Every few weeks, my students spend history class time competing in a history bowl. To play, the students sit with their houses (Athanasius, Ambrose, and Augustine) and answer questions about things they’ve learned in history class. I move from house to house, asking each one a question from my stack of history bowl cards. If a student answers correctly, he earns his house a point or two, depending on the difficulty of the question. If he doesn’t know the answer, he can use his house’s “Help” option, and he and his housemates convene to come up with an answer together. If someone gives an incorrect answer, the opposing houses each have a chance to “Steal” the question and answer correctly, earning those points for themselves. The 3rd and 4th graders love having a history bowl, and they get so excited to play!
Here are some of the questions that students are able to answer so far this year:
- When was the destruction of Jerusalem?
- When did Constantine issue the Edict of Milan?
- Find Rome on the map.
- Find Alexandria, Egypt on the map.
- Name two problems with the Roman Empire in the early 200s, when it started getting too big.
- Name the man who urged Diocletian to persecute and kill Christians. How did he die?
- What happened at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge?
- What does the Arian heresy falsely teach?
- Why would it be a problem if Jesus were not truly and fully God?
- Name the locations where each house father was bishop: Athanasius, Ambrose, Augustine.
- Tell the story of St. Augustine and the pear tree. What did this teach Augustine about his own heart?
- Name one good thing about living in a monastery, and name one danger.
- When Emperor Honorius had sent the Goths to live in Gaul and Spain, what did Stilicho do? Then what did Alaric the Goth do?
- Tell the story of how Alaric got into Rome.
Having a history bowl comes with huge benefits for the students. By hearing these questions and answers frequently, they get to regularly review some of the most important facts, stories, and lessons from history class. Because we keep using the same, growing collection of questions, students will remember the beginning of the year’s material (e.g., the fall of Rome, or the early Church fathers) even in April and May, when their lectures are about the late medieval period or the Reformation. The map and timeline questions help students place historical events in an accurate context of place and time, relative to other events, and we review them often enough that most students really internalize them. Perhaps best of all, students benefit tremendously from recalling and retelling a narrative all on their own, as many of the questions require. And to them, it’s really all fun and games!
From the teacher’s point of view, I like the ability to pick out the main points from each lesson and put them into a question or two for review. The repetition of these main points gives the students confident knowledge of the important stuff, and keeps them from getting lost in the details.
Our 3rd-4th grade history bowl is a great reminder that learning is not inherently stuffy or laborious. A huge part of a good education is reviewing afresh the worthwhile things that you already know. And we might as well have fun with it!
In Christ,
Miss Hahn
