When I first started teaching history, it was difficult for me to incorporate reading passages in a productive and interesting way. I remember looking at a section in my textbook and thinking “how can I keep my students on task when I can barely concentrate on this stuff?”
Students not doing the reading assigned for homework seems to be an eternal challenge for every teacher. Failure to do the reading stunts classroom discussions, prevents students from learning and understanding the material to an adequate depth, and does nothing to help students build literacy skills.
Students are required to learn several hundred new words each year. As a classroom teacher, how do you make that vocabulary stick in their brains?
Teachers frequently offer students multiple ways to learn vocabulary: vocabulary cards, quizzes, drawing, matching activities, and even games. By varying the activities, they hope to keep students engaged with the words.
Few would argue with the importance of vocabulary knowledge in all school subjects.
I have the privilege of working with teachers across the country and I often hear the refrain that too many students are just not reading on level.
More and more often, history teachers are being asked to structure their curricula thematically as opposed to chronologically, in hopes of increasing student engagement and facilitating comparison among multiple perspectives.
“Literacy is a bridge from misery to hope.” —Kofi Annan
