Teaching for Historical Literacy
Building Knowledge in the History Classroom
By Matthew T. Downey and Kelly A. Long
ISBN-13: 978-1138859586
ISBN-10: 1138859583
About the Book
Teaching for Historical Literacy, written by Matthew T. Downey and Kelly A. Long, combines the elements of historical literacy into a coherent instructional framework for teachers. It identifies the role of historical literacy, analyzes its importance in the evolving educational landscape, and details the action steps necessary for teachers to implement its principles throughout a unit. These steps are drawn from the reflections of real teachers, grounded in educational research, and consistent with the Common Core State Standards. The instructional arc formed by authors Matthew T. Downey and Kelly A. Long takes teachers from start to finish, from managing the prior learning of students to developing their metacognition and creating synthesis at the end of a unit of study. It includes introducing topics by creating a conceptual overview, helping students collect and analyze evidence, and engaging students in multiple kinds of learning, including factual, procedural, conceptual, and metacognitive. This book is a key resource for teachers and students of teaching interested in improving their instructional skills, building historical literacy, and being at the forefront of the evolving field of history education.
Reviews and Notices
“It is so refreshing to have a book for history teachers that paints a picture of practice in the midst of flux, of reforms actually taking hold. Matthew Downey and Kelly Long are thoroughly conversant with the research literature, but have honed their ideas in dialogue with experienced history teachers trying those ideas in classrooms. In Teaching for Historical Literacy, we get the best of both worlds.”
—Peter Seixas, Director of the Centre for the Study of Historical Consciousness, University of British Columbia, Canada
“Using case studies from the classrooms of practicing history teachers, Matthew Downey and Kelly Long show how research on learning, child development, teaching, planning, and literacy can be applied to increase the effectiveness of classroom practices. The authors write in a manner that recognizes teachers as professionals with the ability to discern their students’ specific needs and choose wisely from a range of suggested methods. This book is a wonderful resource for preservice or practicing history teachers who want to design powerful courses and improve their daily instruction.”
—Jeffrey D. Nokes, Professor of History Education, Brigham Young University, USA
“I think it’s a great resource and will be the go-to work for a long time in systematically addressing everything the disciple needs to consider.” —Dave Neumann, Director, The History Project, California State University, Long Beach