History Repeats Itself in the Classroom, Too!: Prior Knowledge and Implementing the Common Core State Standards

(Paperback)

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The best history/social studies classes are those in which students act as historians, political scientists, and economists. The best teachers are those who model discipline-specific expertise. There is an effective formula for achieving the Common Core State Standards goal of college and career readiness in history/social studies:
Establish the foundation for future academic work, subject area knowledge and skill developmentTake deliberate advantage of students prior knowledge of those topics taught multiple times from elementary school through high school Increase the complexity of reading materials in these subjects as they are covered in subsequent coursesDevelop a multi-year plan to vertically spiral writing and speaking skills towards producing work that demonstrates thinking commensurate with college and career readinessThis resource book is intended for both new and experienced teachers. School-site departments and district curriculum specialists will find this book useful. In addition, this book will be an excellent supplement for university methods instructors interested in helping their student teachers meet the goals of the Common Core State Standards.

Reviews

History Repeats Itself in the Classroom, Too!, provides a practical approach for satisfying the exigency of Common Core Standard implementation for social studies teachers, social studies departments and secondary school administrators. It is also an excellent source for teachers of all experience levels that are searching to augment their own content knowledge, to be aware of their students prior/future experiences in Social Studies and to collect rigorous writing and project based activities to be applied in the classroom. This book makes a cogent argument for the vertical alignment of social studies curriculum as an effective method for teachers to prepare students to handle readings of increasing difficulty and to improve the quality of citizenship education for all secondary students through the exploitation of content repetition and the scaffolding of content literacy skills. -- Jon Resendez, social studies teacher, Irvine High School, James Madison Memorial Foundation Senior Fellow (CA 2012)
One goal of the Common Core State Standards is to increase the complexity of student reading and writing in subject specific academic disciplines. With these new demands, social studies teachers must rely on students' prior knowledge and build on this knowledge progressively each year. History Repeats Itself in the Classroom, Too! is a practical guide with many examples of key terms, readings, writing assessments, and projects to help teachers connect and align their students' learning from year to year. -- Alyson Brant, principal, Alder Creek Middle School, Portland, Oregon

Greg and Jennifer make a timely and compelling argument for activating and building prior knowledge in order to deepen and extend student understanding of history. Rather than simply providing lip service to the power of vertical alignment and the Common Core State Standards, this book illustrates that power and reminds us why history should be engaging and relevant for students. Each chapter provides practical examples of highly recursive, articulated curriculum that weaves together non-fiction, literature, and primary source documents with inspiring and engaging lessons. This book isnt just about the Common Core; its truly about good pedagogy and common sense. By working together to align curriculum so that each course/grade level builds on the next and by infusing smart, creative approaches to instruction into the classroom, teachers can anchor historical understanding and generate a desire for students to question, argue, and engage in conversations about their world.
In History Repeats Itself in the Classroom, Too!, educators have a collaborative tool to re-energize teaching, re-align curriculum, and re-focus instruction on the knowledge and skills that our students need to understand how the past informs the present and how educated and empowered voices will shape the future.

Author Bio

Gregory Gray taught Advanced Placement American Government, Political Economy, and World History in the Social Science Department at Irvine High School, Irvine, CA for 32 years. He currently supervises teacher candidates at Portland State University.

Jennifer Donnelly has been teaching Social Science in the Irvine Unified School District for eight years. She teaches multiple courses each year including World History, AP European History, US History, AP US History, and Political Economy.