Designing Powerful, Fun and Engaging History Educational Experiences (A Detailed Guide)

Designing an authentic and powerful learning experience for your history students can sound daunting, especially as it was for me. When I first started to look back at my experience as a learner in a history classroom, one mode of instruction loomed over my head as a Pre-Service Teacher -Lecturing. This traditional instructional method has always been a staple in history classrooms, but it clouded my expectations for what a history classroom could look like. 

My history classes have always needed those elements of creative expression and engagement to foster that active learning environment we are all too aware of for our own good but instead sufficed with the passive learning info-dumping method. As much as I cringe as a PST at the thought of wasting my bachelor's program tailored towards authentic learning experiences and cognitive development just to begin and end every class with a PowerPoint, I loved learning history as a student and was quite good at it even with this experience. 

Through researching this topic thoroughly, I've realized that just because I was a successful student in the eyes of the state's standards, I may have been supplementing my learning experience by curating engagement strategies to guide me to success independently. Many strategies I used as a student deserve dedicated time in our lesson plans to build students' skills, not only to deepen the standard requirements but to properly connect history to students' lives and prepare them for civic engagement (and so, so, much more).

Mindmap connecting several areas of history education to design a well-rounded and powerful lesson in the classroom

Areas of Focus to Consider When Curating Powerful History Lessons

Illustrated above are five key engagement and history education standards to implement in your lesson planning to deliver more powerful and impactful history education. The five areas of improvement include an emphasis on curating powerful history education experiences, implementing engagement strategies, reframing the concept of instructional technology, focusing on deepening understanding and fostering digital civic responsibilities. The synchronicity of each key area of focus allows for a more holistic social studies education, leaving a lasting impact and developing more well-rounded students.

Students in the 21st century face a unique reality that antiquates traditional social studies education, mainly through the ongoing changes fostered by technological innovations. Additionally, these innovations have made it possible to implement technology easily to adapt these guidelines more efficiently and seamlessly in your classroom. Instructional technology can be woven into each facet of this process and thusly be utilized to increase student civic and personal agency and inquiry. 

1. Fostering Digital Civic Responsibilities 

As each new generation of students enters the classroom, as educators, we will find that the lines between in-person and online spaces are becoming increasingly blurred. The contours dividing the two realities are fading, and the role of digital civic responsibilities and education are becoming critical skills our students need proficiency in. 

It is understood within the curriculum, that one of the main objectives of Social Studies education exists to prepare students for civic life once they graduate high school. As defined by the C3 Framework, there is an emphasis on critical thinking, problem-solving, democratic decision-making, and participatory skills as engaged citizens. Considering the shift towards seamless immersion into the digital world, students constantly face political information online. As students spend time engaging with social media and digital entertainment, their democratic experiences are shaped by informal and socially oriented discussions and reposts. As educators, there is a need to foster these experiences and guide learners toward civically-oriented and more formal democratic interactions. By adapting our civics lessons to online spaces, we would offer more applicable value to our students' education and democratic futures. 

A powerful and engaging strategy would be developing a lesson that places learners in the real world with a real audience. Contacting local legislators and having a class dedicated to how to do so would empower your students' writing and communication and hone their civic understanding and participation. Additionally, students could host a blog or wiki in a moderated setting that features articles on civic issues to build their formal civic writing. 

2. The Role of Instructional Technology 

The role of instructional technology in social studies education is much more applicable and useful to our students today. Aside from the instructional approaches, technology is deeply connected in nearly every facet of our lives and continuously grows to have different implications for our reality and society. As educators, it is our responsibility to prepare students with a deeper understanding of the ongoing changes fostered by technology, and their implications, as the world has moved towards a more blended environment. Additionally, we should reimagine the roles of instructional technology in our classrooms, less as "tools", and more as a means of accessing information, and informing the civic inquiries and choices we ultimately make. Move away from using instructional technology for WebQuests and quizzes, and move towards using technology to build deeper understandings and curating powerful educational experiences for active learning. 

An idea you could implement would be using mindmaps to connect themes and events, or even interacting with 3D models of historical monuments. I would also recommend letting students explore online archived databases, which often have appropriate sources for different periods, including audio and visual aids. 

3. Implementing Engagement Strategies 

After taking this online LinkedIn Learning e-course, I've looked at engagement strategies for social studies education a bit differently. Conventional lecturing only presents the learner with facts and does not engage your student in collaboration, critical thinking, skills practice, higher-level thinking, or encourage exploration of social studies. This passive learning does not engage learners, who should be challenged, purpose-driven, and active participants. Lectures are prevalent in social studies culture, but it does not (should not) have to be your only mode of instruction as an educator. Engaged learning involves talking, manipulating, working, and applying content knowledge to build metacognitive skills, critical thinking, and an inquiry arc.

It can be difficult trying to lesson plan for a history class when traditions have been set, not to mention the few resources and time -so here are six options you could explore to get you started that are perfect for use in a history classroom:

1. Problem-Based Learning: Integrating projects and exercises grounded in real-world problems allows students to connect historical context to the present circumstances of our world today. Engaged learning occurs when an educator divides students into groups (collaboration) and prompts them with a vague enough real-world problem that students must guide themselves through their own learning. Learning occurs when students research the topic (which allows students to determine what the most important/applicable information is to contextualize the issue), synthesize their findings, test their hypotheses, and apply already known models to the problem. The engagement strategy motivates learners and offers challenges.
2. Integrating Art and Humanities: As social studies is an interdisciplinary subject, art and humanities are an often overlooked integration into history lessons. Having a virtual field trip through an art museum or taking time out of your curricular time to look at art and poetry ties students emotionally to cultural history and expands their (media) literacy through contextualizing symbolism. 
3. Inquiry Arcs: As highlighted within the three pillars of the Position Statement of the National Council for Social Studies, Inquiry Arcs subscribe to the constructionist learning theory. Under an inquiry arc, students would guide their own research "investigations" strategically and creatively, enabling student autonomy, and connecting themselves to their inquiry. This approach supports independence and curiosity, automatically engaging them in history and civics issues. 
4. Role Playing: Role playing bridges the gap between context and content being learned, and allows them to understand dynamics and roles while illustrating social issues. One of my best memories in high school was creating my own "Scarlet Letter" (Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter) and wearing it around campus for a week. Another example of such would be our reenactment of The Crucible play and our own staged witch trials. All of these examples helped build that contextual understanding in a fun and interactive way.
5. Simulations: Historical simulations can be another great way to engage learners in building deeper understandings. I would recommend looking at animated historical maps to show the timelines within geography, as well as government simulations to help students memorize the roles of all three branches of government.
6. Think-Pair-Share: This engagement process begins with Think, in which an educator prompts the students with a question or activity. Afterward, you should Pair students together to develop their ideas or answer, then open up the class to a larger discussion to Share their thinking. I like the idea of using flashcards to do this, in which learners would first independently formulate an answer to a prompt and write it down (Think), then collaborate in medium-sized groups comparing each person's answer, and finally creating a cumulative answer from several sources to bridge gaps in understanding (Pair). You could bring the class back together to discuss each group's answers (Share).

4. Focus on Deepening Understanding 

Another key area to consider when designing powerful history lessons is focusing on deepening understanding of content, rather than focusing on covering as much content as possible. Once again, this should not be done purely through lecturing, but through the construction of knowledge. Social studies classes should be "laboratories for democracy", where students actively investigate history in ways that are relevant and applicable to their lives and contemporary social issues.  This construction of understanding relates back to the idea of the inquiry arc, as inquiry is at the heart of the discipline. 

Overall, history lessons should be integrated with humanities, arts, and social sciences to amplify understanding and context of history. Additionally, lessons should be curated to align with the standards for ELA for your grade level, as building literacy allows students to critically analyze historical texts and content. I recommend referencing the Four Dimensions of the C3 Framework, which detail which subjects should especially be integrated and how to construct knowledge through inquiry engagement with those disciplines. You can begin lesson plans by developing questions and inquiries for your students around Civics, Economics, Geography, and History to spark curiosity. Be sure to allow students the opportunity to evaluate sources and develop claims using historical evidence, which is usually reserved for higher grade levels. Building these skills allows students to acquire rigorous content knowledge and apply it to other disciplines and real-world problems. Having time dedicated to discussions around these sources to critically analyze narratives allows students to consider taking informed action. 

A final approach to enriching your history lessons to create deeper understandings would be tying art and giving opportunities for creative expression to build lasting memories. Memory can be a narrative device if explored through literature and art, expanding concepts and historical perspectives. This is a great way to connect students' identities to the classroom. Writing (as accurately as possible) historical fiction or poetry can be a great exercise for students to develop deeper connections to history. You could also frame your history lessons through a storytelling experience, where you would ditch your PowerPoint and choose to activate student's inner lives instead. Regardless of how you decide to integrate creative exercises into your lesson plans, be sure to align them with the developmental stage of your students to fully harness the power of creativity. 

5. Curating Powerful History Education Experiences

Lastly, and more broadly, this section is dedicated to things to consider when curating powerful history experiences over typical lessons. Powerful instruction should always connect to your learners' identities to determine differentiated instruction methods for your classroom. Furthermore, history is a social discipline and collaboration should be present in your pedagogy to help students build that understanding and each other's perspectives. To make your history lessons more relevant and applicable to students' lives, be sure to offer inclusive and complex topics to your students to critically analyze and connect to current events. This would build their civic engagement and understanding while relating to identities in your classroom. Building civic literacy and democratic principles in this way allows students to engage with real-world issues that apply to their lives and strengthen their future endeavors.

I also recommend dissecting the Three Pillars of Powerful Teaching and Learning of the Social Sciences, which detail many of the standards I've referenced in this article in much greater detail. The basis of the three pillars is in placing learners at the center of their learning, highlighting the relevance and applicability of history, and fostering civic engagement. 

Engaged Learning is Powerful Learning

Curating more engaging learning techniques that foster civic participation and connect to students' identities is proven to be more powerful instruction than passive traditional lecturing. This strategy leads to higher scores with up to a 6% increase and makes history lessons more applicable and fun for your students. For the future of our nation, building these critical thinking and metacognitive skills is imperative in advancing students' abilities and engaging in democratic processes. Try implementing these themes into your pedagogy slowly and watch the consequences unfold in your classroom!

Resources:

College, career, and Civic Life (C3) framework for Social Studies State Standards. Social Studies. (n.d.-a). https://www.socialstudies.org/standards/c3

Kapp, K. (2016, August 10). Learning how to increase Learner Engagement: Linkedin learning, formerly Lynda.com. LinkedIn Learning | Login. https://www.linkedin.com/learning-login/share?account=78576122&forceAccount=false&redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Flearning%2Flearning-how-to-increase-learner-engagement%3Ftrk%3Dshare_ent_url%26shareId%3DZvnzcsgMQWmCRdzYP06KhQ%253D%253D

Memory’s radial path to learning. Global Oneness Project. (n.d.). https://www.globalonenessproject.org/library/essays/memorys-radial-path-learning

Ncte. (2018, October 25). Build your stack: Preparing to teach historical fiction. National Council of Teachers of English. https://ncte.org/blog/2018/09/build-stack-preparing-teach-historical-fiction/

Powerful teaching and learning in Social Studies. Social Studies. (n.d.-b). https://www.socialstudies.org/position-statements/powerful-teaching-and-learning-social-studies

Technology, Digital Learning, and Social Studies. Social Studies. (n.d.-c). https://www.socialstudies.org/position-statements/technology-digital-learning-and-social-studies

YouTube. (2017a, January 22). 10 amazing interactive history lesson ideas for in the classroom. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeLEiyywNIM

YouTube. (2017b, January 22). 10 amazing interactive history lesson ideas for in the classroom. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeLEiyywNIM