Ryan Hews

Scrapbooking American Lives

by Patty Garrison

Scrapbooking, the popular hobby, is taking on a new look in Ryan Hews' U.S. History class. Instead of the usual approach of constructing a representation of one's own life, Mr. Hews' students are busy creating a scrapbook of memories and artifacts of a fictional family that they invent. This is the "American Lives" project, which is designed by Mr. Hews to foster skills of collaboration and creativity. Additionally, and just as importantly, he allows the students a powerful learning opportunity as they "witness" history and "write the story from a personal perspective."

Here is how the project works: students form groups that collectively decide their fictional families' names and places of origin. Then, they follow this family through each stage of history that is studied in Mr. Hews' class. The rules are that no actual historical event can be changed, and no fictional character can impact the course of history; therefore, students need to conduct careful research in order to remain historically correct, yet they must also rely on their creativity to connect their families to history. They craft, develop, and gather artifacts that represent the families' experiences. These artifacts are displayed in the scrapbooks, which represent how these fictional families move, interact, and are impacted by the events of American history. For example, a family that has moved to New York State in the pre-Civil War years may experience a moral change of perspective regarding the rights of women due to the Seneca Falls Convention. The students will research the convention, decide on how their family has been changed, collect evidence of the change to display in the scrapbook, and ultimately gain a deep understanding of the issues of that period of history.

Mr. Hews says that he begins the year in U.S. History with a discussion of the events of 9/11/2001. He believes that in order for the students to fully comprehend the depth of that impact, they must first understand our country's story. Thus, the creation of the scrapbook, chronicling the journey of their fictional families, allows the students to connect in a much more personal way to United States history. The scrapbooks end at 9/11, bringing the students full circle with a much greater appreciation for the impact of historical events on the population of a country.

In The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way, Amanda Ripley includes an appendix about how to recognize great teaching. In it, she says, “sometimes learning happens in noisy places where the kids are working in groups without much input from the teacher. Some of the worst classrooms are quiet, tidy places that look, to adults, reassuringly calm." In the video below, you can catch a glimpse of this in action, as the students work through their projects individually, with Mr. Hews offering feedback to those who need it.