Exploring the Past, Together: Interacting with History through Hands-on Collaboration

This week, CTBC International Academy students from Grade 7, Grade 9 and the High School delved deep into the past with collaborative work using primary sources.
Grade 7 students addressed the question of the different types of maps with the help of a collaborative station activity—a methodology in which students move around from various learning centers, each one with a distinct task. From the political map to the physical and thematic map, students compared the manner in which information is displayed by the mapmaker, and why it is important. The room was filled with discussion as students collaborated in unwinding the power of maps in informing their conceptualization of the world.
At the same time, Grade 9 and High School students were busy studying historical texts in order to gain insight into the contribution of the Islamic Empire to the contemporary world. Grade 9 was studying the early Islamic society, while checking out its achievements, cultural legacy, and power hierarchies. In parallel, High School students delved deeper into the history of the Ottoman Empire, paying specific attention to the role of women, based on primary sources as catalysts for reflective argument and debate.
What did specifically make these lessons particularly meaningful was the academic connection from Grade 9 to the High School. While Grade 9 was learning about the emergence of Islamic civilization, the High Schoolers were studying how it evolved into the Ottoman Empire—bridging two time spans and grade levels with a common thread of history.
In all three rooms, students were not only reading about the past—they were analyzing it, questioning it, and drawing connections to the modern world that they live in. Hopefully, they will retain it long after they leave the classroom.