Focus Lessons around Central Questions

Context is Essential!

The Importance of Context

Inquiry into the Past: Some big ideas

Some big ideas/themes embedded in this lesson:

-History textbooks are just like all other written accounts of the past. As such, they need to be examined critically.
-Accounts of the past contain claims about the past. These claims need to be examined (need to teach Ss how to examine claims about the past).  
-The past no longer exists in the same way it once did. There are, however, some remains of the past that do linger. These remains can be examined and interpreted, providing us with information about the past. 
-When writing about the past, authors make a number of choices that impact how they present the past to readers.
-All texts are underpinned by questions. Figuring out these questions, as well as the questions not asked, is one way to analyze a text.
-Movies about the past ought to be examined with the the same scrutiny we subject to written accounts.
-We need to be careful about throwing around the term truth in a history class. What, exactly, do we mean? Is it more precise to speak of truths? Multiple perspectives? We need to unpack this term and consider its implications. 

Ideas on this page will likely be consolidated with this page. 

Quotes connected to History and the Construction of Historical Accounts

“Science Fiction writers construct an imaginary future; historians attempt to reconstruct the past. Ultimately, both are seeking to understand the present.”


More to come

Federalist 10 Graphic Organizer/Reading Guide

Word File via Google Drive


After taking a look, please let me know if you have any questions, feedback, including constructive criticism. Thanks so much!

Also, I would really appreciate it if you could also offer to share a resource on Twitter via #lessonshare. Spread the word!

How might Eric Mazur's Ideas Apply to a History Class?

   

Yesterday, I viewed this video of Eric Mazur discussing his experiences as a young physics professor at Harvard in the early 90s. Mazur titled this talk Confessions of a Converted Lecturer. In it, he addresses the following questions: As an instructional strategy, what is the value of lecture? How are we to know? And what are alternatives to lecture?

We've all sat through lectures. And many of us, when we think of teaching, think of lecture. This visual, and even Mazur's 'talk', typify the lecture, which consists of a sitting and reasonably attentive audience and a single presenter, who is usually standing and often has access to a projector displaying images and text. The presenter, who may or may not be working from notes, talks, and many in the audience write notes on his thoughts or copy them directly from the slides over his shoulder.

This model of teaching is focused on the transmission of information. The presenter's knowledge, it is assumed, is transmitted to those in the audience. But is this what happens? And even if this is what happens, should we be satisfied with that?

The lecture is definitely popular. It was, for most of us, the primary method of teaching used by our teachers when we were in high school and college. If we were able to learn effectively from lecture, we reason, so should  they.

In fact, as an undergraduate, almost every one of my history classes was instructed by professors who taught via lecture. When viewed in this context, it makes sense that I would have chosen to adopt a lecture dominated approach to teaching. And in twelve years of teaching, I have spent hundreds of hours lecturing to students while standing in front of a PowerPoint presentation.

There is an opportunity cost associated with choosing to lecture. Every minute spent lecturing is a minute students do not engage in some other kind of instructional task. While there may be instances where lecture is the most appropriate method of teaching, it is important to acknowledge that when we choose to lecture, we limit our students' potential to engage with the process and thinking associated with the subjects we teach.

Learning through lecture occurs, but it is a specific kind of learning. A kind of learning that for most people fades fast.

In fact, critiques associated with traditional methods of history teaching can be traced back to history teachers who rely almost exclusively on lecture. No matter how dynamic a lecturer, there is an underlying epistemological message sent to students when we teach history using lecture.The message is that history consists of a single story. That history ultimately is part of a single narrative that can be pulled from textbooks, easily understood, and communicated to others. There is a danger in teaching students that we should be satisfied with simple narratives of the past.

 

There is more to explore about Mazur's approach in history classrooms, and I will devote future posts to this topic. 

Historians create accounts of the past

Readings for Galileo Lesson

Reading 3

              

Reading 4

Losing Solomon by Sean Nevin

Losing Solomon by Sean Nevin

"We estimate a man by how much he remembers. --Ralph Waldo Emerson"

Things seem to take on a sudden shimmer
before vanishing: the polished black loafers
he wore yesterday, the reason for climbing
the stairs, even the names of his own children

are swallowed like spent stars against the dark
vault of memory. Today the toaster gives up
its silver purpose in his hands, becomes a radio,
an old Philco blaring a ball game from the 40s
with Jackie Robinson squaring up to the plate.

For now, it's simple; he thinks he is young again,
maybe nineteen, alone in a kitchen. He is staring
through his own reflection in the luster and hoping
against hope that Robinson will clear the bases
with a ball knocked so far over the stadium wall
it becomes a pigeon winging up into the brilliance.

And perhaps, in one last act of alchemy,
as Jackie sails around third, he will transform
everything, even the strange and forgotten face
glaring back from the chrome, into something
familiar, something Solomon could know as his own.

"Losing Solomon" examines the many small losses, the daily subtractions and distortions of self, memory, and family suffered with dementia. It is not necessarily about, but lovingly dedicated to, my grandfather, Stephen "Snuffy" Kopec, a lifelong baseball fan. As I was writing the poem, it was his face I imagined in the toaster.

"Losing Solomon" was published in A House That Falls (Slapering Hol Press, 2005) and in Oblivio Gate (Crab Orchard Review, Crab Orchard Series in Poetry, 2008). Reprinted by permission of the writer.

History, Truth, and Legos?

Textbook on Trial?

Open up the Textbook Strategy (OUT)

     Today, Jesse Peters (@jjpeters) discussed how she uses Sam Wineburg's Open up the Textbook (OUT) strategy. This strategy can both deepen students' knowledge of historical content and provide them with opportunities to practice using historical thinking and reading skills as they compare a short selection from the textbook with a few carefully chosen primary and secondary sources.   
 
     I'd like to try to use this approach the next time I write a lesson. I will need to select a few paragraphs from the textbook. In Jesse's example, she included a visual source as well, and she pointed out that if you can include a visual, you should. Historians, after all, "read" a variety of sources, not just written documents.  
 
     The OUT strategy is not just about reading for information. By using this approach, you show students that the textbook is just one of many sources making assertions about the past. And, it is important to remind students that since textbook assertions are almost always left without citations  readers have to make a decision; are they going to accept without question the textbook's assertions, or are they going dig deeper?

     Remind students that a hallmark of historical writing is citing one's sources. This is how authors disclose to readers the basis for their claims. When presented with uncited information, the burden is on the reader to do their homework. Historical thinking and reading skills are powerful because they equip students with the tools to handle information and the conflicting claims often embedded in this information. 

    Each time students are confronted with a textbook selection, especially if they are assigned to read many pages of content and take notes on it, there is a strong chance that they will approach the content simply as material to be learned. Students' (and teachers') epistemological posture is one of receiver (or dispenser) of content. Students are viewed as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge.

     The OUT strategy is powerful because it forces teachers and students to view content and sources differently, more like an historian does.

Inquiry Lesson: Opportunities and Challenges of Writing about the Past

Essential Course Question: How do historians do history?

Focus Question: Why do people write about the past, and what challenges are associated with writing about the past?

Some big ideas/themes embedded in this lesson:
-History textbooks are just like all other written accounts of the past. As such, they need to be examined critically.
-Accounts of the past contain claims about the past. These claims need to be examined (need to teach Ss how to examine claims about the past).  
-The past no longer exists in the same way it once did. There are, however, some remains of the past that do linger. These remains can be examined and interpreted, providing us with information about the past. 
-When writing about the past, authors make a number of choices that impact how they present the past to readers.
-All texts are underpinned by questions. Figuring out these questions, as well as the questions not asked, is one way to analyze a text.
-Movies about the past ought to be examined with the the same scrutiny we subject to written accounts.
-We need to be careful about throwing around the term truth in a history class. What, exactly, do we mean? Is it more precise to speak of truths? Multiple perspectives? We need to unpack this term and consider its implications. 

Lesson Overview
     Regardless of your attitudes and views about textbooks and their role in a history classroom, your students walk into class with their own thoughts about these commonly used classroom 'tools'. This lesson is designed to place textbooks into a larger intellectual context. Like all texts, textbooks are written by authors with a purpose. What is that purpose? And what factors impact the extent to which this purpose can be achieved?

     By comparing and contrasting different ways that authors articulate meanings about the past, students will begin to see all texts for what they are: human constructions that are underpinned by questions. They will also begin to see that claims about the past must be evaluated, as opposed to simply accepted.  

Start lesson with this video clip, a short excerpt from Spielberg's movie Lincoln: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uREttlxHBjg

(Rational: Students are likely familiar with Spielberg's movie, even if they haven't seen it. And they are almost definitely familiar with Lincoln. It will not be difficult, I suspect, to convince students that when Hollywood does History it exercises considerable dramatic license. The medium itself, film, necessitates that many gaps are filled and assumptions are made about what viewers see and hear. A movie like this is connected to the past, but it is not the past. This inquiry will get students to begin to think about some of the ways people in the present try to construct, or reconstruct, the past. I want students to eventually approach all accounts of the past with the same questioning approach that many of us, almost by default, apply to a movie about people and events from the past. Does our textbook, or my lectures, deserve the same scrutiny? The answer, of course, is yes.)

Quick/Write Reflection: When you watch a movie, such as this one about Lincoln, what are your expectations about truth and accuracy? 

(-Throughout the semester, students will keep a notebook/journal, containing quick writes, questions, notes about sources, etc. A notebook provides a single place for students to gather their thoughts and play around with ideas. The writing in this book is often informal and unpolished, incomplete.....Regarding this prompt, I think some possible responses include the following:
-"We expect that the person making the movie will tell the truth."
-"If film maker wasn't 'telling the truth', they wouldn't 'get away' with it. Too many people would point out errors."
-"If the movie maker is not going to tell the truth, she ought to be honest with the audience."
-"Writer, director should consult historians to make sure that their story is accurate, truthful."
-"When you go to a movie, you ought to know that much of what you see is not 'the way it happened'.)


Pair/Share: Have students partner up with someone (appointment clocks?) to discuss their responses. 

Use the random name generator to select a few students to share details about their partner discussion focused on the prompt. What points were made? Points in common? Points not in common? 

Our inquiry is going to have us exploring ideas about accounts of the past and historical truth/accuracy.

Draw this simple timeline  on the board.  Students will refer to this during the inquiry and during the post inquiry debriefing. Turn this into a class poster since it will be referenced regularly throughout the semester.

This inquiry will occur in groups of three. Each student will receive a packet containing the following readings:

A. a recent news article about something that happened in town. For example, this article from July 23rd discusses a robbery. 
B. This poem by Sean Nevin discusses memory and memory loss. 
C. This book excerpt presents Galileo in a conversation (see reading 3).
D. This textbook excerpt describes Galileo and a few of his accomplishment (see reading 4).   

Before students begin reading, establish the following purpose: As you read think about the following question: Why do people write about the past? What challenges might these authors have faced when writing these different accounts of past people and events?

When students are finished reading, have someone from the group take 5 pieces of chart paper and some markers. Each group will put their ideas on chart paper. 

Chart 1- Why do people write about the past? (write as many reasons as you can think of)
Chart 2- Challenges associated with writing A, a ______________ 
                                                             (what would you call this piece) 
Chart 3- Challenge associated with writing B,   a  ______________
Chart 4- Challenges associated with writing C, a______________
Chart 5- Challenges associated with writing D, a______________

A= news article, B= poem, C= historical fiction, D= textbook excerpt

Once students have completed filling in their charts, select someone from each group to discuss Chart 1- Why people write

Now tell students that you are going to select three students, each from a different group, to come to the front of the room to discuss the news article. The students will act, to the best of their abilities, as if they have written the news article. The rest of the class, acting as if they are eager, aspiring news writers, will ask the author(s) questions to learn more about the news.

Now tell students that you are going to select three students, each from a different group, to come to the front of the room to discuss the poem. The students will act, to the best of their abilities, as if they have written the poem. The rest of the class, acting as if they are eager, aspiring writers, will ask the author(s) questions to learn more about writing poetry.



Do the same for pieces C and D.

I am considering constructing a graphic organizer for students to use when working with the various sources. It may look something like this, though students will fill in the type of source and its purpose. 

Source	Type of Source		Purpose(s) of Sources
A	News Article		To inform
B	Poem		To describe, reflect, put feelings/emotions into words
C	Historical Fiction		To entertain, teach about past people/events
D	Textbook Excerpt		To teach students about past people/events

Connect today's lesson back to the focus question: Students will write a blog post addressing this lesson's focus question-  Why do people write about the past, and what challenges are associated with writing about the past?

Discuss with students your expectation that they attempt to connect ideas, themes, and questions that surfaced in today's lesson to their blog post. Once blog posts are submitted, students will read and respond to some of their classmates' posts.

    

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Some Unused parts of this lesson, notes

Why do people write? (to reflect; to think something through; to avoid forgetting; to express creativity; to grieve; to connect with someone; to express knowledge/understanding)

“Science Fiction writers construct an imaginary future; historians attempt to reconstruct the past. Ultimately, both are seeking to understand the present.”

(Regarding the above quote, I want to highlight to students a simple idea. When people write, they are writing about the past, present, or future. Authors, of course, write for a variety of reasons; but, a common core exists that unites all writers. Each writer applies a unique blend of curiosity and creativity as they pursue and express through words a multitude of meanings and understandings. When we read, we need to consider both author and message.)   

Some discussion questions to use with the above quote: 

Why do people write about the past? (curiosity: to answer questions we have about past people and events; to share with others what we know about people and events of the past; to find connections between the present and the past; to keep a record of important moments)  

What are some of the unique challenges associated with writing about the past? (our memories are not like tape recorders that vividly capture every single moment; if we want to know more about a past event that we did not witness, we need to conduct research. Research involves examining sources that provide information about the past. Sources will never tell us a complete story about the past) 


Some extension questions...
Why do people write about the present? (discuss newspapers) Why do people write about the future? (express hopes fears, to entertain, interesting to think about what the future holds)
Do historians imagine the past, or do they reconstruct it? Do these two expressions have the same meaning? If not, why not?

What does it mean to "understand the present"?

How is imagining the future connected to understanding the present?How is trying to reconstruct the past connected to understanding the present?

Transition: Writers construct a variety of texts, including stories, essays, poems, narratives, descriptions. Today we are going to take a closer look at the similarities and differences between a work of historical fiction and our textbook. We are also going to compare our textbook to an academic history written by an historian. 

From an early age, we are taught that writers’ works can be placed into two broad categories: fiction and non-fiction. Write these two words on the board. Since this is a history course, let's add the word history to each: "historical fiction" and "non fiction history". We are going to explore how these two types of writing may be similar and how they are different.

Let's begin by trying to create working definitions for each term:

historical fiction (A possible definition: Stories that involve actual people and events from the past; however, many of the details of the story are dramatized, made up.)  

non fiction history  (A possible definition: Descriptions and interpretations of past people and events that are based on evidence. The author deliberately avoids making up details for dramatic effect.) 

Tell students that a quick google search revealed to you that at least a few works of historical fiction have been written about a person that we study in Western Civ, Galileo Galilei. We will use what has been written about Galileo to learn more about different ways of writing about the past.

Here is one: http://www.amazon.com/Skys-Dark-Labyrinth-Trilogy/dp/1846971748

And another: http://www.amazon.com/Galileos-Dream-Kim-Stanley-Robinson/dp/B005ZO8DHI

Tell students that they are going to read an excerpt from a source that includes information about Galileo. As they read it, you want them to consider the following question: Is this source likely historical fiction or a non fiction account of history?

Students will likely point out that this text contains direct quotations, which reveal that it is almost definitely a work of fiction. Ask students, why are direct quotes a clue that this writing is a work of fiction? (No source is mentioned. The only way an historian would have access to the details of a conversation like this is if someone wrote them down. There is no mention of a source.)

 What does fiction mean? After some discussion, show students how the Merriam Webster dictionary defines ficiton: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fiction .

Continue discussing the above text: Besides direct quotes, what else stands out to you? Students may make the following points:

-It is possible that the author used historical documents as inspiration for this book, and maybe even this passage. But if he did, he does not say that. 

-There are no footnotes, citations. So the reader cannot look at any sources the author used, if they were used at all. 

-This writing flows. It has a conversational rhythm and reads quite differently than a history textbook, biography, or a non fiction history about Galileo. 

-It is possible to learn some details about Galileo and his accomplishments by reading this work of historical fiction. At the same time, the reader may end up believing ideas about Galileo that are not true, that were made up by the author for the sake of the story. What are the 'rules' of historical fiction? 

Students will now examine what our class textbook has to say about Galileo. As they are reading this excerpt from our textbook, tell students you want them to think about how it is similar and different to the work of historical fiction we just read. 

When students have finished the two text excerpts (not much more about Galileo in our text) about Galileo ask them the following questions: 

How does the textbook account differ from the historical fiction we just read?

-The textbook account does not use direct quotes.
-It talks about Galileo in the third person.
-It is much more dry.

How is the textbook account similar to the historical fiction?

-The two texts mention him timing a swinging chandelier.  

-The textbook mentions a few other facts about Galileo.

-The textbook does not reference any sources.

More to come....

Non-fiction text about Galileo based on his daughter's letters. 

http://www.amazon.com/Galileos-Daughter-Historical-Memoir-Science/dp/B008PHMGHU

Other Resources
Video clip about Galileo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7A-cJGlDgA
http://education.lms.ac.uk/2012/12/lincoln-talks-about-euclid/

Year Long Process Question: Constructing the Past: How do historians do history?

Year Long Process Question: Constructing the Past: How do historians do history?

What is history? Lesson
Why study history?
When we say historians 'construct the past', what do we mean?
What is an historical interpretation?
What is an historical fact, and how do historians use facts?
How do you write an historical interpretation?




Big ideas associated with this inquiry

Historians ask questions about the past; the questions historians ask influence the history they write; historians rely on sources to construct interpretations; an historical interpretation is shaped by available evidence, fact selection (and fact omission), and fact connection.

The Language of Inquiry: Past Events vs. Accounts of Past Events

Big Idea- There is a difference between 'past events' and 'accounts of past events'.

Students have a tendency to think that when multiple people express different views of the same events that some people are automatically lying. Conflicting and varied accounts (narrative/stories), they reason, can be placed into two broad categories: accounts which are conveying the truth and accounts which are lying. This view is simplistic and needs to be explored.

 

More to come...

Studying History, a Complicated Endeavor

What do historians do? By 3^rd or 4^th grade, I suspect, most students, can tell us that historians “tell us about the past”. Telling students that history is the study of the past is an idea they have heard many times. You need to push students to dig deeper into the nature of studying the past.  

Ask students: How do we know about the past? (parents, teachers, books, museums, historical sites: battlefields, preserved homes)

When textbooks come up, which is often quite quickly, discuss the following questions: Who wrote your textbook? How do you think choices were made about what to include and exclude from this history textbook? Can we trust the accuracy of the information presented in textbooks? What does it mean to trust the accuracy of information?

Inquiry1- What is history?- Intro Ideas

Inquiry Lesson Title: What is history?

Big Ideas Associated with this Lesson: Historians ask questions about the past; the questions historians ask influence the history they write; historians rely on sources to construct interpretations; an historical interpretation is shaped by available evidence, fact selection, and fact connection.

This lesson connects to our year long process question: Constructing the Past: How do historians do history?

What do historians do?

Setting the assignment up with students:

     We all know that historians tell us certain details about the past. This semester we are going to take a deeper look at what it means to study the past.

     Let's begin by taking a look at ourselves. Each of us has a past. In fact, most of you come in here today with a past that I know little or nothing about. I may know some of your siblings, and I may tell myself that I know what a typical student that is your age and lives in this community is like, but I do not know you.

     Many of you know each other. Some of you have pasts that overlap, shared experiences, memories, and friends. And we all make judgments about people based on what we know, or think we know, about each other. Are these judgments always accurate? It's important to know what our judgments are based on. Historians take this idea seriously, reminding us constantly to question our sources and corroborate our knowledge.

Writing/Thinking Prompts

-Consider talking to students about some of the ways you might get to know them before ever speaking to them. You might talk to their former teachers. Call their parents. Access the gradebook to view their previous year’s grades. Ask students if getting to know them via these methods would be helpful. With which methods would they be comfortable? Not comfortable? Why? (The big idea here is to get students thinking about getting to know someone indirectly, through various sources. Historians do this all of the time. The number of sources used and the diversity of  these sources are key elements to examine when assessing the judgments made by historians.)


-Have students think about a time in their lives where they made a judgment about a person that turned out to be incorrect. What was your initial judgment based on? What did you learn from this experience? (Some students may say not to judge people until getting to know them. They may also say consider where you are getting your information from. Point out that historians generally don't have the luxury of getting to know firsthand the people they are investigating. And most of the time, historians do not witness the events they are writing about. Therefore, by its very nature, the discipline of history is based on source analysis and the construction of interpretations about the past rather than on direct knowledge or in the moment reporting.)  

-As we get to know each other this semester all of us will share certain details about ourselves. The key word is ‘certain’. We will not share everything about ourselves for many reasons.

Writing/Thinking Prompt

What are some of the reasons we are selective about what we share with each other? (It takes time to get to know someone. We share aspects of ourselves depending on the context and how we feel about the people we are with.)


Inquiry Activity Idea

PHASE 1: The interview
Tell students that they are going to interview a randomly selected classmate to learn more about them and to learn how historians acquire and use information. Students are to approach the interview the way an historian would, with questions (8-10) and a desire to turn the interview into a written account about that person.

After the interview, the student historians will use the facts/details acquired during the interview to write an account about the person they interviewed. They will later share their written account with the person they interviewed (see PHASE 3)

PHASE 2: All students are going to create a few short narratives about themselves.

In one piece they are only allowed to include 5 facts about themselves. (You may choose to skip this step if time is limited. A couple of reasons for doing this step: It eases students into the writing process and also illustrates the need to select facts. When writing an account, you can't share everything, especially if limited to just 5 facts. How do you decide what to include and exclude? Limiting students to five facts exaggerates the difficulty associated with fact selection.)

In the second piece, students are allowed to include 10 facts about themselves. But five of the ten facts must come from at least 3 sources other than themselves. That is, these sources must exist outside of students' minds. For example, to gather these additional five facts, a students could interview her mom or dad, reference a picture showing herself playing soccer, and discuss a piece of her artwork. Students should bring in evidence of the interview and include pictures of the physical artifacts referenced.)

PHASE 3: Students will share the historical narratives they wrote about the people they interviewed in phase 1. Ask the subjects of the narrative how they feel about the account that was written. Ask the writers to talk about the connection between the questions they asked and the narrative they constructed. (Big Idea- Quality historical accounts are derived from quality questions). Also, ask the subjects of the narrative how they feel about what was written. Is it fair? Does it capture you, as you see yourself? How does the account based on the interview compare to the 10 fact account that you wrote?

PHASE 4: Get students thinking more about the 3 sources they used to acquire additional information about themselves.

Writing/Thinking Prompts

Why did they select the sources they used? Do sources speak for themselves? (They do not) Since sources do not speak for themselves, how does a writer of history use sources? If necessary, could you have found sources to challenge your narrative? (Make the point: First, historians ask questions about the past. They then use sources to derive evidence; the evidence shapes and supports the answers historians construct in response to the questions they ask about the past.)

 

Defining Big Ideas that will Underpin Inquiry1- What is history?

Planning notes for myself, not directions for students.

 - There is a difference between 'past events' and 'accounts of past events'. Explore this.

-If we assert that history is simply the study of past events, we miss much of the complexity, nuance associated with studying the past. What is some of this complexity? Nuance?

-We all have a past. So do objects.

-The past is not dead. But it does not exist in the same way it once existed, when the past was the present. The past never comes to use in “pure” form.

-What is an historical fact? Explore filtering process.

 -Facts do not speak for themselves. What do I mean by this?

-Facts need to be pulled from sources. They are not self evident. Need to explore the process of looking at a source. Need to explore what a source is. Need to discuss the process  of gleaning evidence from a source. 

 -Historians attempt to recreate the past in their minds, using the evidence they find.

-Some interpretations, accounts, of the past are more valid than others. Why do I say this? Need to explore this.

 -Historians select which facts to use. An account of the past does not include all facts. And no two accounts will connect facts in same ways to support same thesis. (By the way, Ss carefully present a narrative of their life on Facebook. In many ways this process of selection resembles what historians do.)

Planning Beyond the Course Long EQs

Yesterday, I drafted the two overarching, organizing questions that I will use to structure student inquiry in my Western Civ class. One question focuses on the discipline of history, the other on the specific content of the course. Both are open ended, challenging, and, I think, meaningful to pursue.

Year Long Process Question: Constructing the Past: How do historians do history?

Year Long Content Question: The idea of progress: How civilized are we?

What exactly do I mean when I say I will “use” the above questions to “structure student inquiry”? I need to start getting specific in my planning. Students are in my class for 90 days, 90 minutes a period, amounting to 8100 minutes or 135 hours.

 

How will students spend their time in my classroom? How much reading, writing, discussing, creating, interpreting, and collaborating will they do? After 135 hours, how will I know I have reached my targets? What are my targets?

 

I spent some time this morning thinking through the first question my students will consider as they begin to encounter the year long process question. This mind map will help me to articulate the big ideas I associate with Inquiry 1: What is history? This is a work in progress. And, most importantly, since I am shifting my approach to inquiry, few of the ideas on the mind map will be presented to students directly. Students will work on a variety of assignments that will help them to build their own understandings and connections. To construct these type of assignments, I must thoughtfully determine what my own understandings and goals are.   

 

 

 

 

Getting Started: Two Essential Questions

     The word investigation triggers in my mind thoughts of searching, exploring, and inquiring. I think of detectives in the field and scientists in the lab. I do not, if I am honest, think of the students in my history classes. I now need to align my classroom practices with the vision that is inspiring me.  

     Bruse Lesh writes about History Labs, where students conduct source work, inquiry, and ultimately construct and share historical interpretations. I am modeling my historical investigations around this recursive, challenging, and meaningful intellectual process.

Two Essential Questions will Frame the Course

     I love the idea of using one or two open ended questions to frame all of our inquiry in my Western Civ course. Students will revisit these questions repeatedly and, over time, develop increasingly sophisticated ways of thinking about them. Journals, blogs, and/or portfolios can be used to monitor students’ search for meaning, as they construct, share, and refine their responses.  

     For Western Civ I have decided that I will use a process AND a content question.

Year Long Process Question: Constructing the Past: How do historians do history?

Year Long Content Question: The idea of progress: How civilized are we?

     Contrast a traditional unit approach to teaching history with an investigatory model and it is easy to see the appeal. I am excited to begin planning how I will help my students explore the complexities of the past and of the human condition in an honest and meaningful way.  

Common Assessments, Historical Investigations, and My Goals

     This post continues where my last post left off, on the theme of an investigation.

     My investigations, obviously, have to connect with my school’s curriculum and, more narrowly, the common assessments that I must administer. Indeed, these mandatory common assessments (CA) weigh heavily on my students’ final average.

     The CA’s tend to emphasize factual recall and consist of multiple choice and written responses. The multiple choice questions range from straight forward to more sophisticated. And the written responses typically emphasize producing definitions and explanations about causes and effects. Responses that require students to examine and use sources as evidence are rarely, if ever, included on these assessments.

     I am part of a cohort of teachers who create these common tests, and I often voice concern about the wording of the multiple choice questions and the lack of questions that require students to use sources and evidence in their written responses.  

     What I do have a considerable amount of control over, thankfully, is the process that I want to use to help my students prepare for the common assessments. Preparing students for common assessments, however, is not my only job. Beyond the common tests, I am responsible for teaching the curriculum and the state standards that are associated with my course.

     For over a decade, I have used traditional instructional strategies to teach history. I have emphasized covering material and viewed my primary goal as helping students to remember facts and details. My evolution has been gradual, but I am sitting here today convinced that my traditional approach to teaching history has to evolve. By creating genuine investigations, as opposed to traditional content units, I will be able to adjust my pedagogical approach in order to better prepare my students for life in a democratic society in the 21^st century.

     More specifically, I want my students to learn that history is a social construct, and I want them to be able to deal with competing assertions about both the past and the present. To do this, they must learn how to examine and evaluate multiple content sources, weigh evidence, and identify how information can be manipulated. In sum, I want my students to learn how to express reasoned views about complex topics of the past and present using both written and spoken discourse.       

     Therefore, with these targets established, it is quite clear that the historical investigations that I create must revolve around teaching my students various historical thinking skills and attitudes about the past and present. In my next post, I will elaborate.

     Do you blog? Have you written about similar themes? Leave a comment and include a link, and I will be sure to check out your ideas. Also, if you do not blog, I strongly encourage you to think about setting one up. They are powerful!

From Units to Investigations: Constraints?

     In my last post I discussed my desire to stop using the term ‘Units’ in my history class, replacing it with the word investigation. This choice, I think, captures the essence of the epistemological transformation that I am seeking to cultivate, both in myself and in my students. The burden now rests on me to explain and explore what a historical investigation is and how it will be different from a unit. History teaches, after all, that it is quite common to attach new labels to old products. How will my so called historical investigations, in practice, differ from what I have always done in my classes?

     What will my historical investigations look like? How will they be different than traditional units? And, most importantly, what constraints do I need to acknowledge?

     An investigation, at least as they will occur in my class, will have to be structured so that I can serve two masters, both the curriculum and the demands of teaching historical thinking skills. I have to expose students to the content that they are responsible for on their department tests, and I have to genuinely involve them in meaningful historical inquiry.

     For the past few years, I have allowed common tests, which generally demand that students are able to recall enough facts to write definitions, answer multiple choice questions, and explain causes and consequences of events, to turn me into a stereotypical history teacher, the kind who uses lots of powerpoints, handouts, and activities that demand little more than student regurgitation of facts.

      If there is one factor that has me pushed me to where I am now in my thinking, it is how far I have strayed from my core beliefs about what students ought to be doing in a history class. While I do not think I have ever consistently put into practice my beliefs about what students ought to be doing in a history class, I have always tried to embrace the ambiguity of knowing the past. Increasingly, I have allowed myself to move further and further from that perspective. From time to time, two books I read over a decade ago kept popping up in my thoughts: Ted Sizer’s Horace’s Compromise and William Glasser’s Quality School.    

     The department tests that I referred to above are not all multiple choice, but they do not include source work, nor do they require students to construct historical interpretations. My students also need to be prepared for a mid-term and a final exam that together consist of close to 140 multiple choice questions.    

     The biggest constraint that I see, then, is that it is essential for me to start planning my historical investigations with an eye on the department tests. The department tests are a work in progress. When I return to school in September, especially after the reflection and research I have been doing this summer, I plan on preaching the importance of placing more Beyond the Bubble style prompts on our tests.

     So my historical investigations will NOT be so open ended that students have free reign to go anywhere they want with a topic. After all, I am charged with teaching a curriculum and giving students various common tests, which weigh heavily on their course grades....more soon!