From Tule Lake to the Classroom: What makes a Good Question & INSTRUCTIONAL IMPLICATIONS

1. From Tule Lake to the Classroom: What makes a Good Question & INSTRUCTIONAL IMPLICATIONS June 26, 2014

2. Agenda • Session Overview • Identifying Essential Qualities of an Inquiry Prompt – Similarities/Differences between Narrative, Explanatory, and Argumentative Writing • Reading and Annotating text – Developing a Writing prompt • Reflection and Discussion: Building Bridges across the Disciplines

3. from Definitions of the [Common Core] standards’ three text types - Narrative Writing* Narrative writing conveys experience, either real or imaginary, and uses time as its deep structure. It can be used for many purposes, such as to inform, instruct, persuade, or entertain. * from CCSS Appendix A, page 23

4. from Definitions of the [Common Core] standards’ three text types - Informational/Explanatory Writing* • Informational/explanatory writing conveys information accurately. This kind of writing serves one or more closely related purposes: to increase readers’ knowledge of a subject, to help readers better understand a procedure or process, or to provide readers with an enhanced comprehension of a concept…Informational/explanatory text writing addresses matters such as types and components; size, function, or behavior; how things work; and why things happen. * from CCSS Appendix A, page 23

5. from Definitions of the [Common Core] standards’ three text types – Argument* • Arguments are used for many purposes—to change the reader’s point of view, to bring about some action on the reader’s part, or to ask the reader to accept the writer’s explanation or evaluation of a concept, issue, or problem. • An argument is a reasoned, logical way of demonstrating that the writer’s position, belief, or conclusion is valid * from CCSS Appendix A, page 23

6. The Special Place of Argument in the CCSS – I Argument is the soul of an education because argument forces a writer to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of multiple perspectives. - Neil Postman When teachers ask students to consider two or more perspectives on a topic or issue, something far beyond surface knowledge is required: students must think critically and deeply, assess the validity of their own thinking, and anticipate counterclaims in opposition to their own assertions. - from CCSS Appendix A, page 24

7. Why a Goal of Argument in Academic Settings:Clarifying for Students Argument is a “serious and focused conversation among people who are interested in getting to the bottom of things cooperatively.” - Joseph Williams and Lawrence McEnerey, The University of Chicago Writing Program from CCSS Appendix A, page 24

8. What might students be thinking when they hear “argument” – three 8th grade student from ASCEND Middle School, Oakland CA An argument is where 2 or more people state their position and opinion of what they know. An argument doesn’t always have to be where people are yelling at each other. This argument is respectful and formal. - Oscar Argument is when you and another person aren’t agreeing. It’s like a fight, however not physically. It also has some talking back and forth because you might say something and the other person would want to say something from the opposite side and it just keeps on going. - Yanaika An argument is when you disagree with a person you talk with the person and tell them your point of view. They tell you why you are wrong by presenting evidence. Then they give their point of view. Next the other person gives evidence and reasoning of why he/she is right and the other person is incorrect. In an argument you also state the counter argument, where you acknowledge the other side but then say why they are wrong.- Hilda

9. What is the difference between persuasive writing and writing argument? The most advanced secondary textbooks for English do not teach students to think critically or to write argument…Kinneavy and Warriner (1993) tell us that “In a persuasive essay, you can select the most favorable evidence, appeal to emotions, and use the style to persuade your readers. Your single purpose is to be convincing.” The same might be said for propaganda and advertising. Argument, on the other hand, is mainly about logical appeals and involves claims, evidence, warrants, backing, and rebuttal…Argument is at the heart of critical thinking and academic discourse; it is the kind of writing students need to know for success in college and life… - From George Hillocks, Teaching Argumentative Writing, Grades 6-12: Supporting Claims with Relevant Evidence and Clear Reasoning

10. Getting Started: Working With Looking Like the Enemy Read the excerpt from Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese-American Internment Camp (2005) by Mary Matsuda Gruenewald • identify a big idea(s) Matsuda Gruenewald wants the reader to understand* • annotate pieces of text that might help the reader understand this big idea. You might also note how she uses language to establish her main points. --------------- * What does understand mean? What does it mean to say someone “understands” an historical event or experience?

11. Developing Historical Understanding – Types of Thinking • utilizing chronological thinking • working with historical evidence (for example, sourcing the text) • considering multiple perspectives • developing historical empathy • establishing historical significance • understanding historical interpretation

13. Developing an Argumentative/Inquiry Focused Writing Prompt In grade level groups discuss each person’s response to the reading and, as a group, develop a writing prompt for a history or English classroom. Possible responses to your prompt should connect to and rely on text from the Gruenewald piece, as well other possible sources for students to consider.

14. What makes an a good inquiry/argumentative writing prompt? Generates discussion and encourages varied points of view. Demands an answer that is not just yes or no. Requires explanation and analysis. Demands a critical or careful reading of the text(s). Moves beyond opinion, into connecting claim, evidence, and reasoning Phrased in such a way that the question doesn't predetermine the answer.

15. A Further Consideration – “Open” and “Closed” Questions Open Question – a controversial question that is connected to the curriculum with no “right” answer. Criteria for open questions: • controversial; no one right answer. • multiple and competing views • likely to leave students in a state of disagreement at the end. • prepares students answer the question with good reasons backed by sound evidence. Closed Question – a question that directs students towards a particular answer; there is a right answer which teacher want students to build and believe. • Closed questions have often been sufficiently answered and supported with evidence. • We often do ask our history / social science students closed questions—and that is okay. If an issue is closed, there is no need for discussion in the form of a controversial political issue; however, that is not to say it should be left out of the history curriculum. • Teaching a closed issue is perfectly fine. For example, there is obviously no problem with teaching slavery as wrong, even though it was a controversial issue at the time. • A closed issue can be discussed in a way that takes students back in time to deliberate the issue in the historical context.

16. The Question’s Instructional Implications – Preparing to Share the Prompt and More Question:

17. What is a History Paper?* What Qualities are Cited? History papers usually include a narrative that recounts “what happened.” Narrative is a basic element of history writing, and it is crucial that the account of the past events is accurate. Nevertheless, a series of factual statements about the past, however precise they may be, does not constitute a history paper. You will not have written a history paper if you report that something happened. Rather, a history paper explores how and why something happened and its significance. * from Mary Lynn Rampolla, “A Pocket Guide to Writing History, Beford/St. Martins

18. What is a History Paper?* What Qualities are Cited? A history paper, like other academic writing, usually takes the form of an argument in support of a thesis. A thesis is not a statement of fact, a question, or an opinion, nor is it the same as the topic. A thesis is a statement that reflects conclusions about the specific topic of the paper, based on a critical analysis of the source materials examined. A thesis informs the reader about the conclusion reached. A thesis is always an arguable or debatable point. The purpose of a history paper is to present the reader with enough evidence to convince him or her that the thesis is correct. The thesis is the central point to which all information in the paper relates. * from Mary Lynn Rampolla, “A Pocket Guide to Writing History, Beford/St. Martins

19. What is an “English” Argumentative Paper? • List genres of writing in an English class that are argumentative by nature? • What qualities characterize an argument in the above genres? • Which qualities overlap with the history paper? • Which qualities would you add? • Which of the listed genres would like necessitate students working with multiple texts?

20. Grappling With the Puzzle: How to Help Students Make this Move? Thoughtful, informed, and coherent argumentative writing texts claim close reading historical thinking discussion sentence frames & templates academic discourse analysis annotating text graphic organizers evidence We’ve learned this move looks less like the diagram above than

21. Grappling With the Puzzle: How to Help Students Make this Move? sentence frames & templates academicdiscourse graphic organizers texts close reading discussion analysis annotating text claim evidence Thoughtful, informed, and coherent argumentative writing historical thinking

22. Sharing and Comparing Ideas • Large group share out of prompts, expectations, instructional implications, and practices

23. Essential Question - What is loyalty? Inquiry questions for this activity: For questions 27 & 28 on the “Statement of United States Citizen of Japanese Ancestry” the U.S. government argued that anyone who answered with anything other than with a “yes”“yes” was being “disloyal” to the nation. Is that argument supported by the testimonies and words contained in the following source documents? If not, what other factor(s) best explain answers other than “yes”“yes”?

24. Working with the Question: The Importance of Identifying “Analytic Frames” Some possible frames in developing an argument: • criterion based evaluation • cost/benefit • cause & effect, multiple causation • analogy

25. Why is all this Important? Big Goals for History Instruction "The challenge that teachers face is how to make effective instructional use of the personal and cultural knowledge of students while at the same time helping them to reach beyond their own cultural boundaries" - James Banks, Multicultural Educator, 1993 “ We must prepare ourselves for the possibility that these people whose lives we are sharing for the moment are not necessarily earlier versions of ourselves whom we can know just by knowing ourselves...To attempt to capture their [his emphasis] way of doing things, their consciousness, their world view, is the stuff of history, the quest that gives historians purpose" - Lawrence Levine, Historian, 1988

26. Explaining what Levine and Banks are Getting At – Focus on Historical Empathy and Agency #1 #2 The fact that Burroughs, who seems to have had no objections to the other photographs that were taken, wanted himself and his family pictured in this light (photo #2) as well, is an important part of the reality of the thirties that we can ignore only at great cost to our understanding of the self-images and aspirations of people like the Burroughs. – Lawrence Levine, from “Photography and the History of American People in the 1930s and 1940s,” 1988.

27. Building Bridges across the Disciplines • What can you take back to your classrooms and sites about the role history might play in helping students develop the academic literacy skills necessary to write strong arguments? • What academic challenges are shared across the disciplines? • What instructional practices would reinforce each other and support student success in both classrooms?