The Roman philosopher and statesman Seneca is credited with first observing something that every teacher knows, teaching requires learning first. Ms. Avery knows this as well. She asked her 9th grade Honors US History I students to create a children’s book about the American Revolution. Although it is not uncommon for social studies teachers to provide students a variety of ways to build and demonstrate their understanding, Ms. Avery found a way in which her high school students could learn and teach 5th-grade students at Lafayette Avenue School at the same time.
The Honors US History I curriculum conforms with the College Board’s Advanced Placement US History course and is therefore fairly challenging. Students read a college-level textbook that is supplemented with excerpts from other engaging and respected books in field such as Howard Zinn's History of the American People, Little and Davidson's After the Fact, and David Hackett Fischer’s Albion’s Seed. They also read and analyze a fair amount of primary sources written by Thomas Jefferson, John Locke, Henry Clay, Abigail Adams and many others. Yet, in teaching a college-level class to high school students, Ms. Avery knows the power of an activity that requires the 9th graders in her classes to explain what they know to 5th-grade students.
Each of Ms. Avery’s three US History I sections were divided into four groups, so they could as a class look into the American Revolution and its causes, while also studying various interpretations of the war and its social implications. Students had to present each of these topics from the perspective of both the British and the colonists. This meets several of the objectives of the revised College Board curriculum by exercising historical thinking skills such as interpretation and synthesis. But the real challenge for students was taking their understanding and presenting it in a way 5th graders could understand.
The result of this project was three complete children's books on the American Revolution, organized into binders and presented to 5th-grade students and teachers at Lafayette who were exploring the American Revolution also. Lafayette teachers incorporated the books into their lessons and while some students searched for the names of their older brothers and sisters.
In social studies at CHS and Lafayette Avenue, the products of learning at one school became tools of learning at another.
Each of Ms. Avery’s three US History I sections were divided into four groups, so they could as a class look into the American Revolution and its causes, while also studying various interpretations of the war and its social implications. Students had to present each of these topics from the perspective of both the British and the colonists. This meets several of the objectives of the revised College Board curriculum by exercising historical thinking skills such as interpretation and synthesis. But the real challenge for students was taking their understanding and presenting it in a way 5th graders could understand.The result of this project was three complete children's books on the American Revolution, organized into binders and presented to 5th-grade students and teachers at Lafayette who were exploring the American Revolution also. Lafayette teachers incorporated the books into their lessons and while some students searched for the names of their older brothers and sisters.
In social studies at CHS and Lafayette Avenue, the products of learning at one school became tools of learning at another.
.