Getting Started with Historical Thinking - The Bio-Poem
One of my favourite introduction activities for historical thinking is the Bio-Poem. A simple "fill-in-the-blanks" poetry exercise from The Big Six that gets students thinking deeply about evidence and historical perspectives.
I know that many history teachers start in historical thinking with Historical Significance, but I would argue, based on my experience with this lesson, that most teenagers will connect and engage more readily with Historical Perspective-Taking. I think this might be because adolescents live in the emotions and imagination, and this is often what we need to do in taking historical perspectives. The trick is to then get them to connect those emotions and imagination to the evidence.
This lesson was designed to happen at the beginning of the course as part of a Portfolio Assessment and takes about 2 class periods, but certainly can be adapted for other times and uses.
I really love the fabulous 20 minute NFB film - Minoru: A Memory of Exile. It shows us the experience of Canadian Japanese internment camps in the Second World War through the memory and experience of Minoru Fukushima, who was interned as a child with his family. The film is narrated by Michael Fukushima, his son, but we also see the perspectives of Minoru's father, and that of the prime minister: Mackenzie King, as well as Canadian society in general.
The way the lesson goes, students usually work on trying to complete the Bio-Poem individually for homework (as Minoru, his father or possibly Mackenzie King or "a white BC resident.") I ask that they try to complete a minimum of 10 lines of the poem using the evidence from the film.
When they come back to school, they work in groups to (on chart paper) write the BEST bio-poem from a particular perspective:
Students post their poems on the wall, and everyone is given 2 sticky notes - one is for lines that they personally find powerful, moving or effective, and the other is for lines that are jarring, inaccurate or less effective.
I then introduce the guideposts for thinking in Historical Perspectives (from The Big Six and in the supplemental materials there are peer review scaffolds)
Almost every time I've done this lesson, the group of students who is doing the "White BC resident" almost always starts the poem off by describing themselves as "racist." This is such a powerful demonstration of presentism and worldview that it becomes a great teachable moment - would that person really have called themselves racist, or is that what we might call them today? How would THEY have viewed their actions and thoughts?
One of the understandings that we build, is that each line is an opportunity to share more historical detail. A good bio-poem will not repeat the same details (unless for effect), and that the more specific the details, the more effective it is - how do we know that the poem is about the specific experience of that historical figure?
THEN, students can choose a perspective and write a good copy of their poem to submit with their introductory unit portfolio. I leave the group poems up on the wall so that students have a starting point for their own writing. Most students choose to write a poem as part of their portfolio, I think because it is so well-scaffolded in the lesson, and because they can emotionally connect with the historical figures.
Students also write a reflection, explaining the best line in their poem, and why they think it is the best line (referring to the guideposts), and then one question they still have about Japanese Internment. We will be coming back to the Second World War, and students will have many opportunities to refer back to their journals to see how their thinking evolves over the course.
The things I love most about this activity are:
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
I know that many history teachers start in historical thinking with Historical Significance, but I would argue, based on my experience with this lesson, that most teenagers will connect and engage more readily with Historical Perspective-Taking. I think this might be because adolescents live in the emotions and imagination, and this is often what we need to do in taking historical perspectives. The trick is to then get them to connect those emotions and imagination to the evidence.
This lesson was designed to happen at the beginning of the course as part of a Portfolio Assessment and takes about 2 class periods, but certainly can be adapted for other times and uses.
I really love the fabulous 20 minute NFB film - Minoru: A Memory of Exile. It shows us the experience of Canadian Japanese internment camps in the Second World War through the memory and experience of Minoru Fukushima, who was interned as a child with his family. The film is narrated by Michael Fukushima, his son, but we also see the perspectives of Minoru's father, and that of the prime minister: Mackenzie King, as well as Canadian society in general.
The way the lesson goes, students usually work on trying to complete the Bio-Poem individually for homework (as Minoru, his father or possibly Mackenzie King or "a white BC resident.") I ask that they try to complete a minimum of 10 lines of the poem using the evidence from the film.
When they come back to school, they work in groups to (on chart paper) write the BEST bio-poem from a particular perspective:
Students post their poems on the wall, and everyone is given 2 sticky notes - one is for lines that they personally find powerful, moving or effective, and the other is for lines that are jarring, inaccurate or less effective.
I then introduce the guideposts for thinking in Historical Perspectives (from The Big Six and in the supplemental materials there are peer review scaffolds)
- demonstrating worldview
- avoiding anachronisms
- avoiding presentism
- understanding the historical context
- making valid inferences from evidence
- understanding that there are multiple perspectives on any event
Almost every time I've done this lesson, the group of students who is doing the "White BC resident" almost always starts the poem off by describing themselves as "racist." This is such a powerful demonstration of presentism and worldview that it becomes a great teachable moment - would that person really have called themselves racist, or is that what we might call them today? How would THEY have viewed their actions and thoughts?
One of the understandings that we build, is that each line is an opportunity to share more historical detail. A good bio-poem will not repeat the same details (unless for effect), and that the more specific the details, the more effective it is - how do we know that the poem is about the specific experience of that historical figure?
THEN, students can choose a perspective and write a good copy of their poem to submit with their introductory unit portfolio. I leave the group poems up on the wall so that students have a starting point for their own writing. Most students choose to write a poem as part of their portfolio, I think because it is so well-scaffolded in the lesson, and because they can emotionally connect with the historical figures.
Students also write a reflection, explaining the best line in their poem, and why they think it is the best line (referring to the guideposts), and then one question they still have about Japanese Internment. We will be coming back to the Second World War, and students will have many opportunities to refer back to their journals to see how their thinking evolves over the course.
The things I love most about this activity are:
- the productive and accountable group talk
- the co-creation of success criteria for the guideposts of historical perspectives
- the opportunity for relevant and powerful self and peer assessment
- students MUST refer to the primary source details to be successful
- the emphasis on good writing in a bite-sized way
- the democracy of the "voting" activity - very engaging
- the historical thinking is so explicit and scaffolded
- while prescriptive, it still allows for individual creativity
- the metacognition in the first journal entry question - real assessment as learning
- students practice asking questions in the journal entry - I get to see what they're thinking
- the stunning visuals in the NFB film - I love watching it every time!
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
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