Without systematic attention to reading and writing in subjects
like science and history, students will leave schools with an
impoverished sense of what it means to use the tools of literacy
for learning or even to reason within various disciplines. (p. 460)
It’s important to teach students the difference between
information and knowledge. For information to become
knowledge, students need to think about it. It may not
seem like rocket science to say that students need to think
about what they’re learning, but rote memorization has too
frequently been part of conventional history instruction.
Memorizing facts and birth-death dates without learning
about the time period, the people themselves, and the chal-
lenges they faced dumbs down history. It limits young peo-
ple’s understanding of their role as citizens in a democratic
society. As David Perkins (1992) notes,
Learning is a consequence
of thinking.;.;.;. Far from
thinking coming after
knowledge, knowledge
comes on the coattails of
thinking.;.;.;. Knowledge
does not just sit there; it
functions richly in people’s
lives so they can understand
and deal with the world.
Historical Literacy at Work in;the;Classroom
In Matthew Reif’s 5th grade classroom in Prince George’s
County, Maryland, student work covers the classroom walls
and cascades out into the hallway. Some students talk quietly
together in groups; others read independently at their desks
or sprawled on the floor. One of the coauthors of this article,
Anne, recently had the good fortune to work with Matthew
to infuse reading and thinking strategies into the history
