Where Do I Fit into the Story of World History?

Created Feb. 7, 2024 by Kathryn Shaughnessy

NHPRC QIH Assignment Title

Where Do I Fit into the Story of World History?

 NOTE: This assignment was created by the participant educator named below as part of the Queens Immigration History curriculum development project funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission division of the National Archives (grant #DH-50022-16).  For more information on this grant project, please visit the Queens Immigration History website  at https://queensimmigrationhistory.wordpress.com     

NHPRC QIH Assignment Creator

Created by NHPRC Teacher Participant/Creator Stephen Spear (C1, July 2017 – June 2018). Mr. Spear teaches AP World History and serves as the moderator of Model United Nations Club at Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Manhattan. He is also the organizer of the school’s Memory Project, in which students conduct research on family history. He holds Master’s degrees from Boston University and Fordham University in American history and Education.

Summary/ Description Overview:

Created by NHPRC Teacher Participant/Creator Stephen Spear for AP World History Adaptable to other grades. Over the school year we worked together exploring the history of the world by analyzing the causes of events, the contexts in which they occurred, comparing events, and understanding general patterns of continuity and change over time. In our last unit, students employ three of these methods of analysis to conduct individual research on the relationship of our families or ancestors to the events of world history.  

Purpose/Learning Goal

  • To apply historical thinking (complexity, causality, change over time, contingency, context). 

  • To conduct individual research on the relationship of our families or ancestors to the events of world history

Task/Assignment/Activity

For this assignment, choose EITHER Task Set A OR Task Set B

Task Set A

I. Write a two to five-page research paper on Google Classroom that describes the experiences of a person (living or deceased) who migrated to the United States and:

  • Analyzes the Causes of that person’s decision to migrate.

  • Compares that person’s immigration experience to those of other immigrants from the same country, OR with the experiences of immigrants from other countries that arrived in the United States around the same time.

  • Contextualizes that person’s experiences with the outside events that were occurring in the world at the time.

 II. Create and print a timeline that compares your family member or ancestor’s experiences with world events. Keep this timeline separate. Do not include it as part of your research paper. You will share that timeline along with a verbal summary of the results of your research with group members at your table when the project is complete.

III. Produce and print an image of the person you are researching, either by printing a photograph or creating one artistically.  Keep this image separate. Do not include it as part of your research paper.

IV. While fellow students at your table are presenting their timelines, images and a verbal summary of their research, fill-out an index card for the presenter that includes:

  •    One sentence that connects the presenter’s family history to your own family’s history.

  •    One question for the presenter

  

Task Set B:

I. Create and print a graphic novel that illustrates the experiences of a person (living or deceased) who migrated to the United States and:

  • Analyzes the Causes of that person’s decision to migrate.

  • Compares that person’s immigration experience to those of other immigrants from the same country, OR with the experiences of immigrants from other countries that arrived in the United States around the same time.

  • Contextualizes that person’s experiences with the outside events that were occurring in the world at the time.

II. Create and print a timeline that compares your family member or ancestor’s experiences with world events. Keep this timeline separate. Do not include it as part of your graphic novel paper. You will share that timeline along with a verbal summary of the results of your research with group members at your table when the project is complete.

III. Produce and print an image of the person you are researching, either by printing a photograph or creating one artistically.  Keep this image separate. Do not include it as part of your graphic novel.

IV. While fellow students at your table are presenting their timelines, images and a verbal summary of their research, fill-out an index card for the presenter that includes:

  •       One sentence that connects the presenter’s family history to your own family’s history.

  •       One question for the presenter

Research Options

 Regardless of which Task Set you choose, the process of analyzing the causes of your family members’ experiences, and then comparing and contextualizing those experiences will require at least one week of intensive research. The form that your research will take depend on the person and/or subject matter you are researching. You may choose ONE of the following methods of research:

Four research methods

 

Guidelines for Task Set A

I. All Research Papers Should Consist of:

  • An introduction of 2-3 paragraphs that posit theses addressing the causes of the subject’s decision to immigrate, a comparison of the person’s experience to the experiences of other migrants of similar background or era, and an analysis of the migrant’s experience in the context of world historical events. 
  • 1-2 paragraphs describing the research methodology employed to gather information.
  • 1-2 paragraphs describing the person, including his or her gender, age, occupation, marital or family status, language, religion or political views.
  • 1-3 paragraphs analyzing the causes of the subject’s decision to immigrate.
  • 1-3 paragraphs comparing the person’s experience to the experiences of other migrants of similar background 
  • 2-3 paragraphs analyzing the migrant’s experience in the context of world historical events.

  • 1-2 paragraphs summarizing the paper’s conclusions 
  • All body paragraphs must begin with a topic sentence and everything discussed in the paragraph must conform to what was introduced in the topic sentence.

II. All Timelines Should Consist of:

A. Two parallel rows, one outlining the events of the research subject’s life, the other of simultaneous world events   

See Sample

III. All Presentations Should Consist of:

  1. The completed and printed template you used to conduct your research.

  2. The questions that you developed for each fellow presenter.

  3. Your research paper

 

Guidelines for Task Set B

I. All Graphic Novels Should Consist of:

  • A minimum of 12 color panels depicting the causes of the subject’s decision to immigrate, a comparison of the person’s experience to the experiences of other migrants of similar background or era, and an analysis of the migrant’s experience in the context of world historical events.
  • At least one half of the total number of panels must contain written descriptions or dialogue.   https://www.tomsguide.com/us/pictures-story/652-best-drawing-apps.html#s1

II. All Timelines Should Consist of:

A. Two parallel rows, one outlining the events of the research subject’s life, the other of simultaneous world events    -- See Sample

III. All Presentations Should Consist of:

  • The completed and printed template you used to conduct your research.

  • The questions that you developed for each fellow presenter.

  • Your research paper


Required Resources

Interview Questions and research resources for each assignment are provided within the templates associated with each research option. (see Research Options above)

 More Resources from the NHPRCQIH LibGuide:

Genealogy Tab –   assistance with family tree and Genealogy resources

Oral History Tab –  links to local NYC Oral History Projects for contributing.

Queens Memory Project Tab – assistance with conducting open ended Interviews, and local NYC interviews 

 

Attribution:

 This NHPRC Teacher Participant assignment was created by Stephen Spear    

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States

 


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