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Summary:
This article includes descriptions of research-based instructional methods that help improve student reading comprehension skills. The research is based on what "good readers" do as they read. One important note is that the article describes an order of instruction that has proven to be effective. This includes the need to begin with explicit instruction on the skill being taught. This must be followed by teacher modelling the skill and they students working together to make sense of the reading. Finally, the instruction must be practiced with the teacher's assistance until the student can complete the task independently.

Raphael, T. (2010). Reading Comprehension. Retrieved from http://www.doe.in.gov/sites/default/files/curriculum/research-base-comprehension.pdf

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Reading Comprehension Strategies for Struggling, Adolescent Readers

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Reading Comprehension Strategies for Struggling, Adolescent Readers

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Summary:

An action research on what reading strategies are most effective in helping with student reading comprehension. The study focuses on the use of direct and explicit reading instruction and also the use of technology to improve student reading fluency and comprehension. The study does focus on struggling readers at the sixth grade level, but it does include relevant information for my classroom. For instance, the study found that explicit instruction is necessary for student success, especially the use of modelling or "think-aloud" for students. Additionally, students must be motivated and interested in the topic. If students cannot relate to the material, then they may not perform as well.

Celania, K. (2011). Reading Comprehension Strategies for Struggling, Adolescent Readers.  Retrieved from http://www.wiu.edu/coehs/ncate/standard_1_exhibits/documents/4.E.4.b.2_CI%20600%20Capstone%20-%20target.pdf

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* Student Motivation and Ability - All students learn differently so some instructional methods may not work for all students.
* Difficulty of the text - If a document is difficult for students to follow, this may lead to poor performance on assessments. This also goes for a text that is too easy. This demonstrates the importance of choosing a text that is appropriate for students to comprehend.

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* informed consent
* student confidentiality

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Guided Reading Strategies for Reading Comprehension

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Guided Reading Strategies for Reading Comprehension

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Summary:
This is an action research focused on identifying effective reading strategies that will improve reading comprehension.  The author investigated the use of a variety of strategies that would be considered as one of the following: pre-reading, during-reading, and post-reading.  The author found that pre-reading and during-reading strategies are the most effective.  She also included that student attitude toward the reading also played a part in their comprehension.

Richardson, N. (2010). "Guided Reading Strategies for Reading." Education Masters Paper 19.  Retrieved from   http://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1019&context=education_ETD_masters

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Introducing the Historian's Toolkit: Three Professors and a Primary Source

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Introducing the Historian's Toolkit: Three Professors and a Primary Source

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This video underscores the key elements of a primary source document that was illustrated by many of the sources posted on the padlet. This video also demonstrates how historians approach a document and use historical context to apply possible meaning or intent of the author.

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Introducing the Historian's Toolkit:  Three Professors and a Primary Source, Episode 1

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What happens when three history professors encounter a mysterious historical source? This video is the first of four episodes in the series: "Three Professors and a Primary Source." Episode 1, "Introducing the Historian's Toolkit" demonstrates the method and process of understanding a historical source.

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Summary:
This source describes the importance of teaching students to anotate documents. The author suggests that it is important to model annotating so students can observe how the teacher goes about the process. Modeling should occur on multiple occassions and for a variety of documents, especially when they vary in complexity. The author also describes the need to for students to practice in small groups and individually, but feedback must occur in order for the students to understand if they are completing the process correctly.

(2016). Annotating and Paraphrasing Sources. Facing History and Ourselves.  Retrieved from https://www.facinghistory.org/resource-library/teaching-strategies/annotating-and-paraphrasing-sources

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Teach students to carefully read material by having them underline key words, write margin notes, and summarize main ideas.

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Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties

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Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties

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Summary:
This is a sourcebook developed to be a tool for teachers to become effective instructors.  It includes different assessment strategies, ideas on how to use assessment data to inform instruction and focused strategies on how to provide reading instruction to our students.  Though this resource is focused on middle school students, I believe that many of the ideas can be utilized at the high school level.

Denton, C., Bryan, D., Wexler, J., Reed, D., & Vaughan, S. (2007). Effective Instruction for Middle School Students with Reading Difficulties. University of Texas System/Texas Education Agency.   Retrieved from http://resources.buildingrti.utexas.org/PDF/RTS.pdf

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Summary:
This article is responding to a question on how to help students that have difficulty reading complex primary source documents. One suggestion is to ensure students are provided with an accessible text to their reading level, but also is not overly long. Shorter documents can keep their attention and focus. The author notes that students need to have success in reading primary documents early on otherwise they may lose confidence in their ability. Another suggesting is to scaffold the process. First, make sure students have knowledge on the historical context. Additionally, model reading and analyzing a primary source document yourself in order to help students observe the process. Lastly, provide more explicit strategies to help students learn how to annotate documents to help them process the main ideas expressed in the documents.

Martin, D. (2016). Deciphering Primary Source Documents. Retrieved from http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/ask-a-master-teacher/24270

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Ah yes...your question captures a problem many history teachers face. First, let us congratulate you on engaging your students in the raw materials of the discipline and persisting even when the going proves difficult. Syntax can be a major stumbling block for students when reading older texts: we recommend scaffolding and careful preparation of the documents to help your students meet the challenge.

Careful Preparation of Documents
See our guide on adapting and modifying documents for ways to make difficult documents more accessible for students. Keeping those documents short, defining difficult vocabulary, and even simplifying syntax (while letting students know that you've done so) can help. See the Reading Like a Historian curriculum from the Stanford History Education Group for examples of carefully prepared 18th century documents. The Hamilton vs. Jefferson plan includes two 18th century letters that have been modified. Find our entry about this curriculum here.

One thing to remember is that students need to experience some success with reading difficult documents to want to persevere with them. Carefully prepared documents, especially at the beginning of the school year, can be critical to this.

Scaffolding
There are many ways to support students' reading of difficult documents. Here are a few strategies.

Background knowledge about what students are reading can help them make sense of the text. Consider what they need to know about the times and the event before they read and then use a short lecture, a headnote, a textbook excerpt, or another method to help them gain that background knowledge. Going a step further, for a very difficult document you may want to give them a short summary (1-3 sentences) of what the author is talking about.

Modeling how you read the document can be helpful too. This allows students to see how you also struggle with the language and the strategies you use to make sense of it, like rereading, monitoring your understanding, and asking questions. See this entry for an introduction to Reading Apprenticeship, an approach that focuses on reading and thinking aloud together to help students become better readers. Also see historicalthinkingmatters.org for examples of "think-alouds" where students and historians are shown making sense of historical documents using specific historical reading strategies. (find one example here.)

Use difficult syntax from our own times (a song or poem) to help students recognize their task and specific strategies for pushing through to understanding.

Teaching some explicit strategies can also help. This guide has ideas for teaching students to annotate documents, something that can help them learn to monitor their own understanding and seek out help when needed. Also see work done at the Oakland Unified School District in California for examples of guiding students to figure out what an excerpt says before any analysis. See an example here: scroll down to the question, "Was the creation of the U.S. Constitution good for the people of the United States?" Then look at the assessment and support materials for that question and you will find, on page 4, one example of how they do this.

A short introductory activity where you focus on the difficulties of making sense of unfamiliar syntax can be helpful. Use difficult syntax from our own times (a song or poem) to help students recognize their task and specific strategies for pushing through to understanding.

More Resources
In our lesson plan reviews, find plans that can inspire ways to work with text that is difficult for students. See this one on the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution or this one on the Declaration of Independence. Both of these are for younger students, but both show the necessities of slowing down to read the documents and focusing on short pieces of text.

You may want to also check out this response that reiterates some of what I've said here.

And remember, it's the beginning of the year. You will, hopefully, have these students for many lessons and helping them learn to slow down, monitor their reading, and strategize when they are stuck will happen with multiple and varied chances to practice these skills.

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Ah yes...your question captures a problem many history teachers face. First, let us congratulate you on engaging your students in the raw materials of the discipline and persisting even when the going proves difficult. Syntax can be a major stumbling block for students when reading older texts: we recommend scaffolding and careful preparation of the documents to help your students meet the challenge.

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Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents

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Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents

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Summary:
This article provides a method for students to read and analyze documents like a historian. One important idea expressed by the author is that we must train our students to read primary documents, otherwise they will read them like a textbook. Once we can establish students to read to process the main idea, but also determine the documents historical context and the ability to ask skeptical questions of the document. The main point to draw from this method, is that teachers must get students comfortable to read a primary source documents more than once in order to look for different components. The more practice students have, the more likely they will be able to quicken the process.

Faithful, B. (2016). Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents. Retrieved from http://teachinghistory.org/teaching-materials/teaching-guides/25690

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Four Reads: Learning to Read Primary Documents | Teachinghistory.org

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Explain to students that they have now "read" a primary document like a historian. When historians read a primary document, they are constantly thinking about how their understanding of the argument or content is deepened by the sourcing information and historical context.

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Creating Uncommon Depth with the Common Connections in English Language Arts and Social Studies

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Creating Uncommon Depth with the Common Connections in English Language Arts and Social Studies

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Summary:
This is a brief article that examines various methods of literacy instruction in the Language Arts and Social Studies classrooms.
One important strategy suggested is the use of close reading.  Unfortunately the article does not provide a more implicit view of close reading, but just mere suggestions.  Interesting though, it provides an interesting take that they same skills used to read an article can also be used to analyze visual images.  Another suggestion provided is the use of learning stations.  A variety of techniques can be used to help provide historical context and historical anecdotes that can assist students in the analysis of historical documents.

Bakke, E., & Bickel, C. (Spring 2015). Creating Uncommon Depth with the Common Connectiions in English Language Arts and Social Studies.  Educational Viewpoints, 24-26. Retrieved from http://njpsa.org/documents/pdf/BakkeBickel.pdf

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Five Strategies for Using Primary Source Documents in the Social Studies Classroom

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Five Strategies for Using Primary Source Documents in the Social Studies Classroom

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Summary:
This article describes the need to teach students to read primary source documents. The author notes that students today live in an age in which they can access almost any document and as such, must learn to read and analyze critically. Amongst the strategies advocated by the author is the use both primary and seconday source documents together to help provide historical context. Also, he explains that it can be helpful to use to primary source documents in a way that would require the students to develop a dialogue between the two authors. In this way, students must not just comprehend the ideas expressed in each document, but synthesize this understanding to developing a conversation. Lastly, he includes the need to allow students access to people from all backgrounds. Not just the big people of history, but those that have been marginalized, especially those that may related to the students.

Sangillo, J. (2015). Five Strategies for Using Primary Source Documents in the Social Studies Classroom. Discovery Eduction. Retrieved from http://www.discoveryeducation.com/feeds/www/media/pdf/Primary%20SourceDocuments.pdf

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A Review of the Current Research on Comprehension Instruction

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A Review of the Current Research on Comprehension Instruction

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Summary:
As the title suggests, this article describes the research on a variety of instructional techniques reviewed by the National Reading Panel (NPR).  One important finding was that practice alone is not enough to help student reading comprehension.  Instead a more strategic approach is needed that utilizes several techniques such as small-group, skill instruction, teacher modeling, and coaching.  The review also noted that student motivation is a key attribute to student success.  This may mean students need choices or hands-on activities that may spark their interest.

Butler, S., Urrutia, K., Buenger, A., & Hunt, M., (Ed.). (2010). A Review of the Current Research on Comprehension Instruction. National Reading Technological Assistance Center. Retrieved from http://www2.ed.gov/programs/readingfirst/support/compfinal.pdf

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Research and writing from multiple source documents in history:  Effects of strategy instruction with low to average high school writers.

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Research and writing from multiple source documents in history:  Effects of strategy instruction with low to average high school writers.

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Summary:
This research examined the effects of historical reasoning strategy instruction.  Students learned pre-writing strategies for composing argumentative essays related to a historical event as well as techniques to analyze historical documents.  The study demonstrated the need for various techniques to help students obtain these skills.  For instance, the study noted the need to teach students specific skills when reading a primary source documents such as: A). identifying key evidence of the author, B). Identifying factual errors, C). Identifying missing ideas in the document, D). Identifying key ideas that are repeated throughout the document, E). Identifying inconsistencies in the document.  All of these aspects are key in helping students anaylze and use historical documents.

De La Paz, S. & Felton, M.K. (2010). Reading and writing from multiple source documents in history: Effects of strategy instruction with low to average high school writers. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 35, 174-192. Retrieved from http://www.education.umd.edu/Academics/Faculty/Bios/facData/CHSE/sdelapaz/DeLaPaz_Felton.pdf

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Sophomores and Juniors in my Advanced Placement History courses have difficulty analyzing primary and secondary source documents. Since these are AP courses, students are expected to be able to read and comprehend at a college level. Unfortunately many of my students, though advanced, struggle to analyze the document in regards to historical context. Additionally, the AP exam has changed and now focuses heavily on the ability to read these types of documents.

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What instructional strategies are most effective in teaching how to read and analyze primary and secondary source documents?