Widely known facts about famous historical figures are not always true. There are many inaccuracies in the accounts of their lives. Anyone who passed an elementary-level history class is familiar with the names like Lindbergh, Franklin, and Revere but some of their achievements were reported wrong.
Lesson Activities
- Step 1: Presentation uncovering the unknown facts about the famous people
- Step 2: Identifying the inaccuracies in groups
- Step 3: Discussion of the results
- Step 4: in-class quiz on the presented material
- Step 5: working on the article for a school newspaper to feature the most interesting facts
Memory Acquisition at the Lesson
The activities are designed in order for the students to remember the correct information. The process of acquiring new information includes the first part of the lesson with the focus on proper interpretation and encoding of the information. At the next stage, the information is retained displacing the old memories. The last two activities are connected with the retrieval of the newly learned information and work with it in order for it to move to the long-term memory.
Motivation at the Lesson
Students’ motivation to engage in the activities will stem from an intrinsic desire to learn new facts about famous people and outside rewards such as a good grade, peer recognition at steps 2 and 4, and publication in the school newspaper.