History Class

If he’s reading at 4.5, I’d not bother him with any textbook reading they assign. I would read the chapter myself and find the main concepts. Then I hang the details on those concepts.

There’s a war between the colonies and England. It has a beginning and an end. At the beginning, there was a Stamp Act. At the end there was a Treaty of Paris.

Right smack in the middle, Washington surprised the British by crossing a river.

History is a story. If it’s taught like a story, the details fall more naturally into place.

For my own son, I used to make up sample tests. I used the same format as the teacher based on tests my son had taken, and I’d write up the new information for him in test form. It helped him to see what the information might look like on a test.

Sara’s advice is sound.

This deluge of data is deadly to learning. Even if you have to choose between grades and actually learning something — geezo, let the kid LEARN so that he will not be like my college kiddos who honestly don’t remember a thing from HIstory class. I work wiht them as a tutor… they had to write a short essay about a holiday and the reason behind it. A typical student picked fourth of July… gee, we celebrate independence, oh, yes, that’s freedom, oh, that’s when slavery ended? And that’s all we know.

SO focus on the learning stuff and the cool stories of people taking a stand for what they believed in, instead of just folloiwing along with the pack becaues it was easier. And your practical application of that principle would be learning history instead of trying to cram in all the terms.

THis is not to say I don’t think some studying and cramming in should be done — just not to the exclusion of understanding what it’s about. If you go to LD ONLine LD IN DEpth, click on “For Teachers” and then look for teh article about the “clarifying strategies” you’ll find a neat way to learn new terms — but yes, it takes more time than cramming in a definition.

If you need to memorize stuff — it happens ;) — I’ve got some ideas for that in “learning vocabulary” on my site (www.resourceroom.net) in the “reaidng comprehension” section.

DO LIKE YOUR FOREFATHERS…. REBEL ;-)

i am a special ed teacher who teaches history in an inclusive setting. while i teach high school juniors, many of them are still at the 4th and 5th grade reading level. like previous responses, i do think it is most beneficial to stress the concepts rather than the facts and figures. i believe that through thestudy of ideas, the inner meanings of history, the factual information will reveal itself, and be better retained by all.

there are many texts that are written for low-level readers available on the market. they do not necessarily “dumb-down” the material but rather use more approachable language. i would suggest using supplemental texts as well.

hope this helps.

Thanks for your suggestions. We have recently pulled our son from the history class altogether and are teaching him history at home - as you suggested, starting with the major concepts, then adding the players and major events. So far, this is working well - I have to figure a testing system, or project to satisfy grade requirements.

I’m interested in your mentioning other texts with lower grade reading levels. Next year, he will be doing American history - I had been thinking of using “The History of US” series. Do you have any other suggestions?

If he’s reading at 4.5, I’d not bother him with any textbook reading they assign. I would read the chapter myself and find the main concepts. Then I hang the details on those concepts.

There’s a war between the colonies and England. It has a beginning and an end. At the beginning, there was a Stamp Act. At the end there was a Treaty of Paris.

Right smack in the middle, Washington surprised the British by crossing a river.

History is a story. If it’s taught like a story, the details fall more naturally into place.

For my own son, I used to make up sample tests. I used the same format as the teacher based on tests my son had taken, and I’d write up the new information for him in test form. It helped him to see what the information might look like on a test.

Sara’s advice is sound.

This deluge of data is deadly to learning. Even if you have to choose between grades and actually learning something — geezo, let the kid LEARN so that he will not be like my college kiddos who honestly don’t remember a thing from HIstory class. I work wiht them as a tutor… they had to write a short essay about a holiday and the reason behind it. A typical student picked fourth of July… gee, we celebrate independence, oh, yes, that’s freedom, oh, that’s when slavery ended? And that’s all we know.

SO focus on the learning stuff and the cool stories of people taking a stand for what they believed in, instead of just folloiwing along with the pack becaues it was easier. And your practical application of that principle would be learning history instead of trying to cram in all the terms.

THis is not to say I don’t think some studying and cramming in should be done — just not to the exclusion of understanding what it’s about. If you go to LD ONLine LD IN DEpth, click on “For Teachers” and then look for teh article about the “clarifying strategies” you’ll find a neat way to learn new terms — but yes, it takes more time than cramming in a definition.

If you need to memorize stuff — it happens ;) — I’ve got some ideas for that in “learning vocabulary” on my site (www.resourceroom.net) in the “reaidng comprehension” section.

DO LIKE YOUR FOREFATHERS…. REBEL ;-)

i am a special ed teacher who teaches history in an inclusive setting. while i teach high school juniors, many of them are still at the 4th and 5th grade reading level. like previous responses, i do think it is most beneficial to stress the concepts rather than the facts and figures. i believe that through thestudy of ideas, the inner meanings of history, the factual information will reveal itself, and be better retained by all.

there are many texts that are written for low-level readers available on the market. they do not necessarily “dumb-down” the material but rather use more approachable language. i would suggest using supplemental texts as well.

hope this helps.

Thanks for your suggestions. We have recently pulled our son from the history class altogether and are teaching him history at home - as you suggested, starting with the major concepts, then adding the players and major events. So far, this is working well - I have to figure a testing system, or project to satisfy grade requirements.

I’m interested in your mentioning other texts with lower grade reading levels. Next year, he will be doing American history - I had been thinking of using “The History of US” series. Do you have any other suggestions?