Developing Student´s Ability to Interpret and Analyze Primary Documents

The key issue that I have focused on during my student teaching was, developing students’ abilities to interpret and analyze primary documents. Learning how to interpret any document is a lifelong skill a person needs to learn and be able to use. A person must know what the author is saying in any piece of writing. My students will encounter this throughout their lives here at the High School and beyond the classroom. One of my first concerns early on that I stated in my first reflection log was, I needed to work on is how I approach this activity in a way to make my students understand what is being said and the importance of this activity in general. I wanted to make this activity connect to the other activities and lessons to make a lasting impact on the students. I quickly learned the wide range of skills and ability my students have for understanding primary documents or any different type of readings.
At first I failed in gauging how well my students can understand and interpret primary documents. The primary document was on Mahan’s idea of the Importance of Sea Power. I asked the students, “Why does a nation need a Navy in times of War?, What does a nation need to support a navy?, What are some examples of nations that have naval bases around the word?” These questions were supported with many examples throughout the text. However, the students found the document hard to read, and failed to answer the questions. They left many of their questions blank or put I don’t know.
What feedback have you received from your cooperating teacher and university supervisor on your key issue? I have received a good amount of information from my cooperating teacher and university supervisor on the key issue of students’ abilities to interp...

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...on their skills and familiarities with the subject. The scaffolding will include shorting the primary documents to the essential parts and provide definitions to words the students might not know.
This key issue address the following New Jersey Professional Teaching Standards is Standard One: Subject Matter Knowledge 1.3 That literacy skills and processes are applicable in all content areas and help students to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions that enable them to construct meaning and make sense of the world through reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing; and Standard Four: Instructional Planning and Strategies 4.3 Techniques for modifying instructional methods, materials and the environment to help all students learn; and 4.4 A variety of instructional approaches and the use of various technologies, to promote thinking and understanding.