It starts with story, develops through good questions, and culminates through projects, debates, simulations, and other authentic activities.
I want to share some ideas with you today.
“Story is what makes us human. … Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience reveal that our brain is hardwired to respond to story … we’re wired to turn to story to teach us the way of the world.” - Lisa Cron, Wired for Story (2012)
Students make meaningful connections with the stories they are reading or that others are reading to them. Good questions then help them to think about what they have read or heard. Authentic activities that model adult activities or real-life scenarios may garner students’ interest or excitement. It will help them to understand the relevance of what they need to learn.
If students understand why they need to learn something, they are much more likely to be engaged and participate in the process. Some examples are:
• Telling history through the stories of real people
• Authentic simulations: mock trials, moot courts, mock campaign cycles
• Discussions, debates, presentations, skits
• Hands-on activities: experiments, project-based learning, crafts, interdisciplinary lessons, exhibits, other visual deliverables (creating political cartoons, graphic short stories, newspaper articles, diaries)
When I taught history, I always engaged students with discussion. I also brought in real stories of my ancestors or other little-known diverse people and their experiences through primary sources, diaries, letters, images, journals, newspaper articles, court cases, artifacts, and other resources. This can be done in various ways.
Run simulations to debate turning point events and make executive, legislative, or judicial decisions. Provide forensic files to help students solve historical mysteries. Use primary source images to make deductions or inferences about a particular event. Provide newspapers, magazines, catalogs, and other primary documents for students to interpret. Bring in trash from different households to conduct a modern-day archeology dig.
If you are interested in the Archeolgy Dig Project, you can download it HERE.
Develop cross-curricular lessons or units.
Language Arts can easily tie to history through mythology, comparing historical journals to historical fiction or biographies. Examine the folk stories, songs, poetry, novels of different time periods and discuss what they tell us about the period.
Science can also easily be tied to history. Build catapults or trebuchets to examine the Medieval war engines. Conduct experiments to determine the pros and cons of lug (square), lateen (triangular), or gaff rigged sails. Mummify a chicken. Build a sundial or navigational tools.
Incorporate economics by bringing out the actual statistics for unemployment, business growth, or better yet, give students the websites and have them look them up. Have students fill out a W-2, 1040EZ, or prepare a resume. Run trade or stock market simulations. Create a class or multiclass market to demonstrate supply and demand, and the production cycle.
For government and politics, have students research the current issues, build platforms, run campaigns, debate opposing candidates, take polls, and vote in classroom or multi-classroom election cycles. Hold mock trials and reenact landmark cases in moot courts based on information from actual cases/trials. Convene a Continental Congress and assign students to represent the actual delegates and make their arguments in creating the Constitution.
Then students can demonstrate what they have learned in a variety of ways besides the standard essay or exam. Have students create political cartoons, graphic short stories, propaganda posters, museum exhibits, short films, or websites to summarize their knowledge of a subject. Alternatively, have them write letters, newspaper articles, diaries, archeological, naval, or military journals.
There are so many creative ways to engage students. It does require planning and preparation, but it is well worth the effort.
“I am not a teacher, but an awakener.” – Robert Frost
If this all seems overwhelming, start small. Check out our teacher resource that accompanies the historical novel Thrown to the Wind. In it you will find the following, (tied to national standards):
• Ready-made image analysis and discussion starters
• Engaging group & individual activities
• Higher-order discussion questions
• Cross-curricular projects & activities
• Primary & secondary source comparisons
• Essay prompts and quick writes
• Grading rubrics
The second resource to accompany A Home in the Wilderness is coming in time for spring semester!
You can download a list of my favorite teacher resources HERE.
Keep reading!
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