Time Travel is an interdisciplinary Gifted and Talented Course, modified from Texas Performance Standards Project. Students in Time travel apply historical consciousness and methodologies to a range of primary sources to interpret past and present through authentic projects.
Time travel begins with an interrogation of what constitutes history and explores the interpretation of primary and secondary documents situated in social and cultural context. Students read primary source texts (documents) and situate them within historical context using secondary sources. After thoroughly researching a time period of interest, students connect cultural and popular themes of the era to material, popular, folk, archival, among other artifactual sources. Students draft original, professional-quality research papers, organize and present at a mini-academic conference, investigate differing scholarly interpretations and arguments and develop a culminating interdisciplinary project showcasing connections between, at least, three, primary source documents (one of which must be a pivotal work of fiction or non-fiction) and major themes of an era.
Examples of Past Projects Include:
Historical fiction novel about women’s suffrage in Texas
Documentary on Flight and culture in the 1950s
Puppet Theater depicting History and culture of psychotherapy in the United States
Research paper on Militaristic Origins of Video Games
Oral History of African American Civil Rights Movement in Austin, TX
Adjust Dates, Resources, and Thematic Emphasis as Needed
Class 1
Greetings!
Icebreakers and procedures!
Discussion of GT!
Class 2
What is History? The Question Is, What is NOT History?
Developing a concept of history through student autobiographies (prior knowledge)
How have events, traditions, and popular culture influenced student lives/beliefs? How are these meaningful for history? How are autobiographies similar and/or different?
Homework: WEBQUEST: Find and cite, using Chicago-Style Format, a definition of “cultural history.” Record the definition and citation in the Research Journal
Class 3
Culture or History, Which Came First?
Mini-lesson on anthropological concept of culture.
Discussion: How does history shape culture? How does culture shape history?
Homework: Reflection journaling on why/how video games were not created in, for example, the antebellum period. What cultural/ historical events must have occurred for video games to exist?
Class 4
Text and Context
Mini-lesson, including definitions, of concept of “text” (historical and/or cultural artifact) and context (historical period in which texts are situated/emerge).
Discussion: How can an idea, person, event, technology be a text? What language (history) must we know to interpret, make sense of, or “read” the text? How and why does the “language,” that is, the perspective, vary based on the interpreter?
Homework: Reflection journal: Write a fictional history of a tree threatened to be cut down by loggers from a squirrel's, human’s, and tree’s perspective. How do the perspectives differ? Is the actual event of the tree being chopped down different in each of the perspectives, or the MEANING of the event?
Class 5
Primary Sources
Mini-lesson on primary source definition and various types of sources.
Resource: Yale Primary Source
Teacher emphasizes that primary sources, typically, do not cite or refer to secondary sources, but viewed as a window into an era, ANYTHING can be used, for research purposes, as a primary source.
Pivotal (canonical or influential works of enduring value) novels, lab journals, diaries, or peer-reviewed journal articles as primary sources in specific historical contexts. Teacher may consult local librarian or anthology for ready, annotated, bibliographies and examples. May do a whole class reading, for example, of To Kill a Mockingbird or math or science popularizers, for modeling purposes, or use different works.
Optional: class takes a field trip to library or uses local resources to choose a novel for historical investigation.
Homework: Historians sometimes discuss historical periods in terms of dominant themes, usually relating to remarkable political, social, and cultural changes (for example, “the roaring twenties”). Using the reflection journal, write about a theme or themes relevant to the time period in which we live. How would you describe the theme? Compare the notion of a cultural or social theme to themes found in works of literature, for example. What is the relationship between these themes?
Students continue reading primary source novel, reflecting in their journals after each reading on their thoughts/feelings about any aspect of the book.
Class 6
Secondary Sources
Mini-lesson on concept of secondary sources
Resource: Teaching History.org
Teacher is sure to emphasize that secondary sources are interpretations of primary sources, but some primary sources may indeed, by definition, be secondary sources depending on use of the researcher.
Small group exercise: working with secondary stories to tell a story, such as “heard it through the grapevine” where teacher describes or performs an event, speech, or idea, and students interpret the information. Group discussion showing how students interpret the information differently, concentrating specifically on why students arrived at different interpretation.
Extension mentor text on differing perspectives/experiences of a common event: Ed Young, Three Blind Mice.
Homework: Students finish reading primary source novel, reflecting in their journals on their thoughts/feelings about any aspect of the book.
Class 7
Contextualizing the Primary Source
Resource: Howard Zinn, A Young People’s History of the United States, Vol 1-2 and digital resources such asWorld Atlas or World History Project
Exercise: Students create a timeline, including the date of their novel’s publication, and pivotal events (use digital searches and history reference texts) occurring in the same year, and within the decade, such as feats of engineering, political movements and ideas, discoveries and inventions, scientific breakthroughs, etc.
Example of model: To Kill A Mockingbird written in the Civil Rights Era about social relations in the 1930s. Were there other areas, such as in science and culture (music, art, other works of literature, toys, etc) during Civil Rights Era also interested in questions related to social relations and identity?
Discussion: What are the thematic linkages between the content, main ideas, and themes of the novel and the other pivotal phenomena? How is the concept of culture useful for making sense of these connections?
Homework: Using secondary resources, research about the larger history of the era in which identified events and novels took place. Write a 1-3 page narrative of the time period, noting major political (leaders, policies, wars, etc), cultural (movies, music, art, television, books, etc, and
Class 8
Crafting a Thesis: From General to Specific
Workshop: Model a thesis driven statement linking To Kill A Mockingbird, for example, with identified political events generalizing a basic insight about the time period. Show students how the thesis is supported by the evidence, but other competing thesis could be generated as well.
Students then work individually or in small groups to craft a thesis for their chosen work. What specific elements of the text support the thesis? What specific aspects of the other pivotal events also support the claim? The thesis should be falsafiable.
Homework: Continue working on the thesis. Create a digital presentation including the thesis and cited support from text and other sources. Share the presentations with the teacher via Google Drive.
Class 9
Thesis Presentations
Activity: Students present their thesis statements and support to the class. As the students are presenting, the audience critiques the information based on the following criteria, for example:
Clarity of thesis. Does it communicate a clear, forceful idea. Is it falsafiable and therefore valid?
Evidence: Does the evidence logically support the thesis?
Omissions: Did the presenter seemingly omit information for the sole purpose of crafting and supporting the thesis?
Students provide feedback and critiques for presenters, either written, or if time permitting, verbal.
Homework: Students edit thesis to account for suggestions and critiques or support.
Class 10
Interdisciplinary Research Paper Outline
Lesson relating to scholarly communication of ideas through peer-reviewed articles and academic conferences.
Handout: Chicago citation and bibliography format.
Activity: Students use their previously crafted thesis and supporting evidence to create a thesis-driven research paper outline (example):
I: Introduction including the thesis and concept map, significance, or goal, for the paper.
II. History or context of the information communicated through the thesis
III. Evidence
IV. Evidence
V. Evidence
VI. Conclusion communicating the implications of the research.
Teacher consults with students on individual basis to review and approve outlines.
Homework: Students use outline to begin drafting thesis-driven research paper (8-10 pages).
Class 11
Drafting Research Papers
Workshop: Students continue writing research papers.
Teacher roves room, consults, and provides suggestions and encouragement
Class 12
Organizing the Academic Conference
Suggested resource: What is an Academic Conference?
Scholarship is a social endeavour and scholars submit and share their learning at professional conferences. Our school conference will give an opportunity to organize, present at, and educate an audience of peers, teachers, and parents.
Project Management: Students Organize into a committee, responsible for the following suggested role and considerations:
Homework: Continue working on paper
Class 13
Workshop: Students may either use class time to work on their papers or organize, coordinate conference details with admin, teachers, or other individuals
Homework: Students finish their paper drafts. After finishing, students generate a paragraph long abstract (summary of their research papers).
Class 14
Peer and Teacher Editing of drafts
Student and teacher edit one another’s drafts. Edits should review if students submitted required information based on the outline and quality of writing (grammar, usage, and style). Students accept and incorporate edits or improve on identified opportunities. In addition, students compare abstract with paper to make sure general thesis is communicated through abstract.
Homework: Create a second draft for presentation at conference.
Class 15
Presentation Practice
Mini lesson on best practices for paper presentation
Academic Conference
Students roll out their academic conference, present their papers, and receive feedback, encouragement and support from their community
Second Semester:
Independent Work Phase: Class Flips for Duration of Year and Students Work on Individual Projects.
Show Case: May, 17th, 2016 - Students present their projects.
Time travel begins with an interrogation of what constitutes history and explores the interpretation of primary and secondary documents situated in social and cultural context. Students read primary source texts (documents) and situate them within historical context using secondary sources. After thoroughly researching a time period of interest, students connect cultural and popular themes of the era to material, popular, folk, archival, among other artifactual sources. Students draft original, professional-quality research papers, organize and present at a mini-academic conference, investigate differing scholarly interpretations and arguments and develop a culminating interdisciplinary project showcasing connections between, at least, three, primary source documents (one of which must be a pivotal work of fiction or non-fiction) and major themes of an era.
Examples of Past Projects Include:
Historical fiction novel about women’s suffrage in Texas
Documentary on Flight and culture in the 1950s
Puppet Theater depicting History and culture of psychotherapy in the United States
Research paper on Militaristic Origins of Video Games
Oral History of African American Civil Rights Movement in Austin, TX
Adjust Dates, Resources, and Thematic Emphasis as Needed
Class 1
Greetings!
Icebreakers and procedures!
Discussion of GT!
Class 2
What is History? The Question Is, What is NOT History?
Developing a concept of history through student autobiographies (prior knowledge)
How have events, traditions, and popular culture influenced student lives/beliefs? How are these meaningful for history? How are autobiographies similar and/or different?
Homework: WEBQUEST: Find and cite, using Chicago-Style Format, a definition of “cultural history.” Record the definition and citation in the Research Journal
Class 3
Culture or History, Which Came First?
Mini-lesson on anthropological concept of culture.
Discussion: How does history shape culture? How does culture shape history?
Homework: Reflection journaling on why/how video games were not created in, for example, the antebellum period. What cultural/ historical events must have occurred for video games to exist?
Class 4
Text and Context
Mini-lesson, including definitions, of concept of “text” (historical and/or cultural artifact) and context (historical period in which texts are situated/emerge).
Discussion: How can an idea, person, event, technology be a text? What language (history) must we know to interpret, make sense of, or “read” the text? How and why does the “language,” that is, the perspective, vary based on the interpreter?
Homework: Reflection journal: Write a fictional history of a tree threatened to be cut down by loggers from a squirrel's, human’s, and tree’s perspective. How do the perspectives differ? Is the actual event of the tree being chopped down different in each of the perspectives, or the MEANING of the event?
Class 5
Primary Sources
Mini-lesson on primary source definition and various types of sources.
Resource: Yale Primary Source
Teacher emphasizes that primary sources, typically, do not cite or refer to secondary sources, but viewed as a window into an era, ANYTHING can be used, for research purposes, as a primary source.
Pivotal (canonical or influential works of enduring value) novels, lab journals, diaries, or peer-reviewed journal articles as primary sources in specific historical contexts. Teacher may consult local librarian or anthology for ready, annotated, bibliographies and examples. May do a whole class reading, for example, of To Kill a Mockingbird or math or science popularizers, for modeling purposes, or use different works.
Optional: class takes a field trip to library or uses local resources to choose a novel for historical investigation.
Homework: Historians sometimes discuss historical periods in terms of dominant themes, usually relating to remarkable political, social, and cultural changes (for example, “the roaring twenties”). Using the reflection journal, write about a theme or themes relevant to the time period in which we live. How would you describe the theme? Compare the notion of a cultural or social theme to themes found in works of literature, for example. What is the relationship between these themes?
Students continue reading primary source novel, reflecting in their journals after each reading on their thoughts/feelings about any aspect of the book.
Class 6
Secondary Sources
Mini-lesson on concept of secondary sources
Resource: Teaching History.org
Teacher is sure to emphasize that secondary sources are interpretations of primary sources, but some primary sources may indeed, by definition, be secondary sources depending on use of the researcher.
Small group exercise: working with secondary stories to tell a story, such as “heard it through the grapevine” where teacher describes or performs an event, speech, or idea, and students interpret the information. Group discussion showing how students interpret the information differently, concentrating specifically on why students arrived at different interpretation.
Extension mentor text on differing perspectives/experiences of a common event: Ed Young, Three Blind Mice.
Homework: Students finish reading primary source novel, reflecting in their journals on their thoughts/feelings about any aspect of the book.
Class 7
Contextualizing the Primary Source
Resource: Howard Zinn, A Young People’s History of the United States, Vol 1-2 and digital resources such asWorld Atlas or World History Project
Exercise: Students create a timeline, including the date of their novel’s publication, and pivotal events (use digital searches and history reference texts) occurring in the same year, and within the decade, such as feats of engineering, political movements and ideas, discoveries and inventions, scientific breakthroughs, etc.
Example of model: To Kill A Mockingbird written in the Civil Rights Era about social relations in the 1930s. Were there other areas, such as in science and culture (music, art, other works of literature, toys, etc) during Civil Rights Era also interested in questions related to social relations and identity?
Discussion: What are the thematic linkages between the content, main ideas, and themes of the novel and the other pivotal phenomena? How is the concept of culture useful for making sense of these connections?
Homework: Using secondary resources, research about the larger history of the era in which identified events and novels took place. Write a 1-3 page narrative of the time period, noting major political (leaders, policies, wars, etc), cultural (movies, music, art, television, books, etc, and
Class 8
Crafting a Thesis: From General to Specific
Workshop: Model a thesis driven statement linking To Kill A Mockingbird, for example, with identified political events generalizing a basic insight about the time period. Show students how the thesis is supported by the evidence, but other competing thesis could be generated as well.
Students then work individually or in small groups to craft a thesis for their chosen work. What specific elements of the text support the thesis? What specific aspects of the other pivotal events also support the claim? The thesis should be falsafiable.
Homework: Continue working on the thesis. Create a digital presentation including the thesis and cited support from text and other sources. Share the presentations with the teacher via Google Drive.
Class 9
Thesis Presentations
Activity: Students present their thesis statements and support to the class. As the students are presenting, the audience critiques the information based on the following criteria, for example:
Clarity of thesis. Does it communicate a clear, forceful idea. Is it falsafiable and therefore valid?
Evidence: Does the evidence logically support the thesis?
Omissions: Did the presenter seemingly omit information for the sole purpose of crafting and supporting the thesis?
Students provide feedback and critiques for presenters, either written, or if time permitting, verbal.
Homework: Students edit thesis to account for suggestions and critiques or support.
Class 10
Interdisciplinary Research Paper Outline
Lesson relating to scholarly communication of ideas through peer-reviewed articles and academic conferences.
Handout: Chicago citation and bibliography format.
Activity: Students use their previously crafted thesis and supporting evidence to create a thesis-driven research paper outline (example):
I: Introduction including the thesis and concept map, significance, or goal, for the paper.
II. History or context of the information communicated through the thesis
III. Evidence
IV. Evidence
V. Evidence
VI. Conclusion communicating the implications of the research.
Teacher consults with students on individual basis to review and approve outlines.
Homework: Students use outline to begin drafting thesis-driven research paper (8-10 pages).
Class 11
Drafting Research Papers
Workshop: Students continue writing research papers.
Teacher roves room, consults, and provides suggestions and encouragement
Class 12
Organizing the Academic Conference
Suggested resource: What is an Academic Conference?
Scholarship is a social endeavour and scholars submit and share their learning at professional conferences. Our school conference will give an opportunity to organize, present at, and educate an audience of peers, teachers, and parents.
Project Management: Students Organize into a committee, responsible for the following suggested role and considerations:
- Conference Title
- Location, Date, and Time
- Will there be additional exhibitions? Opportunities for PTO or community partnerships.
- Abstract review and panel formulation
- Appropriate handling of audience participation, such as questioning.
- Documenting the event, such as video taping.
- Refreshments
- Promotional material, such as invitations, abstracts.
Homework: Continue working on paper
Class 13
Workshop: Students may either use class time to work on their papers or organize, coordinate conference details with admin, teachers, or other individuals
Homework: Students finish their paper drafts. After finishing, students generate a paragraph long abstract (summary of their research papers).
Class 14
Peer and Teacher Editing of drafts
Student and teacher edit one another’s drafts. Edits should review if students submitted required information based on the outline and quality of writing (grammar, usage, and style). Students accept and incorporate edits or improve on identified opportunities. In addition, students compare abstract with paper to make sure general thesis is communicated through abstract.
Homework: Create a second draft for presentation at conference.
Class 15
Presentation Practice
Mini lesson on best practices for paper presentation
Academic Conference
Students roll out their academic conference, present their papers, and receive feedback, encouragement and support from their community
Second Semester:
Independent Work Phase: Class Flips for Duration of Year and Students Work on Individual Projects.
Show Case: May, 17th, 2016 - Students present their projects.