History exemplar of school based

[Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement: History, p.33]

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  When setting source-based questions at different cognitive levels the following mark allocations should be taken into consideration:
  

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  Level 1 questions should not exceed 4 marks.
  

For example: (2 x 1) (2); (1 x 2) (2), (2 x 2) (4), (4 x 1) (4)

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  Level 2 questions should carry a maximum of 4 to 6 marks
  

For example: (1 x 3) (3), (2 x 2) (4); (3 x 2) (6); (2 x 3) (6)

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  Level 3 questions should carry a maximum of 6 to 10 marks
  

For example (1 x 3) (3), (6); (8); (10)

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  Use a design grid to check that your source-based task is correctly balanced in terms of the cognitive weighting of the questions and the mark allocation.
  

Below is an example of a simple design grid used for the Source-based question on Page 14

DESIGN GRID: Cognitive levels for Grade 12 Source-Based Questions

CAPS (p.33)	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
	Extract evidence from sources	Explain historical Concepts; simple interpretation, understand source and author’s opinion, simple comparison	Interpret and evaluate; engage with bias, reliability, usefulness; compare and contrast interpretations.
	30% (15 marks)	40% (20 marks)	30% (15 marks)
Question 1
1.1.1	(1 x 1 ) (1)
1.1.2	(1 x 2) (2)
1.1.3		(2 x 2) (4)
1.1.4		(2 x 2) (4)
1.1.5	(2x 1) (2)
1.2.1		(1 x 3) (3)
1.2.2	(2 x 1) (2)
1.2.3		(1 x 3) (3)
1.2.4	(2 x 2) (4)
1.3.1			(6)
1.4.1		(2 x 2) (4)
1.4.2		(1 x 2) (2)
1.4.3	(3 x 1) (3)
1.5.1			(2 x 2) (4)
1.6.1			(6)
TOTAL	14 marks (28%)	20 marks (40%)	16 marks (32%)

EXAMPLES OF TYPICAL QUESTIONS WHICH CAN BE SET AT EACH COGNITIVE LEVEL

LEVEL	DESCRIPTURES OF COGNITIVE LEVELS	TYPICAL QUESTIONS ACCORDING TO COGNITIVE LEVELS
1 10: 40% = 20 11 : 30% = 15 12: 30% = 15	Extract evidence from sources	What information in the sources helps us to understand the …? What information in the sources tells us about…? Give four reasons why ...
2 10: 40% = 20 11 : 50% = 25 12: 40% = 20	Explain historical concepts	What do you understand by the term …? Why would the explanations of apartheid by the ANC and the Apartheid Regime differ?
	Straightforward interpretation of sources	Why do the explanations of the Berlin Blockade by the USSR and the USA differ? What does the information in this/these source/s tell/s us about the relationship between ……?
	What is being said by the author or creator of the source? What are the views or opinions on an issue expressed by a source?	To what extent does the cartoonist reflect …? Explain your answer. Look carefully at Source 1C. What is the message of the cartoonist about …? What did the photographer capture in this photograph? What does the graph tell us about imports and exports to Angola? Refer to Sources 1A and 1B. What do these sources tell us about …? What are the views of the USSR on the Berlin Blockade in Source 1D?
	Compare information in sources	Compare the evidence in the two sources. How does the evidence about the Berlin Airlift differ in these two sources?
3 10: 20% = 10 11: 20% = 10 12: 40% = 15	Interpret and evaluate information and data from sources	To what extent does the information in this source reflect the influence of the Black Consciousness movement on student politics in 1976? What was the intention of the photographer in taking this photograph? How do these figures help us to understand the economic challenges in ….?
	Engage with questions of bias, reliability and usefulness of sources	Given that the interviews about life in East Germany were conducted by a US agency, how useful do you think the information is for obtaining a balanced view of East Germany before 1989? How reliable is Source 3A as a view of ….? Examine the table giving the statistics of …… What conclusion could you reach about the reliability of statistics ….? How effective is Source A in getting the message across? Explain why these sources are appropriate to understand the nature of resistance during apartheid?
	Compare and contrast interpretations and perspectives within sources and by authors of sources	Why did relations between ……….change after 1989? In what ways do the two accounts presented in the sources differ? Looking from a modern perspective, why do we condemn the actions of ... as a crime against humanity? Compare the perspectives in the two sources. How would you account for the differences in the way the authors view the event?
3 10, 11 & 12: 100% = 50	Use information to construct an original argument Sustain and defend a coherent and balanced argument	“Civil society protest was responsible for the collapse of apartheid by the late 1980s”. Explain to what extent you agree or disagree with this statement. Explain to what extent was civil society protest was responsible for the collapse of apartheid by the late 1980s

7. SUGGESTIONS FOR SCAFFOLDING LEARNING IN PREPARATION

FOR SCHOOL BASED ASSESSMENT TASKS.

The following section contains a range of suggestions of how to scaffold learning in preparation for School Based Assessment tasks.

Provided in this section is are a number of reproducible graphic organisers and templates which can be used to help learners structure the historical information they gather in the process of reading their textbooks and historical source material.
Graphic organisers are a visual tool to help learners make sense of events, ideas, concepts and the relationships between them. They can be used to collect information, solve problems, connect new knowledge to previous knowledge, make comparisons, identify similarities and differences, consolidate learning and plan a piece of writing.
The graphic organisers in this section have been gathered and adapted from a range of sources including:
Judi Kurgan, WCED FET Literacy Across the Curriculum Sessions, 2013

Stanford History Education Group: http://sheg.stanford.edu/

Thinking Like a Historian: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/ThinkingLikeaHistorian/

http://www.educationoasis.com/curriculum/graphic_organizers.htm

Denton, C.A, Effective Instruction for Middle School Students (Baltimore, 2012)

Frank, B.B, applications of Reading Strategies within the Classroom (Boston, 2006)

HOW TO USE A TEXTBOOK IN A HISTORY CLASS.
Quick tips for teachers to make the most of their textbooks.
1. Give Learners a guided tour of their textbooks.

Make sure that the learners know where to find and how to use the following:

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  The Contents Page
  
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  The Index
  
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  The Glossary of key terms
  
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  The Timelines for each Topic
  
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  The chapter overviews and summaries.
  

2. Teach learners how to use headings

Before starting each new topic read through the main heading, key question and sub-headings with the learners.

Discuss the headings with the learners in order to help them predict what they will be learning about in a topic.
3. Create a glossary of new words

As learners work through each topic they should

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  Identify new words.
  
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  Look up the meaning of any new words in the glossary or a dictionary.
  
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  Write down the meaning of new words in their notebooks.
  

4. Ask Questions

Encourage learners to ‘think aloud’ and to develop their own questions about the topic as they read each page of the textbook.

Learners can write down their questions about a topic in their notebooks.

Use the learners’ questions as the basis for class discussion and short informal writing pieces.

5. Use the activities in the textbook.

Every lesson should include a written exercise.

So make a point of using the activities in the textbook.

Informal assessments can be peer marked (divide the class into groups of four and swop notebooks)

Take in a sample of learners’ class notebooks on a regular basis to monitor and control their progress every week.
6. Ask More Questions

After studying a topic ask learners to re-read the textbook version and to write down any questions about the topic which they feel have not been adequately answered.

These unanswered questions could be the basis for further research (for example the History research project which must be completed by June in G12)


7. Use graphic organisers to make meaning of the content in the textbook.

Use graphic organisers, mind maps or writing frames to help learners summarise and organise the information in the textbooks.

For example they could organise textbook information using the following concepts:

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  Cause and effect
  
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  Comparing two versions of events
  
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  Multiple perspectives.
  

8. Draw, Act or Debate the events

Some learners find it easier to remember and understand new content if they actively engage with it (rather than writing it down)

Learners could re-enact an event or process from their textbooks

Some learners find it useful to take notes with pictures rather than words.

Hold debates to develop and sustain a line of argument
9. Flipping the Class

Give learners a section of the textbook to read and study at home.

Next day

- Set quick comprehension quiz on the reading homework (keep a record of scores to see who is struggling with reading for comprehension).

- Give the learners activities which draw on their background knowledge (basic comprehension) but which enable them to develop the higher order skills of interpretation and analysis.
Remember!

Teachers are expected to have access to a variety of textbooks to enrich their understanding of the content and methodology.

Encourage learners to supplement textbook information with a variety of other resources
HOW TO STRUCTURE A DOCUMENTS-BASED HISTORY LESSON:
Step 1: Establish relevant background knowledge and pose the key question.
Establishing background knowledge is the first step in the inquiry process. You can present background knowledge in a range of different ways. Your choice of method will depend of the resources available in your school.

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  Write the key question on your ‘green’ board. As you give your background lecture write topic headings important dates and details on the board for the learners to copy into their classwork books. You can use visual images such as flow charts, Venn diagrams or mind-maps to organise the content and highlight the historical concepts.
  
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  Use a Powerpoint presentation to give learners an overview of the topic.
  
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  If you have access to ICT you could show learners a short, relevant film clip to establish the historical context of the key question.
  
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  Ask students to read the relevant section from their textbooks and begin the lesson with questions, answers and discussion.
  
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  Give learners a timeline of events and have them pose their own questions.
  

This background knowledge frames the key question, and encourages learners to pose questions which require greater depth of understanding about the topic. Learners will then be prepared to investigate the sources that accompany the lesson in order to find the answers to their questions.

Step 2: Students read sources, answer guiding questions or complete a graphic organizer.

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  Select sources which address the key question.
  
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  Construct your lesson around three or four sources with multiple perspectives; accounts of ‘before’ and ‘after’ an event; sources which show continuity and change etc
  
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  Every lesson should involve some form of written exercise which allows learners to construct knowledge (a paragraph or essay). It may be necessary to complete the written task for homework.
  
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  Depending on the lesson plan, students will engage in different activities as they read and interpret the documents. The Reading Like a Historian¹ curriculum is built around four basic lesson structures:   
  

a) Opening Up the Textbook (OUT): In these lessons, students examine two documents: the textbook and a historical document that challenges or expands the textbook's account.

b) Cognitive Apprenticeship: These lessons are based on the idea that ways of thinking must be made visible in order for students to learn them.  In lessons following this format, teachers first model a historical reading skill, then engage students in guided practice, and ultimately lead them to independent practice.
c) Inquiry: All lessons in the curriculum include elements of historical inquiry, where students investigate historical questions, evaluate evidence, and construct historical claims. Some, however, are designed around an explicit process of inquiry, in which students develop hypotheses by analyzing sets of documents. Such inquiries are best suited for block or multiple class periods.
d) Structured Academic Controversy (SAC): For these lessons, students work in pairs and then teams as they explore historical questions. After taking opposing positions on a question, they work to gain consensus or at least to clarify their differences. These lessons are well suited to block or multiple class periods. They work best after students have gained experience working with primary documents.

Step 3: Whole-class discussion about a central historical question. 
The final segment of a documents-based History lesson, the whole-class discussion, is the most important. Too often, however, it is dropped due to time constraints. If lesson time is running out, it might be better to eliminate one of the documents, than cut such a valuable opportunity to practice historical thinking skills, articulate claims and defend them with evidence from the documents.  Only in whole-class discussion can learners see that history is open to multiple interpretations, and that the same piece of evidence can support conflicting claims. Students often find this activity foreign and uncomfortable at first. But through practice they gain an understanding of their role as knowledge-makers in the history classroom.
‘TO WHAT EXTENT’ DO YOU AGREE WITH A STATEMENT

Issue / Topic
Statement / Key Question
Evidence to support statement	Evidence against statement
Use the evidence above to write a paragraph: To what extent do you agree with the statement…..?’ I agree with the statement to a certain / large / small degree / partially because However the statement is not entirely accurate because

RECOUNT EVENTS IN A CHRONOLOGICAL (DATE) ORDER

Topic/ Title

Introduce the event / topic which will be explained in chronological (date) order

First

Then

Afterwards

Finally

In Conclusion

TRANSITION WORDS
initially	after	third	until	finally
now	then	meanwhile	for (duration)	afterwards
First	later	following	next	not long after
second	on (date)	preceding	until	when
When	as soon as	today	immediately	during