Perspective Guide

Contributed by Lisa Holton

RATIONALE

Perspective guides ask students to consider the perspective the author might be taking in a text and to analyze his/her decisions.  According to Alvermann (2007), "developing readers often accept uncritically the authority of the textbook without stopping to consider that texts are written by authors who have mdade decisions about what to include and how to present information" (p 206). Perspective guides are a way to encourage students to consider what the author is saying and critically analyze why it is written from that perspective. Lenski, Wham & Johns also suggest that "when students are able to identify an author's perspective, they are able to use what they know about the author's perspective along with the author's qualifications to make an informed decision about the topic" (Lenski et al, 2007 p200). Perspective guides could be used in all content areas, but they lend themselves to non-fiction texts and primary sources especially well.

PROCEDURE

1. Choose two or more texts that are focused around a central theme but with different perspectives from the authors. The type of texts is flexible (two short stories, a short story and a poem, an article and a documentary, etc). Be sure the texts differ in perspective but share a theme.

2. Choose 4-8 quotes from each text that relate to the theme and write them for the class to see (white board, overhead, etc)

3. Divide students into groups of 4-6 and have them discuss the quotations, the theme, the perspectives of the authors, and make predictions based on the quotes. Recommended: create a sheet for them to match the quotes to the text after they read (or before if you'd like a prediction activity as well).  An example can be found here

4. With the sheet in hand, have students read the texts and match the quotes to the authors. Allow them to discuss the quotes and how they relate to the theme and the overall text.

5. After completing the sheet, have students discuss their choices and guide them to identify the perspective of the authors. Discuss why perspectives may be different and other perspectives on the topic that may exist.

6. Follow up activities are optional and can be created to suit your purpose. Examples:

     a. an essay synthesizing the information

     b. a comparison/contrast composition

     c. a survey or other interactive project

Resources

Lenski, Susan D, et al. (2007). Reading and Learning Strategies Middle Grades Through High School. Kendall Hunt.

OTHER PROCEDURES

I constantly remind the students that the winners of the wars write the history books.  I try to get the students to look at the events from other perspectives.  This content is heavy in cause and effect.  So another question I would add to the small group discussion points would be which side is the author on? A concept that we run into a lot is oppressive practices, therefore the students could give possible reasons why the oppressors did what they did....commented by Rick Spinner