CIVIL WAR CIRCLE
During or Throughout Instruction (ongoing) Strategies
Synthesizing Key Concepts Chart
This strategy will help students understands how a text presents information and determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development as well as summarize the key supporting details and ideas. This strategy aids in the development of academic language functions as students are analyzing and interpreting key concepts and rephrasing then in their own words. Students then have to construct the meaning of the concept. Students will read an article from an academic (history) journal or a chapter from a social studies textbook, leaving tracks of their thinking, and write the key concepts directly from the text in the left column. The students then have to paraphrase and put those key ideas and information in their own words in the middle column. Finally, they will explain why the concept is important and determine the significance of the idea.
The following web link provides a fantastic example of a synthesizing key concept chart:
This strategy should be used during (even throughout) instruction and can be used with most social studies texts as the key point in this method is determining and evaluating the main concepts of the text, rephrasing, then explaining the importance. This method would be ideal to use with a social studies unit that has a broad focus but main ideas throughout or a chapter with many key ideas. This graphic organizer allows students to have main concepts directly from the text along with all of their important thoughts on one page. This strategy would work well for most students but would be an especially helpful method for visual learners as this chart serves as a great graphic organizer.
The Pizza Summary Wheel
The pizza summary wheel can assist students summarize the key supporting details and ideas from text, and analyze and compare how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge and/or compare approaches the authors take. This strategy also is helpful for integrating visual information and ideas from texts to graph forms and is an excellent strategy for teaching students new vocabulary terms. For teaching Social Studies concepts this strategy is particularly helpful as it provides a clear graphic organizer for students to compile information and use as a study guide as well as a great group activity that can engage the entire class. This summary wheel learning tool is especially instrumental when teaching new vocabulary. When teaching social studies there is a lot of material and many new terms for students to learn. This wheel can also be used just for social studies vocabulary. A chapter in the regular textbook will serve as the main topic, each subchapter will be crust of individual slices with the new vocabulary terms as the toppings. The pizza summary wheel can also be used for working in groups or pairs to complete the pizza wheel. The instructor should implement assigned groups or partner work in the classroom structure for pairing up high and low functioning students together for peer assistance and teaching. Each group will be instructed to read a different subchapter/newspaper article or periodical and write the topic, main ideas and important facts on one slice of pizza. One member of the group will then rotate around the room so all students interact with each other and exchange information and ideas. The group work is vital to promote production, for brainstorming and to participate in interactive dialog with their partners. It is important for students to talk to their peers for support and the sharing of ideas and information. Having their own ‘slice’ or main idea ensures that every student has to write something, and then the instructor can easily identify the students who are not understanding the material through a quick visual check. The pizza summary wheel can be used with textbooks, any sort of primary source material (novels, biographies, newspapers, film). This strategy should be implemented after initial introduction to topic, towards the middle or end point of instruction on unit. This strategy is an efficient way for students to organize and compare information and would generally work well with most students. This method is a visual and comprehensive method of collecting information.
Question-Answer-Relationship (QAR)
This strategy can help students determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies. This method can also help students determine how a text presents information (e.g., sequentially, comparatively, and causally). This method helps students build their academic language skills and aids in the development of understanding textual structure (discourse). This method is great for social studies as students have to read the literature and answer questions from the text. This method helps students recognize the relationship of the question and where the answer can be found (right there, on my own, author and me, or think and search). The type of questions can vary in scope and difficulty just as the text difficulty level differs. If students can identify what a question is asking, then they know how to read for it and locate the correct information.
The following web link is a great online resource for students to understand how to use QAR:
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/question_answer_relationship/
This strategy should be used only after reading a text. This method cannot be implemented without first reading the accompanying literature then answering question related to the text. This strategy would work better being implemented during (ongoing) instruction.
Silent Conversation- (Write Around)
This approach develops their academic language and function skills by engaging students in the content through a variety of learning tasks such as reading, writing, and reflecting on what they learned. This strategy will help students understands how a text presents information and determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development as well as summarize the key supporting details and ideas. This method is a learning task that develops students’ academic language through interactive peer dialog. This strategy helps students use writing and silence to explore historical topics and issues by providing time to think deeply and consider the views of others. Students will be sitting in a circle and read a social studies text or be provided a history topic to reflect upon or write any information they know and then pass the paper to the student sitting next to them. That student will read what is written and add any new information or ideas. The paper will continue to be circulating around the table until it reaches the original person who wrote the first idea. After all group members have their paper back, students are encouraged to have conversations about the text, the written comments, and any issues or questions that arise. To conclude the strategy, the instructor can initiate a whole class conversation about the text and what they learned from the activity.
The following web link is a great resource discussing how the silent conversation strategy works but also how it builds positive student teamwork.
This strategy would work with any type of social studies text or resource and is a great method for differentiating instruction.
History Quotation Conversations
This strategy will help students understands how a text presents information and determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development as well as summarize the key supporting details and ideas. This strategy aids in the development of academic language functions as students are analyzing and interpreting key concepts. The instructor will create cards with important historical quotes on them and distribute them to students. Students will converse about a historical quotation or a set of quotations in order to determine and explain their meanings to their peers. Students will brainstorm about examples from the past and present that could fit their quotation. After the student shares their interpretation with a partner, the whole class comes together to discuss their quotations. The class can then choose several quotations to put up on the classroom walls to help students frame their historical thinking throughout the school year. Students can also select important quotations from various texts used in class throughout the year and add to the list. The periodical Academic Conversations has a chapter that discusses history quotation conversations. Chapter eight is a great resource providing an example of how this strategy is used. This strategy should be used during (even throughout) instruction and can be used with most social studies texts as the key point in this method is determining and evaluating the quote. This method helps develop skills to help clarify the historical importance of the quotations used in the various texts and the classroom. This strategy enriches student learning through the sharing of ideas and interpretations and student can make comparisons with their own thinking. This strategy would work with any type of social studies text or resource and is a great method for differentiating instruction.
