The American Revolution is required to be taught by the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in fifth- grade classrooms. Many times teachers utilize textbooks that can be unappealing to students and share history from one point of view rather than from multiple perspectives. Incorporating quality children's literature into the social studies curriculum provides a more well-rounded view of historical events. Furthermore, critical literacy discussions encourage children to better comprehend a text, question what may be missing from the text, and understand content from multiple perspectives.
This naturalistic, descriptive study examined how reading quality children's literature on the American Revolution influenced students' understandings of this historical time period from multiple perspectives. This study was conducted in a fifth-grade classroom within an multicultural, suburban elementary school in Southeastern Massachusetts. Multiple forms of data were collected including participant observations, field notes, and digital recordings of classroom discussions and student interviews. Within this study, students were guided by their teacher to critically read about the American Revolution in their Social Studies textbook, explore this historical period on an educational website called Brainpop, and read quality children's literature addressing various groups present during the Revolutionary War. Findings from this study suggest that critically reading and reviewing these various sources led students to develop an understanding of the American Revolution from multiple perspectives rather than their initial understanding that considered only the male British Loyalists and American Patriots' perspectives. The multiple perspectives included women, young people, African Americans and Native Americans in addition to the male Patriots and Loyalists.
The data demonstrates how students examined texts from multiple perspectives, how their initial perspective of the war changed during the unit, and how students developed a more complete picture of the Revolutionary War by exploring multiple perspectives. My study supports the positive outcomes of integrating critical literacy within social studies instruction in order to help students develop a more comprehensive understanding of historical events.
Janelle Roberts, Mentor: Dr. Jennifer Manak (Elementary Education)
Adrian Tinsley Program for Undergraduate Research 2013 Summer Symposium
Bridgewater State University
TVSBSC / Team TVS
