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Ellettalumnaeboardtalk1.20.12
The document describes a new course that was created called "Africa, the Americas, and Europe: An Exchange" that takes a more global perspective on history from 1400 onwards, focusing on regions and peoples before, during and after the age of exploration. It involved students creating a museum exhibit on topics related to civilizations and their encounters and cultural exchanges. Students conducted research, wrote text and created hands-on exhibits. Sample exhibits focused on topics like the slave trade, African empires and trade networks, and key figures like Ibn Battuta. The project aimed to promote interdisciplinary and critical thinking.
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Ellettalumnaeboardtalk1.20.12
- 2. What We Did Created a course entitled: Africa, the Americas, and Europe: An Exchange Replaced a course that examined European Renaissance history from Western perspectives to provide a more global perspective New course introduces regions and peoples before, during, and after the explosion of exploration that occurred beginning in the 1400s
- 3. Capstone Project • Aztec Americas • Inca • Ghana Africa • Mali • Medieval Europe • Renaissance
- 4. Foundations of theCourse Essential Questions The Eight Lenses Historical Content
- 5. Sample Essential Questions How am I connected to these people/their stories? How do we really know what happened in the past? To what extent is history up to interpretation and influenced by who is telling the story? What should we do when sources clash or disagree? What causes things to change or stay the same? How do cultures build upon the achievements of other peoples?
- 6. The Eight Lenses Religion Population Government Geography & Culture Trade and Conflict Economics Environment Science and and Natural Technology Resource Management
- 7. The Museum Process THEBIG IDEA: The Age of Exploration has changed world history. Ever since first contact, civilizations in the Americas, Africa, and Europe have exchanged elements of their cultures. Each region was forever changed by exploration and encounter in both positive and devastating ways. The 7th grade will create a museum that examines these civilizations before contact, during their encounters, and the legacy of their exchanges with each other.
- 8. The Students’ Task Role: You are a museum assistant! You are in charge of selecting a topic, conducting research, and creating an exhibit related to the BIG IDEA. Audience: Museum goers will include students, parents and teachers. Format: Your exhibit will include written museum text and a hands-on or interactive component that teaches more about your topic. Topic: The topic must be directly related to the BIG IDEA. You can select from one of the many ideas on the project idea sheet, or you can propose your own topic. Select a project that appeals to your interests.
- 9. Choosing a Topic Using the BIG IDEA framework, students select a topic relating to any of the regions or civilizations we have studied throughout the year. They must identify a research question and determine the lenses they will apply during the analysis.
- 10. The Museum Process • Students may propose their own topic idea or choose from a list Identify a topic of pre-generated ideas • Locate print and text sources Research • Read, read, read—and take notes • Outline the presentation Write Text • Students submit multiple drafts of text Create • Visual, audio, and/or experiential learning stations Exhibit • Museum opens May 2012! Share
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- 17. Sample Exhibit Student project detailing the impact of sugarcane production and trade from multiple perspectives. She created a multimedia presentation and visual diagram to show the impact of the production and trade of this crop.
- 18. Sample Exhibit A project on life on a slave ship during the middle passage allowed visitors to read informative text and view a detailed model to help imagine its horrors.
- 19. Sample Exhibit A student project that explored the historical roots and present day tradition of the Afro- Caribbean musical forms Bomba y Plena. She created informational text and created a listening station of videos and music samples.
- 20. Sample Exhibit A student project that detailed the history and cultivation of the potato and the tomato. She highlighted the exchange of these important food crops during the age of exploration.
- 21. Detailed Sample Exhibit A sample project, focused in West Africa, introduced visitors to the Empire of Ghana’s participation in a gold-salt trade network. Her exhibit writing focused on the following topics: HOW DID GHANA’S WEALTH AND ADVANCEMENTS FLOURISH WITH THE TRADE? GOLD MINES IN WANGARA: WHAT WAS SO IMPORTANT ABOUT THE WANGARAN GOLD MINES? SALT MINES IN TAGHAZA: HOW WAS SALT CULTIVATED IN THESE TIMES? SILENT BARTARING: HOW DID THE SILENT BARTARING PROCESS WORK?
- 22. Detailed Sample Exhibit The student then created an illustrated digital children’s book featuring a young Arab trader making the journey across the Sahara in order to teach the facts about the gold salt trade that she uncovered during her research. Museum visitors learned how Ghana’s empire benefitted from its location near key rivers and trade routes and capitalized on their geographic position between the locations of the desired gold and salt.
- 23. Detailed Sample Exhibit A student project focused on the life and travels of Ibn Battuta described the life and journey of the north African explorer and scholar. Her exhibit focused on the following topics: THE LIFE AND TRAVELS OF IBN BATTUTA THE RIHLA (Ibn Battuta’s account of his travels) THE IMPACT OF IBN BATTUTA’S WORK ON OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE EMPIRE OF MALI
- 24. Detailed Sample Exhibit The student recreated an excerpt from Ibn Battuta’s account of his travels that focused on the months he spent traveling and living in the empire of Mali. She provided her own annotations in response to the observations he made there, from his accounts of court life, to Ibn Battuta’s positive and negative judgments on the practice of Islam by the Malian people.
- 25. Evaluation and Reflection Students are evaluated formally and informally throughout the entire process on research process, writing process, collaboration & creativity.
- 26. Museum Project Benefits Interdisciplinary Learning Student Choice Critical Thinking
- 27. In a Student’sOwn Words “I used to think that history consisted of memorizing facts, and I found it boring. But after taking your class, I’ve realized that history can be more than that. History can be analyzing actions and learning from them. History can be studying the choices of past groups or individuals and seeing how those choices affect the world. It can be realizing that every action has a ripple effect, and that a person across the world from another person can determine their fate. Tying all this together, I think the main lesson I have learned from you is that everything is interconnected, and everything has cause and effect… You taught me that anything can be easy if you start with a strong base and build upwards from there. In this case, the base was strong sources, but this could also apply to other situations. I can use this information not only to help me complete school projects, but also to help me complete any challenges I face in life.” -Excerpt from a thank you letter from a current 8th grade student http://www.smv.org/racearewesodifferent.html
- 28. Works Cited D’Acquisto, Linda.Learning on Display: Student-Created Museums That Build Understanding. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 2006. Wiggins, Grant P., and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD. 2005.
Editor's Notes
- #2 I’m Renee Charity Price, one of the 7th grade history teachers. I am here to speak to you briefly about the 7th grade history course, and I would like to focus particularly on the 7th grade museum project, explaining what it is, how it relates to the history course, the process girls will engage in as they take on this project in the spring, and of course why we think this is a beneficial experience for the girls.
- #3 Back in 2006 weCreated a course entitled: Africa, the Americas, and Europe: An ExchangeReplaced a course that examined European Renaissance history from mainly Western perspectives to provide a more global view of world historyNew course introduces regions and peoples before, during, and after the explosion of exploration that occurred beginning in the 1400s
- #4 We introduced a student created museum as the capstone project for a year long study of civilizations such as the Aztecs, Incas, the empires of Ghana and Mali, and Europe in the Middle Ages through the Renaissance.
- #5 We grounded the history course in essential questions AND eight lenses through which to analyze world history. We apply these to the civilizations we examine using primary and secondary sources, a text, and other materials to form a knowledge base from which to conduct further research.
- #6 All year long, students think about the essential questions while wrestling with the course material. They even come up with their own questions along the way. During our class activities, projects, and writing assignments, students learn to think critically about the specific historical events, but also analytically across time periods and regions.
- #7 The 8 lenses are used to analyze different factors at work in historical periods. We use the lenses to draw connections between societies, past and present:Our goal is for students to see that these lenses are interrelated and more than one factor is often at play at one time.
- #8 In the Spring, students are introduced to the Museum’s big idea statement. It is essentially a summary of our entire year of studies up until that point in the year.
- #9 They are then introduced to their task: to become museum assistants who will research and create interactive and informative exhibits for visitors to learn more details about elements of the Big Idea.
- #10 Using the BIG IDEA framework, students select a topic relating to any of the regions or civilizations we have studied throughout the year. They must identify a research question and determine the lenses they will apply during the analysis.
- #11 After months of foundational studies, we individually guide students through the entire museum creation process- from identifying a topic to opening the exhibits to the community.WhenIdentify a topicStudents may propose their own topic idea or choose from a list of pre-generated ideasWe guide them through lots of ResearchLocate print and text sourcesRead, read, read—and take notesWrite TextOutline the presentationStudents submit multiple drafts of text They work in and out of class to Create their ExhibitVisual, audio, and/or experiential learning stationsFinally they will Share their findings on opening dayMuseum opens May 2012!
- #12 Each year we visit a professional museum, and then we think critically to analyze its effective and ineffective aspects. This helps students understand the task before them.
- #13 Students use extensive library resources including online encyclopedias, databases such as ABC-CLIO, books, atlases, etc.
- #14 Students collaborate and document their research using NoodleTools, an online research support software.
- #15 Students work with both their history and English teachers to learn how to write clearly and succinctly for a museum audience.
- #16 Students plan, design, and build their exhibits.
- #17 After weeks of hard work, students guide parents, other students, faculty, and community members through their exhibits. In the picture, This students’ exhibit allowed visitors to discover advances in medicine during the Renaissance in Europe.
- #18 This is a student project detailing the impact of sugarcane production and trade from multiple perspectives.She created a multimedia presentation and visual diagram to show the impact of this crop.
- #19 This is A project on life on a slave ship during the middle passage allowed visitors to read informative text and view a detailed model to help them imagine its horrors.
- #20 Here is A student project that explored the historical roots and present day tradition of the Afro-Caribbean musical forms Bomba y Plena.She created informational text and created a listening station of videos and music samples.
- #21 This photo shows a student project that detailed the history and cultivation of the potato and the tomato. She highlighted the exchange of these important food crops during the age of exploration.
- #27 There are so many reasons for conducting a project such as this: from interdisciplinary skills such a research and writing to providing students with choices throughout their project which gives them a sense of ownership and accomplishment to the array of critical thinking skills such as determining reliable sources or figuring out what to do when sources clash or contradict with each other.
- #28 But I won’t ask you totake just my word for it, please listen to this excerpt from a current 8th grader following her museum experience for further evidence:This is the reason why I teach 7th grade. This is the moment when these concrete thinkers evolve into abstract, complex thinkers. This project is just one opportunity for them to exercise their minds this school year.