"Spreading the Love of History": Reading and Thinking About Ancient History in an Extracurricular Club

• In Event: Fairmont Roundtable Session One
  In Roundtable Session: Informal and Peer Learning in the Humanities (Table 7)

Abstract

With the call to develop “expert” thinkers, readers, and writers at all educational levels (Lent, 2015), literacy experts need to find ways to incorporate disciplinary literacies in elementary-appropriate ways. This papers explores elementary students’ understandings about historical literacies in a club led by a history professor assisted by a literacy professor. Findings include that students need to explicitly learn the types of literacies historians use, have opportunities to make things, and explore items, discover patterns, and apply the logic as they use their own literacies to build their historical literacies. Overall, teaching disciplinary literacy needs direct instruction and exploration; partnering literacy experts with disciplinary experts would benefit all parties and develop historically-minded thinkers.

Authors

• Gretchen S. Goode, University of Southern Mississippi
  Presenting Author

• Kimberly Laing, Harding University
  Presenting Author