History Lesson Plans

You can put endless hours into developing history lessons plans. However, if your students do not understand time and its relationships they will only have a vague understanding of history. It is important that your students understand measures of time such as a decade, century, millennium and year. 

History lesson plans should be all about time and helping your students form a relationship with time. Events of the past impact the present and the future. History lesson plans should work to teach children how to look at things in the past to see how they have impacted the present world. With time, students should be asked to make opinions about how things that are currently happening in the world will impact the future.

History lesson plans should have time scheduled in so that children can discuss what they have learned, give opinions about what they have learned and ask questions. Students should always be learning how to connect historical events and information into their personal lives. They should be asked to do projects which will reinforce what they are learning in the classroom. This could include doing a play of a time or historical event, making posters or time lines, memorizing giving speeches, participating in debates and role playing.

You should also work field trips into your history lesson plan when at all possible. Taking children to reenactments of war battles or visiting an Indian museum can go far in helping them to retain what they are learning. You should also encourage every student to do their own family history. This is a wonderful way for children to truly understand time. Hearing how parents and grandparents lived can help children to understand change and time.

By keeping the concept of time as the focus of your history lesson plans you will stay on track teaching your students. Knowing that your objective is to teach children about change will help them to understand that what they do with their lives truly affects future generations.