Most of the teachers hear from their students that they hate history. There is a common notion among the children that they have to memorize dates, places, and lengthy answers to get good marks.
Due to this hatred, many of the students get bored as soon as they enter the history class. However, there are many creative ways through which you can make your lessons engaging and exciting.
Here are some of the ideas that would help you to make your history class enjoyable-
- Help Children To Learn Dates, Places Using Mnemonics
There is an endless number of dates, names, and events in History that need to be remembered. Seeing a long list of dates and places seems so off-putting that students consider History the most boring subject. However, the modern curriculum for teachers suggests that history shouldn’t be memorization.
You can use interactive lessons, games, and mnemonics to teach the controversies of history. Allow your students to choose what or how they want to study the past. By doing so, the students would be able to remember the information better.
Use Innovative Methods To Aid Your Teaching
History class is much more than reading textbooks. It is a collection of lots of exciting stories of past civilizations and kings who fought wars for kingdoms and became victorious. There is plenty of interesting stuff in the sculpture, painting, building, or documents. You can make it more interesting for your students by using innovative ideas such as-
Use the Story-Telling Method
You can bring history to life with the use of storyboards that keep the students engaged. It is a fantastic way to help them keep track of the details. Ask them to draw the main ideas of the story after hearing or reading it themselves. You can also ask them to use small captions explaining the picture and analyze which ideas are the most important.
Role Play/Drama
Let the students dress up in the characters of the topic and ask them to present information about their lives. It works well while teaching the topics about the legacy of civilizations.
Treasure Hunts And Field Trips
Hide the various clues at different places in the playground from the topic taught. As the students crack the clues, they head to the next destination. You can use the maps to retain excitement.
Further, field trips are another way to create interest in students. The visuals of ancient weapons, vessels, artifacts, and clothing make them feel more excited.
Group Discussions
You can stimulate their mind by asking thought-provoking questions. Let them discuss or debate over a topic and give their opinion.
Audio Visual Aid
Plenty of films are available in the historical genre, which you can use to make your students understand how dangerous the wars were. After watching the film, you can discuss the historical accuracy and which parts they enjoyed the most.
Give Students The Assignment Choice
Students feel more confident about learning if you give them a chance to produce work of their choice. You can allow the students to sit in groups or divide them into teams. Also, studies have proved that the brain learns better when the body is active.
Therefore, allow the students to move freely so that they can see what other teams are doing. By doing so, you enable the students of different learning abilities to explore ideas and succeed.
Conclusion
In short, teach History in a way that would engage the students, keep them curious, and help them to find explanations for the questions they ask. We hope that these ideas would spark a change in your classroom and help you to make your history class fun!
