Developing students’ reading in A-level history
Author
Steph Tranter, Wood Green School
Summary
This project was undertaken with Year 13 students in Government and Politics who lacked confidence in their ability to read beyond the textbook and who were found not to use strategies such as skimming and scanning. Explicit strategy instruction was provided to try to improve reading and analysing, and to increase their confidence, but it became clear that a stronger focus at all levels of teaching on meta-cognition – unpicking the strategies involved in all stages of analytical writing might be more helpful. The presentation presents a number of practical and cognitive strategies which can benefit students.