This Wordle shows me the most important aspects of writing. Students show their understanding through their response. Isn't that what we all want from our students?

November

Avoiding the Lure of Historical Presentism.

In reading the article, The Historical Method; Building Student Understanding of the Past, one aspect of the tier one stategies seemed particularly interesting and challenging. As a learner I find it very difficult to avoid historical presentism. While reading I often find myself judging the actions of historical figures, based on my own values. Being that this is difficult for me I can only imagine how difficult this skill is for a 5th grader. In my teaching I have always mentioned the importance of this to my class, but until now I had never thought about the importance of teaching this as a skill. Rather than just mentioning that people in the past had different values, beliefs, and standards is not enough. It is important to build a background for this type of understanding.

I think this skill can be seen through narrative writing. Through a narrative writing students are asked to build characters, emotions, and actions. Writing a historical narrative would give the students the opportunity to develop the skill of Avoiding the Lure of Historical Presentism.