Analyzing history from both sides of the story can encourage students to delve more deeply into the people and events they are studying. But, analyzing is difficult for many students. An easy way to help your students is to add a graphic component. This helps activate various multiple intelligences to assist understanding and retention.
There are
a wide variety of graphic options for perspective and viewpoint pieces. A few
work best with individual historical figures, while others can be used with
people or events. Here are some of my favorites.
ACTIVITIES FOR PEOPLE
In Roman
mythology, Janus was the god of beginnings and endings. Janus is usually shown
with two faces in profile. This is also similar to the comedy and tragedy masks
in theater arts. For this graphic, two silhouettes are drawn back to back,
facing opposite directions, down the middle of the page. I provided a template
the first few times we used this method, but eventually my students drew their
own in their notebooks. On one side, students list good achievements or effects
of a leader or of an important person in history. On the other side, students
list the bad achievements or effects. It works great for reviewing presidencies
and major explorers.
Honored/Wanted Poster
In this
graphic organizer, a historical marker or medal is drawn on one side to honor a
person while a wanted poster is drawn on the other side to show his/her
contemptible actions. Similar to the Janus figures, this graphic can be used to
list the good done by an historical figure as well as the harm he/she caused.
It works well with explorers, dictators, kings, queens, and presidents. This
idea can be adapted into a note-taking device or an assessment by using the
historical marker and the wanted poster individually to list the positive
actions of a person like Martin Luther King, Jr. or the negative actions of a
dictator like Adolf Hitler.
ACTIVITIES FOR EVENTS
Perspective Page
This
activity truly looks at both side of a story. The topic is written vertically
down the center of the page. To the left and right are labels for two people or
groups, pros and cons, positive or negative, or advantages and disadvantages.
For example, if the Texas Revolution is the topic, students can list the
opinions and positions of American settlers in Texas on one side and the
Mexican Government on the other. This idea can also be adapted into a
note-taking device when learning about topics like slavery with multiple
opinions and position.
Talking Heads
Diaries and Letters
We learn
about many of the events in history from primary source documents, especially
letters and diaries. Having students write a diary entry, a letter, or even a
postcard is a great way to look at two sides of an event. I like to have
students write letters as soldiers on opposite sides of a war. For example,
what would a North Korean soldier have written to a South Korean soldier or
what would a Confederate and a Union soldier have written about the Battle of Gettysburg?
Venn diagrams and T-charts
While
simple, those old standby Venn diagrams and T-charts can still be implemented
to look at both sides of a coin. Both make quick and easy note-taking devices.
Venn diagrams can be used to compare and contrast like any perspective
activity. Two or even three forms of government can be arranged in two or three
overlapping circles. A T-chart can be used to compare the British Army and the
Continental Army in the Revolutionary War.
ACTIVITIES FOR PEOPLE OR EVENTS
Spectrums
Once a
unit of content has been completed, a spectrum can be used by the individual
student as an assessment piece. Students draw a horizontal line across a piece
of paper. They label the left end “Least Impact” and the right end “Most
Impact.” Student then place the people (explorers, presidents, monarchs,
emperors, generals, etc.), events (battles, events that happened in a person's
life, key things about an ancient civilization, etc.), or advancement
(inventions, technology, architecture, agriculture, etc.) they've learned about in the unit on the line
where he/she believes they should be on the spectrum. Students then write a 2-3
sentence explanation for each placement. Since this is strictly an opinion
piece, any grade should be based on the facts of the explanation, not on the
placement on the line. Students can add color and icons make the spectrum even
more visual. Sentence strips also work well with this activity.
Spectrums
are also a great way to initiate quality class discussions. Have students work
in small groups and examine something like the inventions of China (gun powder,
paper, etc.) and place them on a spectrum labeled “Most Important” to “Least
Important.” Create the same spectrum on the board in the classroom. When the
groups are ready, assign each group a different colored marker or chalk. Each
group writes the inventions in their placement on the class spectrum. There
will be obvious differences of opinions. The groups must be able to rationalize
their placements and hopefully convince the other groups of their positions.
The goal is to try for a consensus of importance.
Dialogues/Dialogs
This is a
creative writing device for examining an event from two sides or how two people
approached one event. For example, the controversy over the formation of a
National Bank as viewed by Alexander Hamilton and James Madison makes a great
dialogue. Half of the students work in pairs to become Hamilton experts on the
topic and the other half of the class become Madison experts. The readings,
including quotations, can be provided by the teacher or the students can do
their own research. When ready, each Hamilton expert is paired with a Madison
expert. Together they write a dialogue using a set of sentence stems provided
by the teacher. “The Constitution views the formation of a National Bank as …”,“I believe a National Bank will cause …”,“A National Bank will only benefit …”
Some students enjoy getting up in front of the class and presenting their
dialogues as a dramatic skit.
Editorials or News Reports
Editorials
or News Reports are a variation of the Dialogues. Students can write an
editorial, a news report, or even draw a political cartoon about one view point
of an event or person. They are paired up with a student from the opposite side
or with a different opinion. These can be presented as dramatic readings or
skits for the class. Get creative with your topics - most students don’t think
about how the events of American Revolution were reported in London, or how
Abraham Lincoln’s presidency was viewed in the South as compared to the North.
Try one of
these out and let me know what happens!
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