Test it Out

Are we comfortable so far?

Below are three sections of historical phrases and terminology. Your task is: (you may print or transcribe this page for practical use)

label each section as one of the following headings: generative topics, events/issues/trends/, or understanding goals?
distinguish which ones can be linked together by using circles/squares/stars/wavy lines/zigzag lines/ or looping lines to visually organize them together.

Section One

Rwanda: Hutus vs. Tutsis
Cambodia: PolPot's Khmer Rouge
Hammaraby's Code
Roman Catholic vs. Orthodox Christian
American Westward Expansion
Rome becomes an Empire
Germanic kingdoms become Germany: Otto VonBismark
Roman Law
Mongolian Empire: Conquerings of Genghis Khan
Americans defeat world's best army, win Independence
Zimbabwe tribes comes together
Roman/Byzantine Empires: West/East
French Guillotine marks end for Louis XVI

Section Two

conflict
war
expansion
leadership
human rights
government
unification
nationalism
law
record keeping
oppression
change in power
decline
power
influence
genocide

Section Three

the need for written laws
how and why power is exchanged or changed from conflict
the impact of civil tension
the power of emotion to drive a cause
the influence and impact of power and force
the warning sign of trouble in a civilization
how differences can create entirely new cultures over time
the creation of culture from exchange and/or commonality
how corruption and power can be a dangerous and unstable combination
how a government institution controls its people
oppression as a result of ethnocentric ideals
the risk of implementing a new system of society

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If you have some items from all three sections with multiple line types around it, GOOD, you are doing it right!

This means that some of the themes can connect to more than one event/issue/trend and even more understandings can be applied within each of those divisions. Starting to get the point?! I thought so! GREAT JOB!

From this realization, teaching more of the curriculum in less time is possible!!

Making it Happen

Now that you have some experience planning your possible theme approaches, how can you make this work in the classroom? How can it fit into your already existing methodology and procedures?

As we described in the overview and touched on in the introductory exercise, this is simply an approach. It does not necessarily have to take over your whole methodology. Themed History's best use is when its applied to planning. The students may not pick up the idea until they start to achieve cross-historical connections. By starting with generative topics and having students generate basic understandings within that topic (just as you the teacher did when planning possible themes), then you may be surprised how comparisons, contrasts, trends, and many other connections are linked between historical events across time and space. All this is happening while time is no longer wasted drilling, reiterating, and intentionally or unintentionally having students mundanely memorize facts, which has been proven not to have much retention value.

Here are a few suggestions to enhance or ease the potential weariness of implementing this approach. Students may ask "why are we studying two events that happened years apart from each other?" You could answer this question by using a timeline visual. Since students will probably be so used to seeing history on a timeline, you could create a history timeline that goes around the upper walls of the entire room. During each themed unit, place titles or headings with captions on the timeline, so the students get a sense of when these things happened in relation to each other (this could also enhance and deepen the understandings of how great an impact one had on the other or the prominence of certain trends in history). As the course goes on, leave the headings on the timeline so that other themed or non-themed items can be added to it. This will help guide the students in the way they are used to and help them grasp the scope of history and piece together some of the equally important cause-effect relationships in history.

Part II - Implementing the Theme Approach