History
History is an inquiry into the past. The study of History helps students to see their place in time, where they come from, and how they relate to other communities, societies and the world at large. It enables students to equip students with the aptitude and skills to appreciate human endeavors and achievements of the past.
Secondary 4 History: Kickstarting the new school year
To kickstart the year and refresh their memory on basic SBQ skills, Ms. Aqilah tasked 4E2 to work in groups to answer Source-Based questions on inference purpose and compare & contrast skills. The lesson was designed to be student-directed as groups even swapped their work for peer marking! This was certainly a refreshing way to practice one's skills.
Example of a group's answer with peer comments
Secondary 4 History: Peer Teaching
Graduating students from 4E1 and 4E4 (under Ms Farhanah) took part in Peer Teaching as part of their content revision. They prepared slides and quizzes for their peers. In the process of preparation, they learnt a lot and through their presentation, they helped their peers learn too! This encourages them to want to excel as a class.
Secondary 3 History: Learning about the impacts of Hitler's rule
In Ms Aqilah's class, the Historians from 3E2 and 3E4 were seen presenting the different social impacts of Hitler's rule. The students were given the choice to either present their findings in the form of a drawing or a mind-map! Check out the work of our students:
Secondary 3 History: Debate on Hitler's Germany
To consolidate students' learning on the various impacts of Hitler's rule, 3E2 elective History students engaged in a debate on whether Hitler was a good leader. This encouraged peer learning amongst the students as they had the opportunity to be 'teachers' to one another. Who says history is only about memorising and writing essays?
Secondary 4 History: Debate on Korean War
In the weeks approaching N Levels, our 4N students had an exciting debate on Korean War; debating whether it was a civil or proxy in nature.
Both teams enjoyed fresh intellectual exchange while pitting each other in the battle of wits. It was definitely a fun way of revising for their N levels.
As part of the Historical Investigation (HI) project, our Secondary 1 Historians were tasked to put together a mini museum exhibition as they display the sources that they have collected from their field site visits to the National Museum of Singapore, Maritime Experiential Museum as well as Fort Canning Park.
Making use of recycled materials, the students tapped on their creativity and produced mini museum exhibitions that have totally exceeded our expectations.
Check out the impressive work done by our Historians (swipe right for more)!
Secondary 1 History: Museum Curators
Blast to the Past: War and Diplomacy in the 1900s
On 24 April, 10 of our AI students took part in the War and Diplomacy Card Game organized by Bendemeer Secondary School. The competition aims to stimulate the experience of governments during the turbulent era of 1918-1945 in making political decisions pertaining to invasion, trade, defence, the use of diplomacy and the demand for reparations. Darrell, from 3E3 won 1st prize for the Best Dressed Contest and Instagram Contest Award. He was dressed as a Plague Doctor in the 13th Century Europe.
Debate on the Policy of Appeasement
Studying History is not just about spending long hours memorizing content, it's also about taking on various perspectives and understanding the motives of the different actors. The debate session conducted with 4N1 has allowed our young Historians to do just that as we went through the content of Policy of Appeasement, one of the factors that contributed to the outbreak of WWII in Europe.
Secondary 2 Historical Investigation (HI) @ 25th and 28th March 2019
The secondary 2 students kickstarted the new term with a visit to the National Museum of Singapore as part of their Historical Investigation (HI) project. With the inquiry question "How were lives different for the local people and Europeans in colonial Singapore before and during the Japanese Occupation" in mind, the students visited both the Modern Colony and Surviving Syonan-to exhibition and they were intrigued by the various artefacts found. Check out our Historians in action below:
@ the Story Pod where students learn more about the Japanese Occupation from the narratives of war survivors
Students hard at work while collecting information for their HI
Posing naturally in front of the camera
Secondary 1 Historical Investigation (HI) @ 29th and 31st January 2019
As part of their Historical Investigation (HI) weighted assessment, our Sec 1 students spent an exciting afternoon visiting various field sites including Fort Canning Park, National Museum of Singapore and Maritime Experiential Museum at Resorts World Sentosa. The students had a hands-on learning experience as they were seen working hard while searching for suitable and relevant sources in the various field sites to answer the HI inquiry question, "How were lives like in Singapore before 1819?".
Bringing Stalin to Life
As part of their weighted assessment, the 3E and 3NA students had to perform a skit in groups to re-enact how Stalin came to power. Our students did a fantastic job and everyone has thoroughly enjoyed themselves while being introduced to the new content knowledge on Stalin's Soviet Union.
History Fun
Contrary to the misconception that History classes tend to be boring, the History unit has been engaging students during lessons by introducing a myriad of activities such as debates and collaborative learning. Through these activities, we hope to inject a little fun while delivering the historical content and skills to our students. For instance, while taking the opportunity to utilise the technology in the new Thinking Cove and Inquiry Cove classrooms, our 4N History students were able to display their creative talent in drawing out the factors leading to the defeat of Japan in WW2! Check out the pictures below to catch our students in actions!
Pure History Sharing Session @ 7 Jan 2019
It was our honour to be able to invite Mr Arasu from Yishun Town Secondary School to share with the group of History teachers more about his experience in teaching Pure History. It was an insightful and immensely useful session for the teachers as this is also the first year AI is offering Pure History as a subject and we have certainly learnt a thing or two from our guest speaker.
7th Inter-School War & Diplomacy History Card Challenge 2018
On 18th April 2018, 10 students from the Secondary Four cohort took part in the 7th inter-school war and diplomacy history card challenge. Students applied their knowledge about World War One and World War Two (1918 to 1945) from their History lessons to make tactical decisions. They assume the role of one of the decision makers of the day, such as Hitler, Tojo and Chamberlain to decide on the fate of the country they lead. Five of the students from our school managed to get into the semi-finals where only 49 out of 210 participants qualified.
There was also the History Character Dress Up Competition. A few of our students came dressed as the historical character of their choice. One of our students, Ang Ryan from 4E2 were one of the three amongst the 210 participants who won a prize for best dressed.
Secondary 2 History Investigation 2018
In January this year, our Secondary Two students visited the National Museum of Singapore. They visited two galleries- the Witnesses to War Exhibition and the Life in Singapore Galleries- Surviving Syonan. Through their visit, they were exposed to many oral history sources which told the tales of local war survivors during the period of the Japanese occupation in Singapore. Besides gathering sources to answer the Historical Investigation question – “Did the Japanese Occupation Bring Changes to the Lives of the Locals and the Europeans in Singapore?”, students also reflected on the relevance of the fall of Singapore to them today.
Students watching a video on an oral history account of a war survivor during the Japanese occupation at the Witnesses to War Exhibition.
Students interacting with the exhibits in the Life in Singapore Galleries- Surviving Syonan gallery.
Students completing their reflections on their takeaways from learning about the Japanese occupation.
Students reading public reflections at the Witnesses to War Exhibition.
Students completing their reflections on their takeaways from learning about the Japanese occupation.
Sec 2 Historical Investigation (HI) 2017
Historical Investigations give students the opportunity to appreciate real-world application of historical knowledge and skills. Through a guided inquiry approach, students visit historical sites such as the National Museum, Changi Chapel and Bukit Chandu to collect sources and respond to the Inquiry Question: Did Japanese Occupation bring about changes to people's lives?
Active Learning Strategies in History Classroom
The History Unit encourages the use of teacher-centered strategies that nurture students' historical literacy and critical thinking skills. Good student-centered pedagogical practices are shared regularly during History Active sessions and History teachers are welcomed to one another's classes and learn through peer-observations.
Secondary One HI 2017
The Secondary One HI was held in Term 3, 29 June and 13 July 2017. Students visited four different museums: Chinatown Heritage Centre, Malay Heritage Centre, Indian Heritage Centre and Peranakan Museum. Students were made to find five different sources from the museum to answer the inquiry question, " Why were pastimes a part of people's lives in colonial Singapore before World War Two?"
MOE History Challenge 2017
The MOE History Challenge was held on 7th July 2017 at the Academy of Singapore Teachers. The four students selected from our school sat for a selection test, had the opportunity to interact with History students from other schools. They also attended a talk by NTU about Singapore History and listened to a sharing by the NTU History Club students.
