Teaching History Without a History Degree
Whether teaching historical fiction or creative non-fiction, knowing how to integrate short historical lessons goes a long way
Welcome to From the Teacher’s Desk, where we take turns further reflecting on our episodes and applications to the classroom.
When I dropped my speech/drama major in college to pursue a dual major in English and history, it felt like a natural fit. I had loved history in high school but never considered teaching it, probably because all of my history teachers had been male. But I loved reading historical fiction and consistently looked for the historical context of every book I read. Taking everything from Colonial American History to Russian History transformed the way I looked at the world and my role as an English teacher. While one of my history professors was disappointed when he discovered that my first teaching job was just in English, I assured him that I would use his lessons about American Foreign Relations in my classroom. (He was the professor for whom I wrote a paper about the atomic bomb, which I mentioned in our Oppenheimer episode.)
The summer after my fourth year of teaching, I attended the Belfer Conference at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. (This was years before virtual was even a possibility; now the museum does a yearly virtual conference and I cannot recommend it enough.) I was surrounded by brilliant and passionate teachers, all of us determined to better learn how we could teach the Holocaust and related material to our students. Most of the teachers taught either English or history, and I sensed a significant amount of trepidation from my fellow English teachers as they tried to puzzle out how to best teach the history necessary to more effectively teach everything from Number the Stars to Night. It was the first time I, as a young teacher, felt like I had a comfort level with teaching material that my peers did not.
But you don’t have to have a history major or even spend a lot of time studying history to effectively integrate history lessons into your classroom, regardless of your subject area. Here are three ways that I have woven in important history lessons over the years.
Use Documentaries for Context
Several years ago my husband and I were flipping through the History Channel and became enamored with a two-hour documentary about the Dust Bowl. We tried to stop watching and go to bed, but we stayed up late to finish Black Blizzard before discussing how little we had actually understood the Dust Bowl.
Over the years, I used the documentary to give my students a context for The Grapes of Wrath, having them complete a rhetorical analysis guide while they were watching the film. It served as both an analytical lesson and an important context for them before they got into the heart of the novel. I wanted them to see why people had to leave the Great Plains for California, even if nothing was waiting for them when they got there. There are documentaries about nearly every historical event; even using short YouTube clips helps students visualize a history so different from their own.
Use Non-Fiction Pieces for Discussion
I love using jigsaw groups. This kind of extended “Think, Pair, Share” activity allows you to cover a lot of informational ground with your students while also covering multiple state standards. I’ve used them to discuss refugees (past and present) in conjunction with Night, modern approaches to missionary work while teaching the second part of Things Fall Apart, and expectations of Victorian women while introducing Dracula.
It can also prepare them for difficult outcomes in a text. When I’ve taught Of Mice and Men, discussing the early 20th-century treatment of those deemed mentally ill or intellectually challenged helped prepare students for the final scene in the novel. Classic pieces of literature are historical to our students now, and helping them understand that context can help them better appreciate the text.
Use Docudramas as Bookends
How often do your students ask for movies in your classroom? It can be a great way to wrap up a unit and extend students learning. I’ve devised this “Based on a True Story” worksheet that challenges students to think critically and do some of their own research.
The film choices don’t always have to be directly related. One year I showed Cinderella Man after my students finished The Grapes of Wrath, mostly to give them a different perspective on the Great Depression. I’ve used Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee after reading Night and Iron Jawed Angels at the end of a women’s literature unit that focused heavily on Kate Chopin and “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Instead of just showing something that repeats what they’ve just studied, consider films that challenge them to make the same kinds of connections that Alicia and I do on every episode of our podcast. This will teach them lessons that extend outside of the classroom for years to come.
How do you bring history into your classroom? Share your ideas in the comments below.
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When I taught American-Jewish fiction at Michigan State, I did a whole class on the different religious branches, Jewish identification, and a primer on European Jewish history. Students needed all that since they had no prior knowledge.
Your lessons sound fantastic. I wish I were in your class