A common expression from pupils trying to research is the plaintive wail of “I can’t find anything about …” Feel free to insert the topic of your choice, because it’s always the same. The usual translation is: ‘I’m looking for a website which has the same words in its title as what I’m looking for and there aren’t any, so the information can’t exist’.
The main problems are:
- lack of understanding (vocabulary usually)
- not listening to instructions
- lack of lateral thinking and brainstorming for alternative terminology
It can be quickly sorted, but it crops up over and over and over again. And now I’m wondering whether it’s also a symptom of ‘right answer’ syndrome i.e. somewhere there is a single correct answer as opposed to a range of possible answers.
I had hoped that the first Vikings lesson in the LRC had helped them with brainstorming and possible answers but it obviously didn’t work well enough. Maybe we could use some Viking case studies: Iona, Jarlshof, Iceland, Greenland, Vinland, Jorvik, Dublin, Hedeby. They could spend a period exploring each Viking location and then report back. It’s more restrictive, but it might provide better results to lead into the second, more open part.
We could also have a simplified version of the Romans worksheets: use specific artefacts and illustrations and ask the class to tour them and identify how they could be used as evidence for Viking activity. After all, that’s more like the process we expect them to follow when they’re collecting for their own investigation.
I would also like to see the whole unit expanded. I appreciate that an integrated Social Studies course doesn’t need to hit history, geography and modern studies targets simultaneously, but it’s so easy with the Vikings, that it seems silly not to.
- What was the climate and environment like in the Viking homelands? Was it a factor for the start of the Viking raids and later settlement in the British Isles?
- What was special about the longships and where did they travel to? What would Vikings maps show?
- Did the Vikings have a government? Who was in charge?
And so on. So while it’s fun doing the posters, and the class are enjoying themselves, I think we could create something that would really open their eyes to the impact of the Vikings on Scotland and Britain, and really get them thinking.
I just need more time to think about it myself…
