Reading
The past left receipts. But to understand history, students have to read like historians. And sometimes, that can feel like a daunting task. That’s why we’ve collected a bunch of ready-to-use teaching strategies and materials that will help you support students in building historical literacy and critical thinking skills, one ingredient at a time.
How to Teach Reading: Tools for Teachers
Teacher Chat: Reading
Teach Tomorrow: Lessons on Reading
Lesson 1.2.4
Reading History
Learn how to skim for gist, read for details, and make connections with the three-step reading process.
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Lesson 1.4
History and Memory
Each of us has a history, and each of us has memories. What’s the difference between history and memory? Learn how to read graphic biographies and discover the answer.
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Reading Materials and Resources
Introduction to Three-Step Reading
Activity
Introduction to Three-Step Reading
Three-Step Reading is a strategy that helps you critically analyze what you read, and yes, it has three steps. And this strategy isn’t just for this course—you can use it with anything you read!
Unit 1 Introduction: History Stories
Article
Unit 1 Introduction: History Stories
Learning history is key to understanding the present. Multiple perspectives, testing claims, and framing all play a crucial role in shaping our analysis of the past.
How to Read Comics
Activity
How to Read Comics
Graphic biographies might look simple at first, but there are layers of meaning embedded in them. Explore how to read a comic with historian Trevor Getz.
Getting to Know Comics
Activity
Getting to Know Comics
Keep track of important details as you learn how to read comics.
Three-Step Reading for Graphic Biographies
Activity
Three-Step Reading for Graphic Biographies
This tool will help you read more than just the words on the page. Fill out this worksheet as you read the first graphic biography in the course.
George Washington Carver
Graphic Biographies
George Washington Carver
In the post-Civil War American South, scientist George Washington Carver worked to restore both the land and those who farmed it.
Resources to Connect Climate Change and Reading
You can’t always take what you read at face value. Help students build the skills to evaluate evidence critically and decide for themselves what to believe.
Article: How Do We Know Climate Change Is Real?
Dig into four charts about global temperatures, emissions, and the correlation between them.
Activity: Claim Testing: Earth’s Climate Record
Practice your claim-testing skills by evaluating what you’ve read in the data exploration and making a claim of your own.