This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the ways we remember history, including a variety of memorials and consideration of the omissions in our collective memory. By investigating the compelling question, “What is the best way to remember history?,” students evaluate and explore a variety of types of memorialization, omissions in our collective memory, and the possible ways that historical memory can help people make better contemporary choices. The formative performance tasks build on knowledge and skills through the course of the inquiry and help students identify and compare some of the ways history is memorialized and remembered. Students create an evidence-based argument about the best ways to engage in the process of preserving the past.
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About the inquiry
Compelling Question
What Is the Best Way to Remember History?
Staging Question
Discuss why people study history, and create a class-generated list of the tools available for learning about and remembering history.
What are some of the ways the Korean War has been memorialized?
Formative TasksCreate a T-chart that lists the ways the Korean War has been memorialized and the strengths and weaknesses of each of these types of memorials.
SourcesSource A: Image bank: Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington, DC
Source B: Memorial songs about Korea, “There’s Peace in Korea” and “Forgotten Men”
Source C: Videotaped oral history interviews with two Korean War veterans
How do we remember all the parts of history?
Formative TasksMake a list of some of the parts of history we forget to include in memorials, textbooks, or stories about history.
SourcesSource A: Illustrated oral history, War and Children
Source B: Veterans Affairs fact sheet, “Korean War Exposures”
Source C: Article about an unexpected benefit of the demilitarized zone for wildlife species, Guardian
Source D: Article about bias and discrimination against African American soldiers in the Korean War, Chicago Tribune
How does the memory of history help us make better choices today?
Formative TasksCreate a claim about how history might help us learn to make better choices in the future.
SourcesSource A: Article, “Why Study History?,” Humboldt University, Berlin, Germany
Source B: Article about the importance of preserving heritage sites, GoUNESCO
Summative Performance Task
Argument: What is the best way to remember history? Construct an argument (e.g., detailed outline, poster, or essay) that addresses the compelling question using specific claims and relevant evidence from both historical and current sources.
Extension: Conduct research on historical markers and monuments in your town and answer the question, “What stories do they tell?”
Taking Informed Action
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