Using Multiple Historical Sources in Students' Argumentative Essay: Moving Beyond a Single Story

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session Twelve
  In Roundtable Session: Historical Inquiry Through Literacy Practices (Table 18)

Abstract

Little is known about how students with learning differences (ld) engage in reading and writing from multiple historical sources and the outcomes of such instruction. In this study, we describe the understanding of multiple perspectives of 7th-grade students with ld when independently writing argumentative essays. Twelve seventh-grade middle school students with ld participated in this study. From the 96 argumentative essays collected in one academic year, we chose to analyze the essays that students independently wrote within the last two units of the curriculum. This study showed that students with ld are capable of engaging in historical interpretation by drawing from epistemic perspectives, authors’ perspectives, or exercising historical empathy through contextualization.

Authors

• Eric Claravall, California State University - Sacramento
  Presenting Author

• Elizabeth Isidro, Western Michigan University
  Presenting Author