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History and Key Skills

In addition to their specific content and knowledge, the subjects and short courses of junior cycle provide students with opportunities to develop a range of key skills. There are opportunities to support all key skills in this course but some are particularly significant.  The examples below identify some of the elements that are related to learning activitires in history. Teachers can also build many of the other elements of particular key skills into their classroom planning. The key skills are set out in detail in Key Skills of Junior Cycle.

Key Skill Example of Key Skill element Examples of associated student learning activities
Being numerate Gathering, interpreting and representing data. Seeing patterns, trends and relationships Students create timelines to show understanding of chronology and ‘the big picture’.  They analyse sources showing numerical data, such as census records.
Being literate Expressing ideas clearly and accurately.
Writing for different purposes		 Students learn to construct historical arguments, showing awareness of such concepts as source and evidence and cause and consequence in their writing.
Managing myself Being able to reflect on my own thinking
 		 Students keep a journal where they reflect on their learning and on how their study of history develops their understanding of the world.
Managing information and thinking Using ICT and digital media to access, manage and share content Students use websites or online resources to gather evidence about an aspect of the past for a research project.  They maintain electronic files of their work and create a digital      presentation to show their findings.
Being creative Thinking creatively

Students use the available evidence and their imagination to reflect upon the lives of people in the past and represent their thinking in a diary entry or letter. Students make models or other representations of sites of historical interest, such as castles, round towers or memorial sites.

 
Communicating Listening and expressing myself Students interview people in their family or community to gather memories or stories.
Students collaborate on group projects or presentations.
Working with others Contributing to making the world a better place Students develop their appreciation of diversity and difference (gender, culture etc.) through their encounters with different people, issues and events in the past.
Staying well Being responsible, safe and ethical in using digital technology Students evaluate the objectivity and fairness of online historical sources/ evidence.