Making History Relevant to the Lives of Young People
Past Practice
In the past, to try to teach the importance of 9/11 I showed the students a PowerPoint I created that has images and facts about the events of that day, as well as a list of names of all those whose lives were lost that tragic day. To play on the emotional aspect, the PowerPoint is set to music like the Alan Jackson song "Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)." While this direct instruction-type approach does give students a basic understanding of why 9/11 is so important, it does not necessarily connect with many of them. They need to do more individual exploration on the causes and effects of such an event.
I will use a few different strategies using more of an inquiry-based approach to learning. I believe using inquiry-type methods naturally make learning more meaningful, no matter the topic.
I will use a few different strategies using more of an inquiry-based approach to learning. I believe using inquiry-type methods naturally make learning more meaningful, no matter the topic.
STRATEGY ONE
One strategy I will use to help students make connections is to explore stories about other people's experiences on 9/11/01. As each year goes by, students get younger and younger in terms of their age in 2001. The younger a child is, the harder it is to conceptualize events occurring around the world.
I believe that for a student to explore how others interpreted the attacks and hear their stories might help them make these essential connections. They might find a story similar to their own or someone they know and make a personal connection. Or they might just make the human connection reading the stories of a large variety of people, other than just hearing about it from their teachers or parents.
STRATEGY TWO
Because so many of my students are visual learners, I will have them create time-lines about the events leading up to September 11, 2001 and what occurred thereafter. Although I try to avoid the idea of history being all about memorizing dates and names, I believe creating time-lines will help students identify cause/effect relationships between what happened, why it happened, and how it affects the future.
These time-lines can then be used as a basis for discussion, whether in class or online, to look at how 9/11 impacts our world today.
STRATEGY THREE
Another strategy I will try is to give students an opportunity to explore global perceptions of 9/11 through the use of various resources. Too often in US History, we focus on just the American perspective but I believe it is important to look at things from another point of view to truly understand. Small groups could each research a different source and then share their findings with classmates. This could also be done by individual students if they would rather work alone than with a group.
To see what type of technological tools are available for these strategies, see my technology page.
One strategy I will use to help students make connections is to explore stories about other people's experiences on 9/11/01. As each year goes by, students get younger and younger in terms of their age in 2001. The younger a child is, the harder it is to conceptualize events occurring around the world.
I believe that for a student to explore how others interpreted the attacks and hear their stories might help them make these essential connections. They might find a story similar to their own or someone they know and make a personal connection. Or they might just make the human connection reading the stories of a large variety of people, other than just hearing about it from their teachers or parents.
STRATEGY TWO
Because so many of my students are visual learners, I will have them create time-lines about the events leading up to September 11, 2001 and what occurred thereafter. Although I try to avoid the idea of history being all about memorizing dates and names, I believe creating time-lines will help students identify cause/effect relationships between what happened, why it happened, and how it affects the future.
These time-lines can then be used as a basis for discussion, whether in class or online, to look at how 9/11 impacts our world today.
STRATEGY THREE
Another strategy I will try is to give students an opportunity to explore global perceptions of 9/11 through the use of various resources. Too often in US History, we focus on just the American perspective but I believe it is important to look at things from another point of view to truly understand. Small groups could each research a different source and then share their findings with classmates. This could also be done by individual students if they would rather work alone than with a group.
To see what type of technological tools are available for these strategies, see my technology page.
