Stories and Sources

My 10th grade World History students were deeply engaged in a discussion about World War I. They were fascinated by major conflicts, so I knew this topic would be interesting to them. One student even told us a story about his great-great-grandfather who fought in World War I. I loved these personal stories and how students felt comfortable sharing them. But, none of their answers responded to the central question about who was to blame for the war. I wanted them to use the source in front of them to claim that Germany instigated the world war through numerous actions. I decided to intervene and try and get the class back on track. I asked them leading questions that corresponded to the primary sources, like the Treaty of Versailles. While this was successful, I found that I changed the energy of the room. By the end of the discussion, they were not as engaged and I fear that I squashed their excitement for the topic. Moreover, I was nervous that I stopped a productive student-led discussion, even though it did not align with my learning goals.