HFCA Engages 2nd Graders' Historical Imagination
The study of history--you either hate it or love it. While some cringe at the thought of memorizing names, dates and events, lovers of history often point to great teachers who piqued their curiosity with storytelling, interesting field trips, and creatively made the study of then and now relevant. Meet Mrs. Carlotta Lencioni, Mrs. Susan Marinelli, and Mrs. Catherine Lyon, second grade teachers at Holy Family Catholic Academy (Inverness) who skillfully engage young thinkers.
Recently, this trio of teachers used Inquiry-based learning to look at changes that have occurred in Palatine Township. They invited Palatine Mayor Jim Schwantz to visit their classrooms to challenge the students to compare life in the past with today. Using the Daily Herald's series on the 150 year history of Palatine Township, each student was assigned an historical feature and asked to visit the site and report on the changes. The unit also involved a field trip to Palatine's historic Clayson House. States Mrs. Carlotta Lencioni, "Our students got so much more out of the field trip after they had done their research and site visits. They were able to put the historical significance of the Clayson House into a deeper context than they would have gotten from merely reading a chapter in a book." According to Mrs. Marilyn Pedersen of the Palatine Historical Society, their learning was evident. She hopes to incorporate the students' "then and now" comparisons of Palatine Township into an exhibit at the Clayson House.
As a Candidate* in the International Baccalaureate (IB) World School Primary Years Programme, HFCA applied the IB framework of transdisciplinary themes to further enhance their several week-long inquiry unit. In addition to researching, writing and presenting, students also used their iPads to create maps of the places they visited and identified social and emotional characteristics of the Palatine settlers such as courage, open-mindedness and curiosity--all part of the attributes of IB's global citizens.
As with all teaching, the measure of success lies in the students. Carter Meyer shared, "Visiting the site I read about in history really helped me imagine what it was like to live 150 years ago. I can't wait to see what history lesson we learn next!" Thanks to HFCA teachers, we can count Carter among the history lovers.
*Candidacy is not a guarantee of authorization.