Supporting the Development of Historical Understanding and Historical Writing Through Writing Conferences and Dialogic Assessment

• In Event: War Stories and Counterstories: The importance of Perspectives

Abstract

In response to the COVID-induced lockdown, many teachers found themselves spending more time individualizing student support. This case study (Yin, 2017) examines how one history teacher, for whom writing conferences were a regular practice, shifted writing instruction entirely to one-on-one, virtual writing conferences structured around dialogic assessment (Beck 2018). While both writing conferences (Calkins, 1983) and dialogic assessment (Beck et. al, 2020; Beck, 2018) have shown promise in English Language Arts classrooms, to date they have not been studied in history or social studies classrooms. This qualitative, interpretive case study explores the challenges the student faced in the composing process, and describes key talk moves the teacher used to support the student in developing historical reading and writing practices.

Authors

• Andrew del Calvo, University of Pennsylvania

• Sarah W. Beck, New York University