This is the second article posted by Jane Hancock, codirector of the UCLA Writing Project. Her first article was on Lessons for Writing Teachers.

Why should history teachers include writing as they plan their lessons? Because, in order to write, a student needs to know something more than the answers to questions like this one: Who came up with the theory that the earth rotates around the sun? As students prepare for the writing, they learn. Read the following fictional journal entry written by a ninth grade student.

Spring 1543
Florence, Italy

Dear Journal,

Tomorrow is the day, the day my heliocentric theory will finally be put to the test. My first book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres, contains my explanations for the heliocentric system and it shall be on display for the world as of tomorrow’s publishing date.

The years of studying with Brudzewski and Dinovara using astrolabes and triquetrums have given me reason to believe that my theory overrules Ptolomey’s geocentric theory, but I wonder if the public will share in my opinion. I fear the reaction of the public, especially the church and scholars who have punished those who dared question their beliefs.

Still, with all my uncertainties, I am confident in the accuracy of my idea, for it is perfectly reasonable. The mysterious loops made by planets result from the fact that those planets are farther from the sun than the earth and are moving around the sun at a different speed than the earth. The sun rises at morn and sets at eve because the earth not only rotates around the sun but rotates on its axis every 24 hours as well. Even as I write my theory down, I remember the unfortunate fates of all those who dared question the teachings of authority—and wonder my fate as of tomorrow. Well, I suppose I shall just have to wait and see.

Copernicus

I was never particularly fond of any history class. Why I chose history as a minor in college to go along with my major in English probably had more to do with the fact that it wasn’t math or science-related than a love for the subject—a subject which, in my opinion, was just about memorizing dates, events, and people.

1066 William the Conqueror, The Battle of Hastings

1215 King John, Magna Carta

1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue!

And then I became a teacher. My first year I taught English, history, science, and two periods of physical education. I was completely unqualified to teach science and physical education, but I did have a minor in history. What I had to do then was figure out how to make history interesting.

All my life I had read historical novels. Every Christmas and birthday my parents bought me books, mostly historical fiction about young girls who lived in times past. I loved these stories. History was stories—stories with real people, not just key figures. History was stories with real time periods, not just dates. History was stories with exciting action, not just names of events. How could I make these stories happen in my classroom? By involving the students in reading and writing activities that put them in those times, those places. By telling them that the study of history should be the study of well-told stories, and of reading and writing well-told stories.

And that’s what I did. I taught history as if it were a literature class. The textbook became a launching pad for research into what really happened, who was really there, and who the participants were. I wanted more for my students than sound bites.

So we researched and we wrote. We wrote letters from one historical character to another, even across time zones. We wrote editorials and obituaries. We wrote speeches to be given at award ceremonies and thank-you speeches for the awards. We drew storyboards for the movies we wanted to make and then wrote about them. We wrote poetry.

And my students said: “When we become the characters and write as if we were those people, we learn so much more than if we were just reading about them.”

One assignment was to write a personal journal entry that could have been written by anyone living in a particular time period. However, each student had to find an event in that person’s life that wasn’t well known. In other words, Michelangelo could not write about painting the ceiling of the Sistine chapel; Newton could not write about an apple falling on his head, true or not.

So Sandra wrote as if she were Copernicus, awaiting the publishing of his book on the heliocentric theory. Pierre, as Donnatello, wrote about becoming apprenticed to a famous sculptor, Lorenzo Ghiberti. Rachelle took on the role of a 12-year-old Isaac Newton who, instead of doing his arithmetic homework, was secretly inventing a windmill that grinds corn. Dustin, as Rembrandt, reflected on whether to add a little light to his very dark painting, “The Night Watch.” And in Martin Luther’s journal, written by Anna, we see him as he makes his decision to become a monk.

November 1505
Madgeburg, Germany

Today, as I was nearing Stotterheim village, I saw a dark cloud rising above the horizon. It was thick and thunderous. A stab of fear darted through me. Nearer and nearer it came, bringing with it bursts of thunder and sudden flashes of lightning. The cloud was moving directly toward the place where I was walking. Lightning lashed at the earth and gusts of wind blew my favorite, feathered hat off my head.

It was the most terrifying experience of my life. I was so frightened, I fell to the ground, raised my head and cried, “Please, St. Anne, help me and I will become a monk right away!”

Once again lightning flashed and rain and hail came pouring down on me. As I stood there, the storm stopped as suddenly as it had begun. A rainbow appeared in the sky and the sun shone bright.

Because of the promise I made to St. Anne, I am going to enter the monastery in Erfurt first thing in the morning. I think my parents will greatly disapprove of my action. I know that they want me to become a successful lawyer, but I made a promise and I have to keep it. I strongly believe in standing up for what I think is right.

Martin Luther.

The last line of this journal entry says it all. “I strongly believe in standing up for what I think is right.” That is what Martin Luther did twelve years later when he wrote his objections to church practices, the best-known one being the sale of indulgences. The student who wrote this “got it.” She got it because she had to write about it and not just memorize a few slim facts: “1517. Martin Luther. Posted theses on cathedral door.”

Jane Hancock

Codirector, UCLA Writing Project

As I read this article, it triggered three questions for me:

1. What other creative writing assignments exist for teaching history?

2. What, if anything, would you prepare for students so that this also improves their writing skills?

3. Other than judging the information, what type of rubric would you use for grading or commenting on the work that the students prepare?

Perhaps some of our readers can share their thoughts.