Many adults will remember their Middle School history classes as times filled with textbook readings, board notes, and memorizing fact after fact. But that is not how we approach Social Studies at BSS. Here, studying history and geography is an active pursuit.
Our first unit of study is purposely named “Doing Social Studies” and provides students with the academic tools and mindset that they need to dive into not just this course, but many others in Grade 8 and beyond.
Collecting the Pieces
“Family faces are magic mirrors.
Looking at people who belong to us, we see the past, present and future.
We make discoveries about ourselves.”
-Gail Lumet Buckley, writer
Much to the students’ surprise, their introduction to Grade 8 Social Studies and their first homework for the course actually begins in June of Grade 7. Students are invited to spend some time over the summer collecting a few primary sources about their family: documents and photographs that are ideally from before 1975.
For some students, this task is simple and enjoyable. Parents and grandparents have easy access to a treasure trove of items. Family photo albums are pulled off the shelf, boxes of old letters and newspaper clippings are retrieved from the attic, and lively exchanges unfold between students and their older relatives. Students return to school in the fall sharing delightful stories about seeing photographs for the first time of their grandmother as a teenager, marvelling at immigration papers, and laughing at their grandfather’s terrible report card results.
For other students, this task is much more challenging and can sometimes involve difficult conversations about why these items no longer exist or why they may not be accessible. Or they may have items that families feel are too private for class use. History of any kind, including family history, can be messy and complex. In these cases, students are invited to bring the oldest items that they can find and are comfortable sharing. Our goal is to make this learning activity as inclusive as possible.
Regardless of the age or nature of the primary source materials collected, the main point is that they are from one’s own family. Students in Middle School are at an age when they are forming their personal identity and developing a greater understanding of where they come from can be powerful.
Primary Sources: The Historian’s Lens
When we come together to learn in the fall, students engage in the work that historians do, namely piecing together the past through the analysis of primary sources. Using documents sourced from the Archives of Ontario, old BSS photographs, and family photographs from the teacher, students learn how to use clues in the materials to make specific observations and then broader inferences about the time period in which the source was produced. They find it remarkable how a few simple lines from a woman’s diary from the 1830s can provide insights into gender dynamics, food production and medical care, or what an informal snap of some World War II servicemen in a pub can tell us about social norms and the racial make-up of the Canadian military at the time.
A trip to the BSS Archives provides students with a further opportunity to engage with primary source materials and practise their analytical skills, before they then dive into analysing their own family’s photographs and documents to learn about the times and places in which their families lived.
Oral History: The Power of Connection
“Oral history is a picture of the past in people’s own words.”
-Beth Robertson, historian
Layered into the unit is an introduction to oral history as a way to learn about and appreciate another invaluable way that historians piece together stories of the past. Students learn about effective interviewing techniques, prepare a selection of open-ended questions driven by their own interests about their older relatives, and then engage in a minimum half-hour recorded conversation.
While the thought of speaking for 30 minutes often seems daunting at the outset, most students are surprised how easy it flows. They hear stories they have never heard before and revisit family favourites. They see their older family members in a different light as they learn about their relatives as young people. A past student shared in a reflection that while she had dinner with her grandparents every Friday night, she realized that they always asked questions about her, and it wasn’t until this interview that she actually asked questions about them. They make connections that they didn’t know existed. The incredible value of these intergenerational interactions for both young and old cannot be underestimated.
Research Skills: Beyond the Family Album
“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
-Zora Neal Hurston, writer
After listening to their interview recording and analysing their family photographs and documents, students identify topics about which they would like to learn more, fuelling the next phase of the project: developing research skills. Students craft effective research questions, learn how to critique online sources using vertical and lateral reading techniques, practice point-form notemaking skills, and create proper citations in MLA format. Whether it’s discovering what sports were like in the 1950s, life as a prisoner of war, the apartheid system in South Africa, or 1970s fashion, students dive into something of personal interest, developing their research skills as they explore online sources.
Reflection and Identity: The Missing Pieces
The unit is entitled “My Puzzle of the Past” because history is like a puzzle — a set of interconnected pieces (interviews, artifacts and records) that must be assembled to form a coherent narrative of the past. As the students began to put the pieces of their own history together, many of them expressed a profound sense of gratitude.“Something that I feel grateful that I found out was how my family used to speak Yiddish,” shared one student. “No one in my family speaks it today. I think it’s important to honour and remember the language your family used to speak. Even if it’s not spoken today, it’s your culture and your history. No one can take away your past.”
Another student reflected on the value of understanding what her family went through, as they made a new life in a different country. “When I looked at old photos and listened to their stories, I found out how hard they worked to build a better life. It made me really appreciate everything they did and how strong they were,” she said. Others gained insight into their family’s values and traditions. “I really appreciate the knowledge I gained because now I better comprehend why my parents raised me the way they did,” reflected another student. “My grandma’s past shaped her values, and her values were passed down to me.”
However, as many students discovered, few historical puzzles have all the pieces readily available. “I would like to understand more about our older relatives’ childhoods and the lives they lived before I was born,” said one student. “I would like to understand their traditions and experiences. I were to learn about this, I might have a better understanding…of my belonging and identity.”
Another student noted, “I would still like to hear about the culture my family came from. I am interested in this because I find that when I discover new things about myself or my family, I start seeing things in different ways.”
Other students discovered new interests, sparked by their research. As another student shared, “My grandma and I briefly discussed the origin of [our family] recipes. I would like to learn more about where they came from and how to make them. I am curious about this because I would like to continue to embrace aspects of my older relatives’ life.”
Piecing It All Together
Armed with a more fully-developed skillset, students are set up for success not only in social studies, but in other Grade 8 programs. For example, they use their research skills when learning about cells in science class and hone their ability to make inferences when examining literature in English.
In art, students extend their research by translating their family history into visual symbols reflecting themes of migration, identity and connection. After designing an abstract composition, they carve these visions into soft linoleum blocks to create their primary prints. As they experiment with colours and layering, they produce a series of iterations that eventually form the base of a multi-dimensional collage, adding texture, depth and meaning. This hands-on process teaches students to visualize complex narratives and empowers them to take bold creative risks.
In the end, students are not only left with a wider array of transferable academic skills, but some big ideas to carry them through Grade 8 and beyond. They are reminded that everyone has a history, not just nations; that every person has an interesting and valuable story to tell; that there are so many ways to be a family; that we are a nation of immigrants and that those immigrant experiences shape not only our own families, but our country. And they learn that the work of historians is much like that of a detective piecing together the puzzle of the past.
