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When students engage with a historical source, they need to be able to answer the following questions: Show
The following strategies support students to consider the above points when they read, interpret and analyse history sources: Reading and paraphrasing by chunkingChunking involves breaking down a complex historical text into more manageable parts to enable students to make meaning of what they are reading. Students then summarise what they have read in their own words. Chunking
The steps below outline how to chunk a complex written historical text.
If this is the first time that students have chunked a complex text, teachers might wish to show students a worked example [HITS Strategy 4] of chunking using a simpler text. To support students, provide a table as a structure for chunking the text. Tables enable students to see important 'chunks' of text in the form of a visual organiser. Each column of the table has a heading such as a participant, action, aim, reason and impact. As students dissect the text they identify and record relevant sections for key themes. An example of a 'participant structure' for sentence chunking is shown below with the associated text. Example of chunking in a Year 7 or 8 class learning about VikingsThe 'participant structure' chunking table has been adapted from Schleppegrell, Greer & Taylor (2008, p. 180) (VCHHC103, VCHHK116, VCHHK117, VCHHK118, VCHHK119, VCHHK120). Original textFrom c.790-1066 CE, Vikings played a significant part in world history. During this time, some of them plundered villages and towns in Europe, murdering villagers, townspeople and priests whilst also
taking prisoners to use as labour back in Scandinavia. Vikings stole valuable property, including land, during their raids in England, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, northern France, eastern Europe and Newfoundland (North America) in their quest to acquire more territory for new Viking settlements. This land was needed as limited fertile lands and harsh winters in Scandinavia meant smaller and shorter crop-growing seasons leaving little available food at times. This helped to further increase
their growing population. The Vikings waged a war against England's Anglo-Saxon inhabitants in the early fifth century intent on winning control of the productive Anglo-Saxon land. Initially, Viking lands in England were restricted to the north-east of England and the area became known as Danelaw. The Vikings took over the Anglo-Saxon settlement at York in 866 CE and the lands and villages within Danelaw. They introduced their language, Old Norse, to the area as well as their customs. Over time,
through trade and other interactions with the local people, Vikings and Anglo-Saxons intermarried, adopted Christianity and eventually became a newly formed society.
(Adapted from Schleppegrell, Greer & Taylor, 2008, p. 180) Interpreting images by croppingCropping helps students to focus their attention on parts of a visual image (e.g. photograph, illustration). It encourages students to notice portions of an image that they might otherwise have overlooked and to identify and respond to each portion before they try to interpret and analyse the overall meaning of the image. The steps below outline how to crop a complex historical image (e.g. photograph, illustration). Preparation for cropping
For example, students may focus on the following three sections of
the montage of World War 1 images below.
Prompt 1: Focus on the part of the image that first caught your eye. Explain why you selected this part of the image. I selected the symbol on the tail of the plane (1) as the contrast of the dark symbol on the light background is striking. It identifies the aircraft as German warplanes and would make them highly visible in combat. Prompt 2: Focus on the part of the image that shows a specific thing used in WW1 warfare. Describe it. The gas mask (2) in the image seems to be an earlier version of more modern ones. It might have helped protect these two soldiers from chemical weapons like mustard gas. Prompt 3: Focus on the part of the image that best describes what the source is trying to communicate. Outline the main message of the source. This part of the image shows blackened earth, dead trees and what look like the remains of buildings or machines (3). I believe that this part of the source image is trying to show the devastation of war on humanity as well as the environment. Analysing sources through questioningAnalysing primary and secondary sources can be challenging for students as they require the skills to:
Questioning is a high impact teaching strategy [HITS Strategy 7] and
source-dependent questions can be useful in focusing student attention so that they can:
Literacy in Practice Video: History - Interpretation And AnalysisIn this video, the teacher uses a visual image of a historical document for students to analyse and interpret
using key questions to guide deeper of the artefact. Read the in-depth notes for this video Types of questioningTeachers can use three different types of questions to support students to analyse sources they read: literal, inferential and evaluative. Literal questions Literal questions ask about facts that are explicitly stated in the source. For example:
Inferential questionsInferential questions require students to
Students should draw on their prior knowledge, practical experiences and evidence from the source to support their responses. For example:
Evaluative questionsrequire students to use their knowledge, values and experiences to
For example:
Examples of questioningA Year 9 or 10 class learning about Rights and freedoms (1945–the present) might be asked to analyse Separation: Ruth's Story. Some questions teachers might use when students read Ruth's Story might be: Literal QuestionsFor Ruth's story:
For the extracts from Read's report:
Inferential questionsFor Ruth's story:
For the extracts from Read's report:
Evaluative questionsFor Ruth's story:
For the extracts from Read's report:
Additional notesAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students should be advised that
these sources may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons. A useful resource to provide some background information on the Stolen Generations can be found on the Racism No Way website. Links to curriculum: VCHHC123,
VCHHC124, VCHHC125, VCHHK152, VCHHK154,
VCHHK156. Interrogating the data sourceStudents need to be made aware that historical data and figures that are referenced (for example, in a news article) might have been taken out of their source or is decontextualized. When data is decontextualized, it might not accurately or reliably express the intent of the individual or organisation that originally produced
the data. For instance, the individual or organisation that originally produced the data might have done so to inform government policy (e.g. the ABS) but the individual who has authored the news article might be doing so to persuade the public to support a stance on a given social or political issue. To support students to interrogate a data source, teachers can:
Curriculum links for the above example: VCHHC123, VCHHC124, VCHHC125 Developing a double-entry journal with text-dependent questionsStudents can keep a double-entry journal about historical texts they read, such as textbooks, news articles, documentaries, primary sources, reports and Internet sources). A double-entry journal is like a reading log, in which students record their observations, impressions and
theories related to history texts as they read (Marsh & Hart, 2011). As the name suggests, a double journal entry log requires students to record two types of data: an objective summary and a subjective reflection. The table below suggests how students might set up their journals. Each column is one page of a two-page spread.
Questioning is a high impact
teaching strategy [HITS Strategy 7] and text-dependent questions can be useful in focusing student attention so that they can identify key discipline-specific information in a text as well as extracting meaning from, and critically analysing the intent of this information (Gabriel, Wenz & Dostal, 2016). The following text-dependent questions can be given
to students before reading. The questions have been grouped for: primary sources, secondary sources, and personal responses. Questions for primary sources
Questions for secondary sources
Personal response questions
Curriculum links for the above
example: VCHHC123, VCHHC124, VCHHC125 Is historical context is the most important factor to consider when analyzing a historical narrative?Historical context is an important thing to consider when reading written work—it can change or amplify the overall meaning of the subject and reveal information or perspectives we otherwise would have missed.
What are the factors that affect the historical narrative?The elements of a good historical narrative
Whatever your source of inspiration, I postulate that it falls into one of six basic categories: time, place, person(s), event(s), culture, or legend.
Why is it important to consider the historical context?Understanding the historical context of a primary source is critical for understanding the attitudes and influences that shaped the creation of the primary source. If not placed into historical context, a primary source's true meaning might be misinterpreted.
What must be included in a historical narrative?A historical narrative should have the following characteristics:. Accurate historic events and details of actual places.. One person's point of view.. Some characters and circumstances invented by the writer.. Chronological organization.. |