Resources: Articles from the Internet  

Responses: Two-column note form; note-taking.

Students choose a historical figure to read about. As they read, they take notes on important ideas about that person.  These notes will be used when they write an essay from the historical figure’s point of view.  

Prior to assigning this lesson, the teacher models the expectation for the lesson. Harvey and Goudvis describe a teacher who modeled the lesson using the book, A Boy Called Slow by Joseph Bruchac.  As she read the book, she modeled her own reading, thinking and responding, asking the students to also respond.  

Using paper divided down the middle vertically, write the headings:  Facts From the Text (left side) and Response (right side).  As the story is read, the reader chooses important facts to write down under that heading and next to those writes his own personal responses to those facts.

The teacher pointed out to the students how one’s thinking can change during and after one has read something (synthesis).  Once the students had completed their own responses, she had them discuss how their thinking had changed as they read the story.

Once this modeling is completed, students can get started on reading about, taking notes on and responding to the historical figure of their own choice.   

My students read two articles on Muhammad, the prophet.  The first article was used to model the note-taking.  The second article was on their own.  The last step was to write a 2 paragraph essay from Muhammad’s Point of View.  

See attached 2 column chart and sample.

 This lesson is from Strategies That Work by 153 of that book.