Teachable Moments: Historic Events

By Sandra Cook, NC Newspapers in Education The anniversary of the March on Washington held August 28, 1963 offers parents and teachers a “teachable moment.” One example found on the web describes a NC parent, a father from Statesville, age 40, who took his three children to the recent March on Washington to make the point that every generation makes choices and decisions that shape the future. A “teachable moment” for his children. What can teachers do that’s consistent with Common Core State Standards? Scan newspapers (informational text) over the days and weeks before the date for an historic event. You are sure to find stories about the March on Washington in newspapers published over the last days and week, for example. Newspapers provide choices and offer background or history to support reporting about current events. You may use the stories that appear in print editions available in your classroom. You may also search the archives available through electronic or replica editions and/or webpages that newspapers publish. Some newspapers will provide instructional support for using current events in the classroom through educational (NIE) websites. You may also use historic newspapers to find out how stories were reported when they occurred.  To find out how the March on Washington was reported, you’d look at historic newspapers published before, on and after August 28, 1963 and newspapers published on that date in years that followed. The N.C. Digital Collections include N.C. newspapers (http://digital.ncdcr.gov/cdm/allcols/), and additional newspapers may be found through the Library of Congress’ Chronicling America (http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/). Newspapers from multiple North Carolina digital collections may be searched simultaneously through a federated search at http://ncecho.org. Straight-forward strategies, such as “Close Reading, Research and Reflection outlined below and in the attached pdf, take students beyond the few names and dates associated with any event and require them to view and read different texts (print and visual) that vary in difficulty.  What they learn remains dependent on text. Students may interpret photos, cartoons and/or ads. They may read news stories, letters to the editor, columns and editorials and must consider how each purpose for writing affects their reading and future research. Historic events, reported in news, represent “teachable moments.” The Tampa Bay Times held a webinar on the Common Core and issues related to the March on Washington in which the instructors recommended the following sources: http://www.tolerance.org/ http://www.facinghistory.org/ http://fcit.usf.edu/holocaust/ http://www.ferris.edu/jimcrow/ Close Reading, Research and Reflection WHAT I ALREADY KNOW ASK students:

• What do you know about the March on Washington or other historic event? Is there evidence to support what you know? In text, underline what you already know.

WHAT I LEARN (Close reading) ASK students:

• What do you learn about the historic event from one or more photos and/or videos that you view? What’s the evidence? Cite specifics.
• What do you learn from one or more stories that you read? What’s the evidence? Circle what you learned.

HAVE students:

• Turn to one or more classmates and ask what he or she learned from the photos, videos and/or from the same or different print and visual texts.  In discussions, provide evidence in text for what you learned and have your classmate provide evidence from his/her text.

COMPILE what students learned. In response to questions, refer students to texts and/or have them search valid sources for verification. WHAT I STILL WANT to KNOW ASK students:

• What more do you want to know? Discuss questions that you have with other students and list questions to research.

WHERE CAN I FIND MORE INFORMATION ASK students:

• Where do you look for answers to the questions? How do you find out more about the topic or event?

ASSIGN individuals, teams or groups specific questions to answer.   WHAT I LEARNED from ADDITIONAL RESEARCH ASK students:

• What did you learn from research? Report what you learned through collaborative conversations and other means.

Common Core State Standards include word study, often described as defining academic vocabulary or Tier 2 words.  From close reading, have students identify words (names of people and places) that are central to understanding the various texts, making inferences and/or drawing conclusions. The Common Core supports thematic or conceptual teaching. Stories about the March on Washington point to themes or concepts that the event underscores Teachers might develop a unit that focuses on people who are “agents of change” or focus on past and current “protests.”  Students might compare current movements advanced through social media with protests of the past. Teachers of all subjects can apply essential questions raised through current events and their historic roots:  Who and what actions bring about change? Who and what actions advance thinking on a topic? What actions do citizens take to demonstrate their beliefs and commitment to change (or their opposition to change)? What I learned from the news According to a newspaper story, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. first used the sentence, “I have a dream,” in a speech he gave at the Booker T. Washington School in Rocky Mount, NC. Click here for a PDF version of this page