: The Core Skill Pages 52-57

Teaching for Historical Literacy

Anne Goudvis and Stephanie Harvey
When teachers mesh content-rich curriculum with good literacy practices, history lessons become
meaningful.

At the very moment when calls for a rigorous, content-rich curriculum reverberate from coast to coast in the United
States, many elementary schools have put history and social studies on the back burner. Increasingly, these
disciplines are being squeezed into an ever smaller corner of the school day or, astonishingly, abandoned altogether.
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has morphed into MCLB—Much Curriculum Left Behind—as schools narrow their
curriculums in the face of high-stakes tests in math and reading (Berliner, 2009). But in a democracy, history and
social studies shouldn't be optional.

The problem is not just that we're cutting back on teaching history and social studies in elementary schools; it's also
how we "cover" what we do teach. The curriculum has become a mile wide and an inch deep. Students too often
experience social studies as a passive slog through the textbook. When these tomes become the default curriculum,
students get what Diane Ravitch (2010) calls "boring, abbreviated pap in the history textbook that reduces stirring
events, colorful personalities and riveting controversies to … a few leaden paragraphs" (p. 237). Instead, students
should be reading a wide range of historical sources; they should be grappling with and constructing ideas for
themselves.

We stand with the history enthusiasts and teachers who refuse to narrow the curriculum. How will U.S. students ever
participate fully and thoughtfully in the democratic process if they have little time to learn about how that process has
worked in the past? To build knowledge and understanding—to become literate in history—students need to read and
learn about the stories, mysteries, questions, controversies, issues, discoveries, and drama that are the real
substance of history.

Reading and Thinking About History

Teaching content literacy enables teachers to design a curriculum that students can sink their teeth into. This
approach teaches students to use reading and thinking strategies as tools to acquire knowledge in history, science,
and other subject areas. As P. David Pearson and colleagues (Pearson, Moje, & Greenleaf, 2010) assert,
Without systematic attention to reading and writing in subjects like science and history, students will leave schools
with an impoverished sense of what it means to use the tools of literacy for learning or even to reason within various
disciplines. (p. 460)

It's important to teach students the difference between information and knowledge. For information to become
knowledge, students need to think about it. It may not seem like rocket science to say that students need to think
about what they're learning, but rote memorization has too frequently been part of conventional history instruction.
Memorizing facts and birth-death dates without learning about the time period, the people themselves, and the
challenges they faced dumbs down history. It limits young people's understanding of their role as citizens in a
democratic society. As David Perkins (1992) notes,

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Learning is a consequence of thinking … Far from thinking coming after knowledge, knowledge comes on the
coattails of thinking … Knowledge does not just sit there; it functions richly in people's lives so they can understand
and deal with the world. (p. 8)

For many of us for whom history was merely memorizing facts and dates, knowledge did just sit there, remaining in
place long enough for Friday's quiz but disappearing in time for weekend shenanigans. But when educators teach for
historical literacy, they merge foundational literacy practices with engaging resources in a content-rich curriculum—
and students draw on thinking strategies as they read (see fig. 1, p. 54). Reading and thinking about many historical
sources help build skills connected to the common core state standards for reading informational text, such as citing
text evidence to support important ideas, arriving at an understanding of a text by asking and answering questions
about it, and evaluating the information and arguments in texts.

Figure 1. Using Thinking Strategies to
Learn About History

Comprehension/thinking strategy Students use this strategy in history when they …
Monitor understanding.
 Learn new information by annotating texts and leaving tracks that
show their thinking.

Activate background knowledge.  Connect the new to the known; use background knowledge to
inform reading.

Ask questions. Ask and answer questions to
Draw inferences and conclusions.
 Acquire information.
 Research and investigate.
 Interpret and analyze information and ideas.
 Explore essential questions.

 Infer ideas, themes, and issues on the basis of text evidence.
 Analyze and interpret different perspectives and points of view.

Determine importance.  Sort and sift important information from interesting but
unimportant details.

 Evaluate the information and ideas in a text to determine what's
important to remember.

Summarize and synthesize.  Analyze, compare, and contrast information across different
sources to build content knowledge and understanding.

As consultants, we have worked in classrooms to integrate reading and thinking strategies with history and social
studies instruction. Here we highlight one experience.

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Historical Literacy at Work in the Classroom

In Matthew Reif's 5th grade classroom in Prince George's County, Maryland, student work covers the classroom
walls and cascades out into the hallway. Some students talk quietly together in groups; others read independently at
their desks or sprawled on the floor. One of the coauthors of this article, Anne, recently had the good fortune to work
with Matthew to infuse reading and thinking strategies into the history curriculum (Goudvis & Buhrow, 2011).
On a typical day in Matthew's class, everyone is reading, viewing, and thinking about the current history topic—in this
case, westward expansion in the United States. To carve out room for history in a crowded day, Matthew has
combined the time allocated for social studies and literacy. The classroom is awash with nonfiction articles, historical
fiction picture books, maps, diaries, trade books, letters, photographs, and artifacts. Matthew, Anne, and the students
have gathered these multiple-genre sources from libraries and websites. They have heeded Allington and Johnston's
(2002) findings that classrooms linked to high achievement use a variety of materials and resources, not one basal
reader or textbook. There's not a worksheet or end-of-chapter question in sight as the kids read, write, draw, view,
question, debate, discuss, and investigate.

But teachers can't just implore students to ask thoughtful questions or draw reasonable inferences; we have to show
them how. Matthew and Anne model for students how to merge thinking with new information by annotating their
thoughts in the margins or on sticky notes. They peel back the layers of their own thinking—demonstrating how a
person reasons through a text to summarize what's important or to keep a lingering question in mind. As students use
their growing repertoire of strategies in their own reading, there is plenty of time to talk about their new learning in
pairs or small groups. The whole class gathers to engage in wide-ranging, and sometimes heated, discussions.

Four Generative Practices

In our work helping teachers revamp social studies instruction, we emphasize four practices that foster deep reading
and learning about history. Each focuses on comprehension strategies as tools for learning. These practices can be
adapted to use with many different topics and texts.

1. Interact with multiple texts to build knowledge.

Building students' knowledge store is essential if they are to deepen their understanding of ideas surrounding topics
like the westward expansion. To do this, Matthew Reif's students did some serious reading. They made that reading
"thinking intensive" (Harvard College Library, 2007), merging their background knowledge with new information,
jotting down questions, and annotating reactions.

Matthew's students couldn't wait to get their hands on stories of children traveling west on a wagon train or American
Indian children living on the plains. Comments like "I don't believe this!" or "That's outrageous!" echoed around the
room as they read about the experiences of defiant outlaws and courageous lawmen like Bass Reeves, who risked
his life to provide law and order in his small corner of the West. Students devoured articles and historical fiction
picture books about the intrepid Chinese workers who helped build the transcontinental railroad and the diaries of
pioneers who survived a raging blizzard in the Rockies.

Students chose topics that interested them and formed small groups with others who wanted to read about and
research that topic. These groups summarized and shared their new learning on a mind map (Buzan, 1993). Working
on topics they chose enabled students to investigate questions that piqued their interest from the start. One group
researched the dangers and obstacles pioneers encountered on their journeys; another read about the Trail of Tears.
Students who read about building the transcontinental railroad investigated the question, How did the railroads

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change the Wild West? Each student had a different take on the question, so their dialogue encompassed a variety of
perspectives. For instance, Nicholas wrote,

I infer that it wasn't fair for the Indians because the Americans built the railroad on the Indians' land. There was a
treaty with the Indians saying this is your land and we won't bother you, but they took back that treaty. I feel grief
for the Indians.

2. Ask questions for different purposes.

Historical thinking, for elementary students, begins with authentic questions. As students interacted with high-interest
personal narratives, articles, visual representations, and other sources, both primary and secondary, many questions
emerged. Matthew listed students' questions on a continually updated chart, which provided a window into their
background knowledge and thinking. As students gained more information from their reading, he added answers to
the chart and noticed how students' thinking changed over time.

One student's question—The American Indians were here first, so whose land was it?—sparked more questions
about the concept of land, such as, Did the government buy the land from the American Indians? What about the
treaties? Some essential questions Anne and Matthew had identified ahead of time to guide instruction surfaced in
our class discussions, such as, Why did people pull up stakes and settle the West? How did "Manifest Destiny" drive
exploration and settlement? Throughout the study, we addressed these broader questions, exploring the notion of
westward expansion from many different perspectives. We made sure to include people, events, and points of view
that are often glossed over or left out of textbooks.

The students were bursting with queries after they read letters written in 1848 by Tabitha Brown, a 66-year-old
woman who ventured west because she didn't want to be left behind. Tabitha traveled on a wagon train to Oregon
with her grown children and 77-year-old brother-in-law, Captain John. Her letters provide a remarkable account of the
journey, especially her nights alone in the wilderness and her experience losing her wagon and all her belongings in a
rushing river. Matthew organized students' questions into a chart showing how different kinds of questions inform
historical understanding (see fig. 2, p. 56). This graphic aid broadened students' question-asking repertoires and
raised their awareness of the purposes of different kinds of questions.

Figure 2. How Students' Examples from Matthew Reif's Class How Such Questions Inform
Questions Inform Their Historical Understanding
Historical Thinking Did Tabitha meet American Indians on her
Question Type journey west? Fill in gaps in our information.
Information-seeking questions What happened when she encountered Clarify information.
American Indians? Address misconceptions.
Explanation-seeking questions Why would someone this old go west?
(Why? How?) How did she and her family survive these Use information to focus on big
hardships? ideas and issues.
Questions of empathy Address lingering questions
I can't imagine losing all my belongings in a and essential questions.

Build awareness of other

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river. How did they find food and shelter after perspectives and viewpoints.
that? How did they keep going? Encourage interest and
engagement.

Questions that encourage How might things have turned out differently if Encourage interpretation and
imaginative thinking and …? thinking outside the box.
supposition What if Tabitha hadn't followed the "guide"
who promised them a shortcut?

Questions that prompt historical Her story was so amazing that I wondered Analyze and interpret sources
investigation or challenge whether she was telling the truth. citing evidence.
information How could we find out whether this really Evaluate conclusions on the
happened? What other sources would give us basis of text evidence.
more information? Synthesize information and
corroborate evidence across
sources.

Source: Adapted from a chart that originally appeared in the chapter "History Lessons" by Anne Goudvis and Brad
Buhrow in Comprehension Going Forward, edited by H. Daniels, 2011, Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Copyright ©
2011 by Heinemann, Portsmouth, NH. Adapted with permission.

As a follow-up, Matthew and Anne highlighted the differences between primary and secondary sources by comparing
Tabitha's actual letters with a 1954 Reader's Digest article about her (Wolfe, 1954). One child astutely pointed out
that someone probably used Tabitha's letters to write the magazine article. The kids began to grasp the idea that we
learn history from the actual accounts, journals, and letters of real people.

3. Evaluate authors' purposes and perspectives.

Early in the unit, we noticed that students were taking information at face value. Part of the difficulty they had
distinguishing between more and less reliable sources of information lay in their limited background knowledge. As
their knowledge increased, students used the information they acquired to evaluate sources by asking a series of
questions that we taught them: Who wrote this source? Why? What is the author's perspective or point of view—and
possible biases? How does the author spin the ideas and information?

For example, students examined the late-19th-century poster shown below, bringing in their prior knowledge about
California, the settling of the West, and the growth of the railroads. As they reasoned through the information on the
poster together, they drew inferences about who created it and why:
Gregory: What does it mean by "Millions of Immigrants"? There weren't millions of immigrants, were there? Maybe it
means that there was enough land for millions.

Alicia: It says "government lands untaken." They wanted people to know there was no one there so they could come
live on the land.

Jenny: It says there are no blizzards, but what about earthquakes? I know there are earthquakes in California.

Nayeli: I think it's a false advertisement because the government's exaggerating about all the good things.

Allan: I was thinking that the government had nothing to do with it. Maybe somebody owned this land and wanted
to sell it.

Nicholas: The railroad company needed people to ride on it and make money. Maybe this was from the railroads.

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Students concluded that the half-truths and hype on the poster pegged it as an advertisement trying to persuade
immigrants to move to California. Students did further research and discovered that the poster was most likely
propaganda from a land company. Having the tools to question and interpret texts encouraged students to take a
more skeptical stance with all sources they encountered.

4. Use picture books to infer important ideas.

Historical fiction picture books immerse students in the stories of the past. Students can break out of their immediate
frame of reference and gain a more complete understanding of what life was like. Well-written historical fiction picture
books are complex, carefully crafted texts with vivid language and striking illustrations. Because these books are
short, students can read a lot of them and engage in critical thinking about different points of view—understanding the
journey west, for example, from the perspective of pioneers, American Indians, or traders.

Matthew's students worked in small groups to read Sitting Bull Remembers by Ann Turner, immersing themselves in
Sitting Bull's recollections of his long life. Students made connections to information from a previously read picture
book about Sitting Bull's childhood, A Boy Called Slow by Joseph Bruchac. The kids discussed nonfiction accounts of
the American Indian victory at Little Bighorn, Sitting Bull's valiant efforts to keep his people free, and his final years on
a reservation.

This moving story prompted students to synthesize and reflect on what they had learned about Sitting Bull and the
Sioux. As they engaged in discussions about themes like courage, perseverance, injustice, and conflict, they pieced
together a real-life puzzle with implications for the history and life of a people. These various perspectives enriched
their understanding far beyond what it would have been had they read one account.

Students Think for Themselves

Reading shapes and changes thinking. In teaching history, we take Eleanor Roosevelt's words as our mantra:
Every effort must be made in childhood to teach the young to use their own minds. For one thing is sure, if they don't
make up their own minds, someone will do it for them. (quoted in Beane, 2005, p. 75)

We believe that the reason Matthew's students brought so much enthusiasm and energy to this unit is that they came
to understand the power and potential of their own reading and thinking. They learned that there are many compelling
ways to understand people who lived far away and long ago.

But it wasn't just about the past. Students linked the past to the present by learning to think for themselves and
connect history to their own lives. What better way to prepare them to be engaged, thoughtful citizens?

Books for Teaching for Historical Literacy in Elementary School

 A Boy Called Slow: The True Story of Sitting Bull by Joseph Bruchac. (1994). New York: Philomel.
 Children of the Wild West by Russell Freedman. (1983). New York: Clarion.
 Bad News for Outlaws: The Remarkable Life of Bass Reeves, Deputy U.S. Marshall by Vaunda Nelson. (2009).

Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books.
 Sitting Bull Remembers by Ann Turner. (2007). New York: HarperCollins.

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 Coolies by Yin. (2001). New York: Philomel.

References

Allington, R. L., & Johnston, P. (2002). Reading to learn: Lessons from exemplary fourth grade classrooms.
New York: Guilford.
Beane, J. A. (2005). A reason to teach: Creating classrooms of dignity and hope. Portsmouth, NH:
Heinemann.
Berliner, D. (2009). Much curriculum left behind: A U.S. calamity in the making. The Educational Forum, 73(4),
284–296.
Buzan, T. (1993). The mind map. New York: Penguin.
Goudvis, A., & Buhrow, B. (2011). History lessons. In H. Daniels (Ed.), Comprehension going forward (pp.
128–149). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Harvard College Library. (2007). Interrogating texts: Six reading habits to develop in your first year at Harvard.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University. Retrieved from http://guides.hcl.harvard.edu/sixreadinghabits
Pearson, P. D., Moje, E., & Greenleaf, C. (2010, April 23). Literacy and science: Each in the service of the
other. Science, 328, 459–463.
Perkins, D. (1992). Smart schools: Better thinking and learning for every child. New York: Free Press.
Ravitch, D. (2010). The death and life of the great American school system. New York: Basic Books.
Wolfe, L. (1954, August). The independence of Tabitha Brown. Reader's Digest, 73–78.
Anne Goudvis and Stephanie Harvey are literacy consultants and authors. Their most recent resource is The
Comprehension Toolkit series (Heinemann, 2007).
© 2012 by ASCD. Reprinted with permission. Learn more about ASCD at www.ascd.org

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