Exploring the Past: What Do Historians Do?

Exploring the Past: What Do Historians Do?

Learning Objective

At the end of the lesson, you will understand the concept of past, present, and future, and how historians study and interpret historical events.

What do you already know about the past, present, and future?

Understanding Time

Discuss the meanings of past, present, and future. Encourage students to put the words in chronological order and explain their reasoning.

Timelines and Chronological Order

Explain the concept of timelines and how events are arranged in chronological order. Use a visual timeline of the children's day to demonstrate.

Personal and Shared History

Discuss personal events from the past and future, and identify major historical events shared by all. Encourage sharing and comparison of ideas.

World War 2 Time Travel

Take guesses on how long ago World War 2 was, then introduce the concept of time travel through a PowerPoint presentation and visual timeline.

Timeline Creation

Guide students in creating their own visual timeline representing historical periods and events. Encourage creativity and accuracy.

Historical Understanding

Discuss the importance of understanding historical events and the role of historians in studying and interpreting the past.

Reflection and Review

Reflect on the lesson and review key concepts about the past, present, and future, as well as the role of historians.

Write down 3 things you learned in this lesson.

Have students enter three things they learned in this lesson. With this they can indicate their own learning efficiency of this lesson.

Write down 2 things you want to know more about.

Here, students enter two things they would like to know more about. This not only increases involvement, but also gives them more ownership.

Ask 1 question about something you haven't quite understood yet.

The students indicate here (in question form) with which part of the material they still have difficulty. For the teacher, this not only provides insight into the extent to which the students understand/master the material, but also a good starting point for the next lesson.