elective history

Date: Mon Feb 27 10:25 AM, 2006

elective history

Date: Mon Feb 27 10:01 PM, 2006

Half your luck! I'm not allowed to run the elective, but I recall doing it a few years ago when I made each student in Year 10 choose a book, read it, and review it both in writing to me and verbally to the class. They were limited in that context to WW2 and I stretched the word 'fiction' to include memoirs e.g of Holocaust survivors. If I were doing it today I would look for a good yarn first and foremost and don't worry if the author is 'respectable'. Would it be possible to construct something from each century or historical period? Here are some suggestions off the top of my head:

WW2: Jack Higgins 'The Eagle has landed' (or that one called '???? Tom" about the bloke who takes in an evacuated boy from the Blitz! Ask your English faculty)

WW1: 'Birdsong' - I've forgotten the author!

Napoleonic period: The Adventures of Brigadier Gerard by A. Conan Doyle
The 'Hornblower' books by C.S.Forester

Medieval: the 'Brother Cadfael' mysteries by Ellis Peters (good paperback 'who dun its' where the detective is a monk in a monastery)

'Dark Ages': the 'Sister Fidelma' mysteries by Peter Tremayne (more good paperback 'who dun its' set in Ireland in the 7th century. You learn a lot about ancient Ireland betwixt the murders!)

I'm sure the Ancient historians could come to the party with a few 'ripping yarns' from times B.C. and others could fill in the missing centuries above. It could work well with a decent Year 10 class. I'm not sure if it's a bit much for Year 9. Still, that's my suggestion.

Good luck,

Stephen

Date: Thu Mar 2 8:02 PM, 2006

Not surprising to read Stephen's comment that he's "not allowed" to run stage 5 elective history. I have consistently encountered the same problem, though I have been "allowed" to include it on the list of potential electives for Year 9s. Seems for the subject to run, though, it not only has to get more takers than other viable electives (which it does), it must be ahead by a significant margin, otherwise it gets knocked back on the basis that the college needs to offer a diverse curriculum.

Is it the same at other schools? What methods have other history teachers employed to get the required numbers?

Greg

Date: Thu Mar 2 8:08 PM, 2006

If you can track down a copy of Historical Fiction in the Classroom, it might prove useful. It's out of print according to Amazon, but might be in some of the uni libraries. It has sections on a wide range of historical novels with associated activities.

Greg

Date: Tue Mar 7 4:42 PM, 2006

At our local country high school, we offered elective history for the first time in 2006. Our principal agreed that there should be more history in the school! We have 14 students in year 9, which makes it the biggest elective in that year. Isold the idea by using one of Kate Cameron's ideas and put a lot of interesting archaeology in the course. I also told them they would have fun and that the course had nothing to do with SC Australian History which was compulsory. At the time electives were chosen, I visited every year 8 class and told them how exciting it was going to be. They believed me so now I have to deliver. Elizabeth.

Date: Fri Mar 10 9:54 AM, 2006

We have been allowed to offer Elective History since the mandatory course came in. We deliberately chose topics that did not overlap with Australian History. We currently do in year 9 a unit on underwater archaeology that looks at the Mary Rose, Lusitania and Australian shipwrecks eg Batavia. A unit on ancient Greek women follows, then a unit on "bog bodies" ( a topic which we do not do in year 11 preliminary). In term 3 we look at American and French Revolutions and in term 4 at Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King.

In Year 10 we do Robin Hood: real person or myth; Joan of Arc, Richard III and the Missiong Princes, The Tudors. In the second semester we do Jack the Ripper (a good unit on how evidence can be interpreted in different ways), Mussolini and John F Kennedy.
We have a total of 45 in year 10. This year in year 9 we have a class of about 27 (which is down on numbers a little, as Geography actually managed to get an Elective class for the first time.

Date: Thu May 4 3:32 PM, 2006

I was fortunate enough 4 years ago to have the support of staff in offering an elective course. In planning the program I tried to choose topics that would excite students while at the same time extend their historical skills. In year 9 we look at Sumeria, which seemed to arouse the passions with the invasion of Iraq and looted museums. Celts and Samurai warriors are very popular with the boys. In Year 10 we look at Revolution , through to Terrorism. Students are asked also to view film and literature as potential sources of historical evidence, although I must say they find it challenging.
The emphasis is on making history alive to students. We have had plays, written and produced by students, craft days, dinners, debates and mock UN days.
Each year we have had two elective classes in each year ( the word spreads ) and find that we now have more students taking senior Modern and Ancient.
I think that it comes down to enthusiasm and selling your subject to Juniors.
Best of luck in breaking down the walls of resistance.

Date: Fri May 5 10:50 AM, 2006

Thanks Liz and everyone else who took the time to reply. I have been occupied with a heavy workload but have been keeping up with your information.

I successfully completed a unit on historical fiction(I think so-anyway the students seem to enjoy it !) I am now trying to develop something on myths and legends after talking to the class and seeing what their interests are.

It has been very challenging and I have had to think on my feet many times but I am finding it a very rewarding course to teach. Next year should be good when I am more confident about it.

Thanks again

Marie:

Date: Fri May 12 2:41 PM, 2006

I managed to re-establish elective history at a hard school in Sydney’s south west, by writing programs such as local history where we had a guided tour of Campbelltown cemetery by the Campbelltown Airds historical society, the kids loved it, this year all the year eight kids want to know is ‘are we going to the grave yard’ numbers have been growing steadily for elective history.

This year to target students I wrote a unit on the history of Polynesia, a larger proportion of our students are from the Pacific Island community and this unit has attracted great interest.

Troy

Date: Wed Jun 28 10:02 AM, 2006

Hi

I am also teaching elective history. I haven't done a unit on historical fiction, but am currently, like yourself, trying to come up with ideas. One of the ideas I want to run with is for the students to choose a historical fiction novel. The "My Story" series might be a good starting point. Then perhaps we'll look at signicant events around the same time frame as their novels. Some ideas could be: Composing news paper reports covering a major event

. Diary entries

. Visual representations for the artistic

.Interviews with personalities in the era

Anyway, I haven't started yet. Hope these 'might' help. Regards Craig cnjory@bigpond.com

Date: Mon Jul 24 1:01 PM, 2006

http://www.sdcoe.k12.ca.us/SCORE/all/alltg.html

this is an outstanding website with a great teaching unit on the novel. We are doing it in our school in term three for elective history REGARDS CRAIG

Date: Thu Nov 30 6:41 PM, 2006

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Next year I am teaching Elective History for the first time.

There is a an old book called 'Case Studies in Mo