THE HISTORY NOTEBOOKA Tool for Content, Connections,

and Assessment

Anthony Fitzpatrick

Vice President of Professional Development Services

The American Institute for History Education

California State Standards• Chronological and Spatial Thinking • Students place key events and people of the historical era they are studying in

a chronological sequence and within a spatial context; they interpret time lines. • Students correctly apply terms related to time, including past, present, future,

decade, century, and generation. • Students explain how the present is connected to the past, identifying both

similarities and differences between the two, and how some things change over time and some things stay the same.

• Students judge the significance of the relative location of a place (e.g., proximity to a harbor, on trade routes) and analyze how relative advantages or disadvantages can change over time.

• Historical Interpretation• Students summarize the key events of the era they are studying and explain

the historical contexts of those events. • Students identify the human and physical characteristics of the places they are

studying and explain how those features form the unique character of those places.

• Students identify and interpret the multiple causes and effects of historical events.

• Students conduct cost-benefit analyses of historical and current events.

Why is Note-taking important?

• Students synthesize content and have the potential to connect content and prioritize information.

• Students employ research based strategies and will be ready to formulate their own opinions.

• Students begin to take ownership of the information.

Introducing it into your classroom.

• Develop a format by which students will take notes in your class and model it.

• Include a process by which students interact with the content via linguistic and non-linguistic means.– Linguistic = outlines, summaries.– Non-linguistic = Venn diagrams, T-Charts.

A Basic Note-taking primer:

• Notes should not be verbatim.• Notes should be viewed as a work in

progress.• Notes should be used as a study guide

prior to assessments.• Effective notes tend to be more detailed.

(A result of initial note-taking and secondary additions)

So what is a “History Notebook”?

The History Notebook is based on a note-taking form called “Cornell notes” and incorporates content,

themes, questions and reflections.

Before we get to the format, we need to talk about THEMES!

Here are Generic History Themes

• Social• Political• Economic• Cultural

• Intellectual• Religious• Geographic• SPECS-SPEECH

Feel free to modify, add, delete as you see fit in your classroom.

Other Supplies for the Notebook

• 3- hole Lined Paper.• Highlighters or some

other color coding mechanism (post-it flags, stickers etc.).

• 3-ring binder.

Standard Notebook Sample

Political: These efforts give greater political power to the people

Economic: The government is taking a larger role in controlling businesses and trying to ensure equity in competition.

Social: Government intervention changes the dynamic of the family and tries to protect and enhance the lives of citizens

• The government took a larger role in the economy when we went from the Articles to the Constitution.

• The political system is corrupt now – did these measures really work

• I am confused about how public ownership of big business works??

• Child Labor is interesting – do you know what it was like for the kids?

I. Themes of progressivism

A. Democratizing government

1. Direct primaries

2. Initiative, referendum, recall, and other local actions

3. Direct election of senators

B. Regulation of giant corporations

1. Public ownership

2. Trust-busting

3. Regulation of big business

C. Social justice

1. Child labor

2. Night work and dangerous occupations

3. Stricter building codes and factory inspection acts

4. Pressure for prohibition

Notebook with Worksheets

THEMES

Trends I detect in themes and/or personal reflection.

Things that are confusing or that I’d like to know more about.

Elementary Start-ups!(Just in case the Notebook isn’t your thing)

• Get kids to begin clarifying and reflecting with boxes:– 1 box can be called a “Doubt Shout”

• Give students Quarter sheets of paper to place in a box at the very beginning or very end of class that contain questions they have (confusion or things they want to know more about)

1 box can be called a Think Tank• This is where students put in their personal

reflections.

Show it and 2.0 it!

• Setting up online classroom collaboration can be a wonderful way to have students assist each other in alleviating “doubt”. If appropriate – have students log on and collaborate for a homework assignment.

• Homework should be substantive and meaningful – it doesn’t have to be excruciatingly long.

The next few slides are a textual representation of the notebook.

• Just in case some of you are wordier than I am.

Notebook Format

• LEFT SIDE• Themes matched up with

corresponding content• Detection of trends AND personal opinions, reflections of

the synthesis.

• RIGHT SIDE• Outline, Lecture notes, Content

diagrams

• Things that are confusing AND questions for further exploration

Notebook Process- Right Page

• Students will take notes on the top ¾ of the right-hand page. (in-class or homework. The format can be outline, summary, diagram.

• At the bottom of the right-hand page, students will make a note of anything that is confusing or anything they wish to know more about.

Notebook Process – Left Page

• Students will indicate the content theme and why it fits with that theme. (top ¾ of page)

• Students will then color-code the theme.– there can be more than one theme.– Everything won’t be themed – students should

begin to prioritize better throughout the year

Left Page Process - Part 2

• At the bottom of the page, students will comment on thematic trends and provide personal reflections.

Also

• In the spirit of 2.0 and going green – I’ve included a worksheet that can be manipulated online. Include that in your online classroom or modify it to suit your needs

Any Questions at this point?

How will this help me to assess my students?

• Open-ended questions can be created broadly to allow students to generate their own opinions based on their reflection and interactions with over-arching themes.

• As the year progresses, your questions will expand and the students will be able to identify trends and progressions within history.

Broad-range questioning

• Compare and contrast the SPECifications concerning the various Native American tribes from 1400-1600.

• Which Native American tribe would you be most successful in? Remember to include your SPECial contributions to the tribe.– It doesn’t always have to be about the student

– switch it up and pick another historical name.

So what is the next step?

• Effective writing!– One of the greatest challenges (in my opinion)

for students is to truly generate their own original thought. A true THESIS statement, backed up by rich content knowledge.

– Hopefully, when students interact with the content and begin to introduce their own personal reflection – this will become easier.

Time to practice assessments

Let’s try to come up with some questions based on the Content of this

session (American Revolution) provided and your standards!

California State Standards• 5.1 Students describe the major pre-Columbian settlements, including the cliff

dwellers and pueblo people of the desert Southwest, the American Indians of the Pacific Northwest, the nomadic nations of the Great Plains, and the woodland peoples east of the Mississippi River.

• Describe how geography and climate influenced the way various nations lived and adjusted to the natural environment, including locations of villages, the distinct structures that they built, and how they obtained food, clothing, tools, and utensils.

• Describe their varied customs and folklore traditions. • Explain their varied economies and systems of government. • 5.2 Students trace the routes of early explorers and describe the early explorations of

the Americas. • Describe the entrepreneurial characteristics of early explorers (e.g., Christopher Columbus,

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado) and the technological developments that made sea exploration by latitude and longitude possible (e.g., compass, sextant, astrolabe, seaworthy ships, chronometers, gunpowder).

• Explain the aims, obstacles, and accomplishments of the explorers, sponsors, and leaders of key European expeditions and the reasons Europeans chose to explore and colonize the world (e.g., the Spanish Reconquista, the Protestant Reformation, the Counter Reformation).

• Trace the routes of the major land explorers of the United States, the distances traveled by explorers, and the Atlantic trade routes that linked Africa, the West Indies, the British colonies, and Europe.

• Locate on maps of North and South America land claimed by Spain, France, England, Portugal, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Russia.

Do I grade the notebook?

• Yes – absolutely– I grade while the students are taking tests.– I grade on organization and completeness.– It is the only chance for students to “make-up”

missed work.– It gets me away from my desk during the tests.

It forces me to circulate around the room.

Any last questions, comments, suggestions?

Remember: If you find only part of this useful, change it, make it your

own.

afitzpatrick@aihe.info

Please feel free to contact me if you need anything.