Sometimes my students ask me “How do historians know what happened in the past?”  I feel like there are many answers to this question, and I begin my explanation with a children’s puzzle.  A puzzle is the perfect symbol for history.  Historians make use of many accounts of an event including primary sources like peoples’ writings, human artifacts, maps, and sometimes they read other secondary and tertiary sources.  By “seeing” history through many different eyes, historians are able to make their best determination (or educated guess) as to the events that occurred in the past or about historical personalities.  Much like a puzzle, historians put together many pieces to form the whole.

In most cases; however, historians are missing pieces of the puzzle.  Because we weren’t actually there when the event occurred or the person lived, we cannot explain any event or personality with full accuracy.  Additionally, each person has a unique perspective about past events and people, and the sources analyzed are open to different interpretations depending on the reader.  What is beautiful about history is that we as historians put the puzzle together as best we can with the pieces we have, and each puzzle is deeply personal because everyone views the world through their own eyes.

The activity I use to illustrate my previous points is quite simple:

Materials: A children’s puzzle (preferably a floor puzzle with around 30 pieces)

Procedure:

1. Before students get to class, take 9-10 pieces out of the puzzle (or just enough pieces that the students won’t know right off the bat that they are missing).
2. Ask students to work together to complete the puzzle.  Give them around ten minutes for completion.
3. When students notice that there are pieces missing, ask them about the puzzle: “What is the picture on this puzzle?”, “How can you tell without all of the pieces?”
4. Begin discussion about history being a puzzle.

This is one of my favorite activities to begin the year and to do with parents on back to school night.

How do you explain history to your students?