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ew seventh grade history teacher Julia Blount ’08 explains that the course’s approach is based off of the “Choices” program from Brown University, which develops curricula that draw connections between historical events and contemporary international issues.
" I really like the way that the curriculum is built around strategies that you can use to create social change in real life." 34
GEORGETOWN DAYS WINTER 2016/17
This year, Erika and Julia have enjoyed piloting a few new approaches and ideas in the course. After attending the Washington International School Summer Institute for Teachers, Erika and Julia became interested in incorporating techniques from Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero. One technique, the “thinking routine,” is a process that helps students achieve a deeper level of thinking and cultivate curiosity and thoughtfulness. Julia described one example of a “thinking routine” known as “see, think, wonder”: “We present students with an image and ask them what they see in the picture. This helps them practice gathering specific, concrete evidence. Then, we ask them to hypothesize about what they think is happening in the scene, based on that evidence. Last, we ask them to come up with questions about the image to cultivate curiosity and thoughtfulness.” Before Thanksgiving break, students finished a unit on Haiti where they considered how people effectively break apart an unjust status quo, talked about what motivates citizens and groups, and discussed what makes societies stable and resilient. Julia explained, “They engaged in thinking routines that asked them to consider the role the French Revolution played in the Haitian Revolution, Toussaint Lovuerture's switch from fighting for the Spanish to fighting for the French, and other turning points of the revolution. At the end of the unit, students considered how the Haitian revolution is still impacting Haiti and the rest of the world today.” Seventh grade student Maddie Carroll ’22 appreciates how the curriculum connects historic events to contemporary society. “I really like the way that the curriculum is built around strategies that you can use to create social change in real life,” she said. Following Thanksgiving break, students began their study of the partition of the Indian Subcontinent. Julia explained that at this point in the year, each 7th grade history period will be assigned a theme that they will track through the end of the school year, and the evidence that they gather will be incorporated into a final “Power Project” presentation. The themes will be