A THEMATIC APPROACH TO HISTORY
Jan 02, 2016
Traditional Telling of History…• Traditionally, history is taught in a linear telling of events
• Start at the beginning and work your way to the present
• How do you teach history?• Is a chronological telling of events the best way to teach
students in an EOC assessed class?
• Students often miss the big picture trying to memorize small facts.
• What if I told you that many students felt they could have benefited from more review of the earliest events?
Civil War & Reconstruction
Westward Expansion
The Industrial Revolution
Progressivism
World War IThe Roaring
20sThe Great Depression
World War II
The Cold War
Post War America & The New
FrontierVietnamCivil Rights
NixonFord & CarterReaganPost-Cold War America
Snaking our way through history…
What happens to a student’s knowledge of the Civil War by the end of the year?
How should we teach history?• M-DCPS will be introducing new pacing guides presenting
history thematically?• What does this mean?
What themes are we talking about?• Themes:
• American Diversity• American Identity• Culture• Demographic Changes• Economic Transformations• Environment• Globalization (engagement with the world)• Politics & Citizenship (growth of democracy/Civil Rights)• Reform• War & Diplomacy• Religion• Slavery
• What exactly are you talking about?
Social History
• American Identity• American Diversity• Politics & Citizenship• Religion, Slavery, Reform
Linking themes…• With a thematic presentation of history, when presenting a
new theme students will probably have already learned about a time period from another perspective.• For example…
• Students might have already discussed the 1950s & 60s from a foreign policy stand point…
• When introducing the cultural history of the 1950s & 60s, including the Civil Rights Movement, students should be encouraged to make links between the new cultural movements they are being introduced to and the Cold War (which they learned about earlier that year).
• FACT: During the early Cold War, foreign policy concerns played a large part in Civil Rights progress promoted by the Executive Branch.