Tools to Use
In teaching U.S. history, there are multiple tools and techniques that can be used to enhance student learning, and navigate the winding rivers of potential obstacles. Three common ones include learning and remembering vocabulary, making sense of vocabulary from context, and breaking words down into prefixes, suffixes, and root words to determine meaning.
Learning and Remembering Vocabulary:
When in a class on U.S. history, or any other content-area class, there will be vocabulary that students will have difficulty with. A common way to assist students is to support practices for learning and remembering vocabulary. One way is to create mnemonics that help students remember vocabulary terms easier. Another strategy could be to use notecards as a studying aid. These strategies help students by increasing their understanding of content-area vocabulary, which helps their understanding of the main text and any other supplementary sources.
Making Sense of Vocabulary from Context:
Another important tool for students is to help their analysis skills in making sense of vocabulary from context. This is a very important technique to know, as student will encounter unfamiliar vocabulary, and will need strategies to make as much sense of them as possible. One way, is by looking at the way a word is used in the sentence, the topic itself, the author, the time the rext was made, and other variables. Looking at these details add context to the words the author uses, which will help to discern meaning.
Breaking Words Down into Prefixes, Suffixes, and Root Words:
This is another very important strategy for students to have under their belt, as this also helps students better understand vocabulary words that they encounter. Looking at the pieces of words that build them up enhance student understanding of the vocabulary, as each piece gives the words meaning. This can be used as a lesson in the importance of analyzing vocabulary, texts, and other things like a puzzle, looking at the pieces and the meaning that they bring.