National Center for History in the Schools

Overview

Issue-centered analysis and problem solving activities place students squarely in the center of historical dilemmas with which people have coped at critical moments in the past and near-present. Providing children in grades K-4 opportunity to examine such issues in historical literature and in the history of their local community, state, and nation fosters their personal involvement in these events. If well chosen, these activities promote the development of skills and attitudes essential to citizenship in a democratic society.

Among those skills appropriate for grades K-4 are the ability to analyze a situation; define the issue, problem, or dilemma confronting people in that situation; suggest alternative choices for addressing the problem; evaluate the possible consequences-costs as well as benefits-of each; propose an action; and judge its consequences.   

Because the problems confronting people in well written historical fiction, fables, legends, and myths as well as in historical records of the past are usually value-laden, examining these dilemmas, the choices before the people who confronted them, and the consequences of the decisions they made provide opportunities for children to consider the values and beliefs that have influenced human decisions both for good and for ill. They provide opportunities, as well, for students to deepen their understanding and appreciation of such democratic principles and values as individual responsibility, concern for the rights and welfare of others, truth, justice, freedom, and equality of opportunity.   

STANDARD 5
The student engages in historical issues-analysis and decision-making:
Therefore, the student is able to

1. Identify problems and dilemmas confronting people in historical stories, myths, legends, and fables, and in the history of their school, community, state, nation, and the world.
2. Analyze the interests, values, and points of view of those involved in the dilemma or problem situation.
3. Identify causes of the problem or dilemma.
4. Propose alternative ways of resolving the problem or dilemma and evaluate each in terms of ethical consideration (is it fair? just?), the interest of the different people involved, and the likely consequences of each proposal. 
5. Formulate a position or course of action on an issue by identifying the nature of the problem, analyzing the underlying factors contributing to the problem, and choosing a plausible solution from a choice of carefully evaluated options. 
6. Identify the solution chosen by characters in the story or in the historical situation; or, recommend a course of action themselves. 
7. Evaluate the consequences of the actions taken. 

>> Content Standards in History for Grades K-4