WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.

1 ACTIVITY TEACHING
TEACHER MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION
Purpose
Contextualization is a historical thinking skill that involves connecting historical events and processes to specific circumstances of time and place. Without
understanding the circumstances that surround and build up to a historical event, it’s difficult to make sense of it. So far, students have learned about how
spatial and temporal scale and elements of close reading all help frame a historical event. In this first in the spiral of activities on understanding context,
students will begin to play with the idea of contextualization so they understand how important it is for understanding the past.

Practices
Reading, claim testing
To adequately make sense of the historical accounts they read, students need to understand the context in which an event occurred and how the
assertions about the event are supported through claim testing.

Process
In this activity, students will look at a photo without knowing much about it. Through a series of questions, they will
learn that they cannot interpret the photo well without having some context.

First, ask your students if they know what the word context means. Try to generate a class definition, but you
can also share this Google Dictionary’s Lexico definition with them or use it to help flesh out the class definition:

Context: The circumstances that form the setting for an event, statement, or idea, and in terms of
which it can be fully understood and assessed.

Can they think of a time when it was important to have context to understand something? Or a time when they
misinterpreted something that they didn’t have enough background information about? If students don’t have
much to offer, you could suggest the following: If they go to a movie sequel, wouldn’t they want to understand
what happened in the first movie so the second one makes sense? Similarly, have they ever gotten upset when
a friend didn’t text or call when they said they would, but they then found out that their friend hadn’t followed
through because they’d lost or damaged their phone? In other words, they needed the context to understand
what was going on and to realize there was no reason to be mad. This same idea applies to history.

Show your students the following photo and ask them, “Why is this man crying?”(Note: If any of your students
are familiar with this photo, ask them not to reveal the answer to the other students.)

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.1 ACTIVITY TEACHING
TEACHER MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION
Students will probably come up with ideas, but chances are pretty good that they won’t
come up with the answer. Now, show them this photo

Any more ideas about why this man is crying? Does having a fuller view of the picture
give them more information? Is it enough to understand what’s going on, or do they still
need more information?

Clearly, more information is needed. Tell students that this is a fairly well-known
historical photograph. What more do they think they need to know to figure out what’s
going on? In other words, what categories of information might help them figure out
what is happening? Let them ask questions about the picture and note the types or
categories of questions that are most useful for understanding this photo.

As they ask the following questions or offer up these categories, feel free to give
them more information about the picture. Every time they unveil a new category, keep
pressing them to make sense of what’s happening in the picture. If they don’t come up
with all the right questions, ask them how knowing any of the following might help them
figure out what this picture is about.

• Date of photo?
Answer: This photo was taken in 1940 but published in Life magazine in 1941.

• What’s the location?

Answer: This is a picture taken in Marseilles, France.

• What was going on in the world during this time?

Answer: World War II.

• What was going on in France during this time?

Answer: Hitler had invaded, and France was losing the war.

• What happened 50 to 100 years before this?

Answer: European imperialism was at its height, in particular with the scramble for Africa. Wars were somewhat regular events but on a much smaller
scale than those that were to come.

Once you’ve hit all of the items on this list and given them more information, tell students that the title of this photo is “The Weeping Frenchman.” This
man was crying at this exact moment because the French army was marching the flags of France to the French colony of Algeria in Africa for safekeeping
after the Nazis won the Battle of France and invaded much of the northern and western portions of the country. As the French watched their nation cease
to exist in the form they had always known, the French mourned but many decided to fight back. The French Resistance and Free France were formed to

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.1 ACTIVITY TEACHING
TEACHER MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION
work with the Allies to defeat the Nazis. French-controlled Algeria then became one of the headquarters of the French Resistance Movement.

Would they have been able to figure this out without all of this extra information? Probably not. Tell them the process they just went through to figure out
why the man is crying is called contextualization, and it’s something historians do all the time. It’s also something we do in our everyday lives to help us
properly interpret things that have happened instead of just jumping to conclusions.

Hand out the Contextualization Tool and review it with students. Tell them they can use this to help guide them through historical contextualization. Point
out that most of what they talked about in their conversation is in the tool. They will be using this throughout the course to help them practice this skill so
they can put the information they encounter into its proper context.

As an extension, you could have students contextualize their own lives using the tool. Their answer to Question 1 would be, “What do people need to know
about me to ‘get’ me?” And the answer to Question 2 would be “Me.” Have them fill out the tool and share the context of their own lives. If you want, you
can fill this out for your own life and share it with your students as a model. This can be a great way to get to know one another early in the school year,
and it’s a fun extension of the History of Me activity they completed earlier.

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.1 ACTIVITY STUDENT MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION
Purpose
Contextualization is a historical thinking skill that involves connecting historical events and processes to specific circumstances of time and place. Without
understanding the circumstances that surround and build up to a historical event, it’s difficult to make sense of it. So far, you have learned about how
spatial and temporal scale and elements of close reading all help frame a historical event. In this first in the spiral of activities on understanding context,
you will begin to play with the idea of contextualization so you understand how important it is for understanding the past.

Practices
Reading, claim testing
To adequately make sense of the historical accounts you read, you need to understand the context in which
an event occurred and how the assertions about the event are supported through claim testing.

Process
Do you know what the word context means? Work with your class to come up with a definition. Can you think
of a time when you needed to have context to understand something that happened?

Take a look at this photo on this page.

Why is this man crying? Share your ideas with your class.

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.1 ACTIVITY STUDENT MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION
Now, look at this photo in more context.

Any more ideas about why this man is crying? Does having a fuller
view of the picture give you more information? It may have helped you
a little, but clearly, you need more information.

This is actually a fairly well-known historical photograph. What else

do you think you need to know to figure out what’s going on here? In
other words, what categories of information might help you figure out
what’s happening? Discuss your ideas with your class and ask your
teacher as many questions as you want. Once you’ve gotten more
information, your teacher will tell you the title of this picture and give
you any additional information you might need to figure out why this
man is crying.

Do you think you would have been able to figure out why the man
is crying without all of this extra information? The process you just
went through is called contextualization, and it’s something historians
do all the time. It’s also something we do in our everyday lives to
help us properly interpret things that have happened instead of just
jumping to conclusions.

To help with historical contextualization in this course, we have a tool

for you to use. Take out the Contextualization Tool and review it with
your class. As you might have noticed, most of what you talked about
in your conversation is included in the tool. You’ll be using this tool throughout the course to help you practice contextualizing, which will enable you to
correctly interpret the historical events you’ll be studying.

As an extension to this activity, your teacher might have you contextualize your own life using the Contextualization Tool. The answer to Question 1 of the tool
would be: “What do people need to know about me to ‘get’ me?” And “Me” would be your answer to Question 2. If your teacher has you do this, fill out the tool
and be prepared to share the context of your life with your teacher or classmates. This is a great way to learn more about other people you are in school with!

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.1 ACTIVITY STUDENT MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION Name: Date:

Directions

1. Answer the first two questions on the organizer portion of the tool (see the next page).
2. Locate the event, process, person, or source in its place in time, and then add it to the timeline. Make sure you include:
• The date this occurred or when the source was created
• The general starting and ending dates
3. Locate the event or source in its place in space. Place an X on the map wherever this was happening (it may be one location, or many).
• If the location of the event changed over time, draw arrows between your X’s to show the movement.
4. Make a list of other historical events in the List of Events box below. Include those that were happening:
• At the same time as the event being studied, no matter the location
• In the same place(s) and at the same time as the event being studied
• Immediately before this time period
• 50 to 100 years before the event
5. Consider the AP themes. Add relevant details to your list and label any events that connect to the themes with P (political), I (innovation), E
(environment), C (culture), $ (economy), and S (social).
6. Look at your list and put a star next to any of the events that might help explain what you are studying.
7. Add any relevant events to your timeline, including those that connect to the themes.
8. Look at your timeline and map, and write a contextualization paragraph using the information you have gathered about the event in question.

List of Events

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.1 ACTIVITY STUDENT MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION Name: Date:

Question 1: What is the question you are trying to answer or the claim you are trying to make?

Question 2: What is the historical event, process, person, or source being studied?

Timeline

Map

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WORLD HISTORY PROJECT AP / LESSON 1.1 ACTIVITY STUDENT MATERIALS
CONTEXTUALIZATION — INTRODUCTION Name: Date:

Contextualization paragraph: As you prepare to write this, be sure to think about:

• The timeframe: What else was happening during that time?
• The location: Was your topic of study local, regional, national, or global? What type of location was it (for example, farm, city, on land, on water)?
• What do the themes suggest about the event or source at that time and in that place?
• How do modern day attitudes, values, and concepts differ from those at the time of your topic of study?

Review your work related to time, place in space, and culture. Write a contextualization paragraph that helps us better understand the event, process, person, or source
of focus in this activity.

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