ANNUAL REPORT OF GIFTS 2012-2013
How do we help students put all the pieces together? What’s history got to do with me? “In Middle School, we lay the groundwork for asking good questions, for thinking critically, and for figuring out that history is not just one narrative, but many overlapping stories,” explains history teacher Will Bellaimey. “That is why the sixthgrade curriculum is built around New York City, with its incredible diversity of topics and themes.” New York provides a perfect introduction to the concept of interdisciplinary study and the interconnection of ideas. The curriculum includes
spending an entire day in Grand Central talking about industrialization, infrastructure, art history, literature, and even the mathematics of train schedules. Groups are assigned different neighborhoods and students write a guidebook and make presentations about each community’s contributions to New York life and history. For its final project, the students construct a three-dimensional map of all five boroughs, which fills the school’s multi-purpose room—echoing the breadth and depth of all that they’ve learned.
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“Because history feels more immediate to them, students better understand the dynamic of democracy and how diverse groups and cultures have built America.” Dana Golding Scharf P’18, ’21, ’26
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