Historical Investigation
If you were to do a Historical Investigation exercise with your students, what would it be? Be specific.
You do NOT need to respond to a peer on this one.
posted by Tanya Judd Pucella @ 12:52 PM
Thursday, September 06, 2007
You do NOT need to respond to a peer on this one.
11 Comments:
I would do a historical investigation exercise on the possibility of the southern armies fighting a guerrilla war once General Lee signed the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia at Appomattox courthouse. Using websites and book, I would have the students investigate the morale of the southern troops as of April 1865, the state of the southern army, and how well guerilla warfare has succeeded in the past. Through the students investigation into those key areas, they should be able to make an informed decision on whether or not the southern troops could have eventually won the war utilizing guerilla tactics.
I would like to do a historical investigation with students on the story of Pocahontas. Many of the students would be familiar with the Disney version of the story and I would like to have the students look at the truth behind this telling of her story. I would have students look at primary documents via the internet and books to find out who she actually was and what she actually did for the settlers. Students might research what tribe she was from, how old she actually was, and her relationship with the settlers, especially John Smith.
I would like the students to begin with a graphic organizer like that on page 233 of the book.
I think I would actually really like to do a unit on historical investigation and then allow each individual student to pick a topic that they choose. I would not want to pick a specific topic for my students because it may not be something all of them are interested in. I would probably give the students a list of possible topics they could choose from and allow them to have some say in which they choose. I feel they would be more interested and motivated if they investigate something they choose to know more about. I would probably spend about two days going over the meaning of "historical investigation" with the students and discuss the variety of sources and whether they are reliable or not. Then I would allow the students to choose a topic and become an expert in their chosen area of study. I would act as a facilitator and help when necessary but allow the students "guided freedom" to come up with a resolution.
I like the idea of using an article in the newspaper as practice for historical investigations. This will give the students and myself practice. After the students demonstrate that they understand the concept of historical investigations, I would use it as an assessment tool for an end of the unit activity. I would create a list of possible investigations based on my observations of student interest during the unit. Students would then pick from the list or come up with their own
investigation. I feel the product will be much better if the students choose what they research because they will be more motivated. Along the way I would plan in class time for students to work on their investigations and help them through the process. I would also love the students to share their investigations will the whole class and explain their process of investigation.
I would like to do a historical investigation on who shot JFK and all the contending theories. Perhaps doing something older like, Stonehenge and it's creators-how it occurred. I think one of the most interesting ones would be what happened to the dinosaurs which would be more science but that would be neat. For us though, even picking a society that disappeared and tell what really happened? Did King Arthur exist. Allow students to pick something that interests them, and check their knowledge of it by making sure facts are correct, but mostly check for process. (use of primary sources, reliability of sources, research skills, and then the writing ability used to explain their findings.)
I think it would be fun to investigate the homefront and the style of warfare in Vietnam to find out why this war was so different from previous wars in which the US was engaged. Many times, this war is skipped over in school, but it is a very interesting topic, and I think all students could find interest. I would provide a list of various aspects from the war such as Life on the Homefront, Warfare, Conspiracies, Identifying the Enemy, etc. from which students could pick a specific topic to investigate. Then all the specific topics would be brought together into a final class investigation to get the big picture.
I would do a historical investigation on JFK just because it is something that has always interested me. I think when teaching students it is easier to do something that you have an interest in. Also I think it is important to give students a little bit of freedom so maybe let them pick a U.S. President and investigate some of the rumors or myths that surround them. It might be interesting for students to do an investigation surrounding the 9/11 attacks or the death of Princess Diana as well.
I would do a historical investigation exercise on the causes of the civil war. Particuraly whether or not slavery was a cause of the civil war or the abolishment of slavery was used as a punishment to the south. The assassination of JFK would be a great topic to do a historical investigation on. I believe that this topic would keep the interests of students because it is a more recent event in history. There are enough theories and literature to do a really good investigation here.
When doing historical investigations, I would like to provide my students with a list of topics from which to chose, and also a variety of topics. There are so many great topics out there that this would be a great project for. A topic that I think would be really neat to do is the Great Depression because it is so casually pushed aside and simply seen as a result of the stock market crash on Black Tuesday, but I would like students to find out why the market crashed (buying stocks on credit, banks pulled out), the ramifications thereof, and if it could happen again.
Depending on the area of History I was teaching, I would probably let the students decide what they wanted to investigate. However, If I was teaching a class the I could incorporate the Holocaust into, I would have the students investigate that. There are so many aspects one could take with this that each student could come up with different answers. This could lead to a debate among the class of things done in the Holocaust. The students could look at diaries or stories written by Nazi's or Jewish people to get both perspectives. They could look at Hitler and concentration camps. There is plenty of material, primary and secondary that is readily available about the topic that would allow students to better grasp the event but choose within it what they really want to learn. Through this, I would have students get approval from me for sources and I like the idea of giving them "guided freedom" since this is such a large and diverse topic.
I think I would let my students decide, but maybe rather than letting them pick from anything, giving them a couple of options. For example, if we were studying ancient civilizations, let them investigate anything from the building of the pyramids to where and how different humans traveled (why there were pockets of civilizations in different places). I like giving them a chance to choose, but I also think it is important to guide them to a certain point.
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