Formational Research Paper11th grade US History

Peter Welle

Southwest Christian High School

Deep Hope:

My deep hope is that students will see God’s story in the blessings and curses of their American inheritance and desire to be part of his restorative plan.

Course

ProjectMy deep hope is that students would see the value of understanding history in loving, honoring, and serving others.

Essential Learning Targets:

I can use my understanding of the past to contextualize the present.

I can honor the blessings I’ve received in my American inheritance.

Curricular Outcomes:

• Researching a theme, event, or chapter in American history.

• Planning and conducting a research interview.

• Analyzing how their interview subject’s story intersects with the larger American story (and with God’s story).

Formational Research Paper: The Process

1. Seek out a family member or friend from another generation and invite them to share their experience in a particular moment or theme of American history.

2. Complete research to understand the chapter or narrative thread of American history that your subject’s story relates to.

3. Write the received story and situate it within the broader story of US History and our class storyline.

4. Afterwards, write a follow-up letter to your subject and give them the completed paper as a gift of honor.

See God’s Story:

• Creation—God made us for community and relationship.

• Fall—While being ‘horizontally connected’ to one another like no generation before, our students are less connected to older generations than has ever been the case in history. This project is aimed at the unique intersection of our US History content and this generational drift.

• Redemption/Restoration—Students are invited to be part of God’s restorative plan as they reach out to, listen to, and better understand a loved one of another generation in their family or personal network.

Storyline:

The Blessing and the CurseStudents are invited to

continually assess their American inheritance and choose their

value as citizens.

Throughline:

Students will experience how studying and understanding history can help them to love and

honor others in a new way.

Loving God and Others

Formational Learning Experience:

Real needs: Lack of intergenerational connectedness

Real people: Family member or personal connection

Real work: Research, interviewing, analysis, and writing

Students are invited to participated in ‘Honoring the Blessing’ and ‘Understanding the Curse.’

Students are nurtured through the set up of interviews.

Students are empowered to deepen family members or other personal connections.

Invite

Nurture

Empower

11th grade student with his interview subject - a refugee from Congo.11th grade student with her interview subject - her father, an Iraq War veteran.

11th grade student with her interview subject - her grandmother, who recounted her childhood during World War II.

11th grade student (at age 5) with her story subject -an aunt who fled Vietnam with her family after the

Vietnam War.

Student Deep Hopes:

• My deep hope for this project is that my Mom would be encouraged by the way I am blessing her through this paper.

• My deep hope for this project is that I take the focus off myself and grow in humbleness as I study someone else's story. I also want to see how God works in other people’s lives.

• My deep hope for this project is to be able to write a paper that is meaningful for my Grandma. I would also like to grow in realizing how to connect academic papers to life outside of school.

• My deep hope is that I form a better relationship with my mom. We have never really seen eye to eye on a lot. Being able to learn about something impactful that happened to her I think will give us something to talk about and form a deeper connection. I hope that I learn something new about my mom. Something that draws me closer to her.

Student Reflections:• I wouldn’t change anything about the project. I liked this assignment and I liked that it was

kind of broad and we got to choose what we wrote about. I also liked that this assignment was deeper than just getting a good grade.

• I loved this project because of the way it aimed not only at your knowledge but your emotion as well. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with my grandpa.

• I am now trying to look at the world through more grateful eyes because there are some areas around the world where people do not have access to a safe education environment or clean water for bathing and drinking. There are places around the world where war seems to be an everyday normality and I am extremely grateful that we are not living in that type of environment and I want to try my best so that we never need to live in that kind of environment. I do not believe that anyone should EVER have to live in that kind of an environment.

• I think by allowing the students to pick their topic, person, and questions, it gives them freedom to explore the topic and really honor their person being interviewed.

“I wanted to let you know that I completed my interview this afternoon and it was truly an eye-opening experience. I am glad that this project was implemented in your curriculum. I was able to get more out of the experience than I thought possible. Hearing the story of my aunt opened my eyes to the fact that major historical events have impacted the hearts and minds of people we meet every day as well as the hearts and minds of people that we know well. It helped me appreciate the personal connection that these events have had on people’s identities and how these events have led them to where they are today. It also helped me to truly connect with someone and showed me that investing into someone else can truly make an impact on my own life.

Thank you so much for creating this opportunity and for encouraging me to open my heart to honor someone else’s story. Through the process, I have been able to humble myself in order to honor another.”

Student Reflections:

This class has been like going through a story. I

am reminded of things in history by events right now and sometimes by everyday conversation. The story seems much more effective than an

unconnected set of dots.

Student Reflections:

I didn’t expect to feel internally

connected to the subjects and stories

in US History.

I wasn’t expecting to like the

“Blessing and the Curse” storyline.

I didn’t know the “bad side” of

American History prior to this class.

Teacher Reflections:

• Students with low levels of background knowledge sometimes struggled through the research and contextualizing stages.

• It was helpful to have students do a BIT of contextualizing research before the interview, and then the bulk of it afterwards, once they know exactly what their subject’s story is.

• How to END the project? Students wanted more opportunities to interact with other students’ papers, so we made that happen.

• How to help them connect their work to God’s story?

• The biggest challenge has been fostering students’ desire to go beyond the safe bounds of the academic realm.

• Competing stories: GRADES

Additional Information to tell the Story:

• Encourage students that they don’t need to seek out dramatic stories. Day-to-day stories can work just as well, if not better.

• My students expressed a lot of nervousness about the interview process, so equip them well (try practicing in class!).

• As a teacher, try writing an example paper yourself and see what it does to your heart!