Create a Headline

What Is the Create a Headline Strategy?

By creating a concise headline to represent what they learned, students must identify main ideas and patterns and then make a judgment about which of those ideas and patterns are most important. Often the source or sources used in this activity shed light on underlying issues that influenced the events of a particular historical era.

How to Use the Create a Headline Strategy

Step 1: Review a Collection of Sources

Students first read and/or examine a set of sources (i.e. documents, readings, images, or videos). As needed, you may want to present a focus question (for instance, “What do these sources tell us about the effects of the new law on the country?”) to guide students’ examination. Remind students that they should be looking for patterns across the documents.

Step 2: Compose a Headline

Students are then asked to compose a headline based on the information and patterns contained in the sources that they just reviewed. The headline that students create must be different than titles from any of the resources they examined. Headlines also should contain both subjects and verbs and are usually no more than 12 words in length. You might ask students to write a brief (no more than three sentences) explanation of how they arrived at their headline.

Step 3: List Evidence

Below their headlines, have students write three pieces of evidence they recorded from the resources they examined that support or explain their headline.

Step 4: Share Headlines

Students should have an opportunity to share the headlines they created. Consider using a wraparound or a gallery walk to share the headlines.