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Facing History and Ourselves uses lessons of history to challenge teachers and their students to stand up to bigotry and hate.

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Pamela K., a FHAO student in New Jersey wrote:

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Pamela K., a FHAO student in New Jersey wrote:

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When you study history, you might be learning the facts, learning dates, but when you face history, you’re absorbing what it meant for the people who experienced them and applying it to your own life when you go forward and have to make choices and make decisions.

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Read the exemplar upstander story in the next post and several texts from the Facing History STORIES page in order to get some ideas about how to tell your story--how you can share your voice.

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Read More Exemplar Texts from Facing History Students Just Like You!

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Read More Exemplar Texts from Facing History Students Just Like You!

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Living Dr. King's words, Nida marches toward a secure and livable world with the disciplined nonconformists dedicated to justice and peace.

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PREWRITING WORK--Yes, you need to do this BEFORE you start writing

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PREWRITING WORK--Yes, you need to do this BEFORE you start writing

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Reading and Researching

Journal from this semester (and the spring semester too)

Any of the books/articles/videos that we have studied

Brainstorming ideas

When you think about all that you have learned in Facing History over the past semester (or year), how have you changed? What have all of these individual lessons worked together to help you "see" the larger picture?

Outlining

Start giving your letter/essay/article some structure

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I. Introduction
A. Who are you?
B. Who is your audience?
C. Why are you writing this letter to this audience? (Message that you are sharing and why you are sending it to this person.)

II. How did you learn this lesson? Or how did you come to knowing this is a message you need to live and to share?
A. What influenced you? Impacted you?

1. Made you see yourself, your community, and the world from a different perspective?

III. Moving forward, how will you use this message and your voice and choices to spread this message? Work for others?

IV. How can your audience participate? What power and resources do they possess that could help you to spread your message?

V. Conclusion

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Finding and Choosing Your Message--December 4 Classwork--researching/reading your writing in response to Warriors Don't Cry

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Finding and Choosing Your Message--December 4 Classwork--researching/reading your writing in response to Warriors Don't Cry

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Think back to all the lessons that you have learned in the past two semesters. Consider what you now understand about identity, community, in crowds and out crowds, power and resources, universe of obligation, racism, and all the -isms.
Remember the history that you have learned and the people you have met, including, but not limited to, MISHA GRUENBAUM, MELBA PATTILLO BEALS, and ENRIQUE
MOTIÑO PINEDA.

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What are some of our thinking strategies that you can use to get your writing started?

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What are some of our thinking strategies that you can use to get your writing started?

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I used to think/feel/understand... but now I think/feel/understand... because . . .

What can I do to contribute...
1. In my inner circle (of friends, family, the people I know)?
2. In my community (my school, my neighborhood)?
3. In the world (beyond my immediate environment)

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Who do you want to tell your Facing History story to?
Who do you want to hear your voice?
Who do you want to persuade to use their power and resources to help spread your message?
Who do you want to inspire to work with you to make your vision a reality?

Do you want to write to someone: in your family?
at your school?
in your neighborhood?
in your state?
in your country?
in your world?
WHY?

Will you send your letter to:
your parents?
a newspaper?
a student or students?
a teacher?
a dean?
a politician?
a community activist?
WHY?

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Do you want to write:
a letter?
an essay?
an article for a newspaper?

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1. Be courteous and respectful.

2. Clearly and simply state the purpose of your letter. What is the message that you want to share?

3. Say who you are.  Give the reader a one-sentence bio.

4. State your personal experience and school experience with the topic.

5. Use specific examples or evidence to support your position.

6. State what it is you want to be done or recommend a course of action.

7. Thank the member for taking the time to read your letter.

adapted from www.thoughtco.com

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0:00

Owl: Welcome to Synthesizing What You Read, an instructional video on reading comprehension brought to you by the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab.

0:12

Synthesis is the process of combining two or more things to create something new.

0:19

Synthesis occurs in nature all the time.

0:21

For instance, hydrogen and oxygen combine to form water.

0:27

Synthesis also happens when you read.

0:30

Reading introduces you to new ideas.

0:33

Synthesis occurs when you combine these ideas with your own or with ideas from other texts to produce new ideas.

0:40

This process might involve comparing or contrasting ideas from different points of view to draw a conclusion or make a critical evaluation.

0:49

For instance, imagine that you are researching a topic.

0:53

You will come across a variety of sources with different information and points of view.

0:58

An experienced reader will evaluate and compare this information and draw his or her own conclusions.

1:05

This process leads to the synthesis of new ideas.

1:08

It may help to compare synthesizing to analyzing.

1:12

Whereas analyzing involves breaking down ideas into their parts, synthesizing involves combining ideas to form new ones.

1:21

Also, it's important to note that synthesis is not the same as summarizing.

1:25

Summarizing is about stating someone else's ideas in as few words as possible.

1:31

On the other hand, synthesis is a critical and creative process in which you compare or combine the ideas you've read to form new ones.

1:39

This process can involve summarizing ideas from other texts in order to compare them and draw a conclusion, but the result is a new idea.

1:48

Click here for more information on how to summarize.

1:53

Let's practice synthesizing what you read.

1:56

For this exercise, we'll read two passages with different points of view about bike lanes.

2:02

First, we'll summarize the authors' main ideas, and then we'll compare them and draw a conclusion.

2:11

In the first passage, the author is in favor of bike lanes.

2:16

Bike lanes are an essential feature of modern, urban life. Many urban residents have traded in their cars for bicycles. There are many benefits to bicycling. Bicycles don't get stuck in traffic, they don't run out of gas, and they don't break down often (and are cheap to repair when they do), they don't need insurance, they don't produce pollution, and they don't get parking tickets. Bicycles also offer an excellent way to add exercise to a busy schedule. Many cities across the nation have encouraged bicycling to cut down on traffic, accidents, and pollution. They've added bike lanes to downtown areas to provide safe and speedy thruways for bicyclists. The result is a win/win.

3:05

We can summarize this argument by pulling out some key words: bike lanes, beneficial, urban, traffic, accidents, pollution, inexpensive, safety, and exercise.

3:20

Putting it all together, we can summarize the author's argument with the following sentence:

3:25

Placing bike lanes in urban areas is beneficial because bicycling cuts down on traffic, decreases accidents, lowers pollution, and offers an inexpensive, safe, and healthy way to travel.

3:39

Now, let's look at the second passage.

3:42

In this passage, the author is against bike lanes.

3:47

Bike lanes take away valuable space from already crowded inner-city streets. Urban areas already suffer from traffic and pedestrian congestion. Such overcrowding is worsened by the introduction of fleets of reckless bicyclists. Many bicyclists ignore street signs, causing additional accidents with cars and people. Furthermore, parked bicycles clutter congested sidewalks, making many areas impassable. These problems far outweigh the benefits of bicycling. Those who don't want to drive can hop on a bus or subway and gain many of the benefits of bicycling without taking up valuable space on the roads.

4:29

Some key words are: bike lanes, bad, urban, space, crowding, accidents, congested sidewalks, buses and subways.

4:44

We can summarize the author's argument with the following statement:

4:48

Placing bike lanes in urban areas is a bad idea because bicycles take up valuable space, create additional crowding, cause accidents, congest sidewalks, and can be replaced by better alternatives, such as buses and subways.

5:03

Now, let's practice synthesizing by combining the two summaries and drawing a conclusion:

5:10

In passage one, the author argues that placing bike lanes in urban areas is beneficial because bicycling cuts down on traffic, decreases accidents, lowers pollution, and offers an inexpensive, safe, and healthy way to travel.

5:25

On the other hand, in passage two the author contends that placing bike lanes in urban areas is a bad idea because bicycles take up valuable space, create additional crowding, cause accidents, congest sidewalks, and can be replaced by better alternatives, such as buses and subways.

5:46

These opposing points of view demonstrate that while bike lanes encourage a healthy, safe, and low-cost way to travel in cities, they also cause problems that need to be addressed through better urban planning.

5:58

The new statement synthesizes the two passages by combining and comparing the two summaries, and then drawing a conclusion that raises a new idea about the need for better urban planning to support bicycling.

6:12

I hope this video has helped you learn about the importance of synthesizing what you read and how to do it.

6:19

Thanks for listening to this instructional video on Synthesizing What You Read!

6:24

Visit the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab for more support with reading and writing skills.

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Excelsior Online Writing Lab breaks down the importance of having good synthesizing skills and the power of synthesizing what you read.