Aside from addressing the student issues noted previously, teachers using historical narrative must face two major challenges. First, to maximize the effect of historical narrative on the understanding of not only individuals, but also broader society, history teachers must be careful to choose a stimulating historical narrative that provides avenues for understanding broader contexts. The narrative must be chosen and/or presented in such a way as to assure that students see all players involved in the story and not just the headline characters. Second, the history teacher must assure to teach vocabulary acquisition strategies. Dependent upon the register and style of the text, students may confront unfamiliar vocabulary when reading a historical narrative. Teachers must be sure to carefully pre-read narrative texts and predict what vocabulary may present the greatest problems to students.
What are some challenges you anticipate as you prepare to teach students using historical narratives?
What are some challenges you anticipate as you prepare to teach students using historical narratives?