High-Level Reading
What high-level reading comprehension looks like in a history lesson
When I say these lessons build high-level reading comprehension, I mean the work of staying with a hard passage and pointing to evidence, including what the writer is up to. It has always been incredibly hard to teach required state standards while also preparing for state exams. I would rather do both in the same period than invent a separate reading unit I will not have time to teach.
What do I mean by high-level reading comprehension in social studies?
I mean close reading of complex informational and primary-source text, not a worksheet that only asks for the main idea. Students have to use evidence, make inferences, think about the author's purpose, and determine vocabulary in context. Those are the same moves they need on exam-style reading items, and they belong in the history lesson itself.
That is also what teachers are usually after when they look for reading comprehension passages in social studies. The passage should teach the content. The questions should ask for more than a date.
How does that connect to the way historians read?
Shanahan and Shanahan (2008) describe disciplinary literacy as advanced literacy work inside the subject. Historians read texts differently than experts in other fields, often by sourcing, corroborating, and asking who wrote a document and why. I would rather practice those moves on the content I already have to teach than save them for a separate reading unit.
Willingham (2006) makes a related point about reading: background knowledge helps students understand text. Disciplinary reading still needs something to be about. Teaching the required content and practicing high-level reading skills belong in the same lesson.
Can document-based lessons also be reading practice?
Reisman (2012) found that a six-month, document-based history intervention in urban high schools had significant effects on historical thinking, factual knowledge, and general reading comprehension. I built these units so document-based tasks sit in the same lesson as the required history, and I keep primary sources in the reading work.
Where can I see this in a live World War II unit?
The high school U.S. History units put required content and exam-style reading in the same lesson, including close work with informational and primary-source text. The World War II unit is a clear example: reading passages, exam-style questions, a teacher key, and a DBQ. You can buy it on Teachers Pay Teachers or start from the U.S. History curriculum page.
A live product line to look at: World War II U.S. History unit on Teachers Pay Teachers.
Related pages
Sources cited
- Shanahan, T., & Shanahan, C. (2008). Teaching disciplinary literacy to adolescents: Rethinking content-area literacy. Harvard Educational Review, 78(1), 40–59. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.78.1.v62444321p602101
- Reisman, A. (2012). Reading like a historian: A document-based history curriculum intervention in urban high schools. Cognition and Instruction, 30(1), 86–112. https://doi.org/10.1080/07370008.2011.634081
- Willingham, D. T. (2006). How knowledge helps: It speeds and strengthens reading comprehension, learning—and thinking. American Educator, 30(1). https://www.aft.org/ae/spring2006/willingham
Frequently asked questions
What reading skills show up in these history units?
Students do close reading of hard informational text and primary sources. They use evidence, make inferences, think about the author's purpose, and work out vocabulary in context, while they learn the required U.S. history content.
Where can I find a primary source DBQ example?
The World War II unit includes reading passages, exam-style questions, a teacher key, and a DBQ. The unit page on this site links to the live Teachers Pay Teachers listing. The AP U.S. History packs also include primary source DBQ practice in the 2027 exam format.