8th Grade History- Rabbi Hellman

While studying the French Revolution, we pinpointed three key causes of this event: the social inequality in France, the economic situation in France, and the spread of the Enlightenment’s ideas. The 8th graders were split into different groups and each group focused on one of these causes. The students looked at primary sources that were relevant to their topic. Students were exposed to different mediums of primary sources. They looked at pictures of the Grand Palace of Versailles, studied political cartoons of the time, and investigated public speeches from 1789. Upon completing their investigation of the primary sources, each group received a large poster board puzzle piece. Working together, they reflected on what they had absorbed from the primary sources and artistically designed pictures on the puzzle pieces that representing the major causes of the Revolution. The students realized that often several causes, when joined together like puzzle pieces, critical historical moments can develop and change our world.

Rabbi Hellman - slideshows