Making History Mine Literacy Links

One component of Making History Mine that stood out close to the beginning of the book and came up over and over again was the integration of literacy into social studies content. This is pertinent in a time when teacher education programs such as the one I attended emphasize the importance that all secondary teachers are literacy teachers, not just the language arts teachers. When I chose my language arts power standards for next year I specifically grouped some standards that I would teach in social studies because they were a natural fit.

Cooper suggested integrating concepts I had already thought of (research and persuasion) but also seamlessly weaves in multiple other reading and writing activities starting at the beginning of the year when she introduces a poem that sends a valuable message that we can all make history (2). After explaining the way she presents and has students interact with the poem she gives her rationale, "This kind of activity--combining reading comprehension, literary awareness, historical context, and critical thinking--enables us to view the nuts-and-bolts details of history through a longer lens" (3). In much the same way, Cooper suggest opportunities to use reading and writing skills to help students be more competent historians.

The activities Cooper mentions will not only help students within the social studies context, but to be more well-rounded people with a lasting impact on their life. For example, the types of activities Cooper uses for students to gain a strong command of historical documents will transfer over into analyzing other reading genres. She blends primary documents with historical fiction to bring the content alive, realizing that both genres can have a great impact on students (9). She also talks about "unpacking language" in social studies documents (44). In additions, she has students do activities such as interring from a list of dates (70), yet another important literacy skill.

Later, Cooper mentions utilizing a text to help students recognize the way real historians "gather evidence to make an argument that often doesn't sound like an argument. They're almost fooling you" (33). This supports persuasive writing well, and I like the concept that she brings up time and time again the idea of "real" historians, making it a perfect fit for my literacy block where students will think about what real writers and readers do as well. Later in the book she has further ideas with opinion, persuasion, and reasoning and argument analysis as well (such as 40, 52-53). She also has a full chapter on research with sufficient scaffolding to help students successfully research and analyze a topic effectively (129-159).

Cooper's experience as a language arts teacher and strong understanding of literacy is apparent throughout the book. Her suggestions closely align with other mentors in the field that I value. For example, I often thought of the way her work complemented Nancie Atwell's by presenting one of Lincoln's speeches in a similar way to Atwell's poetry presentation (58-59) and Kelly Gallagher's resources including clearing up confusion (2). Making History Mine is a great addition to my teacher resource library. It easily fits with other resources, while bringing its own unique ideas.