semester review – Blue Cereal Education

This is something I lifted from Rhonda Johnson who used to teach with me in Tulsa. Rhonda is one of the most entertaining and intellectually challenging people I’ve ever known, and I appreciate her agreeing to let me sponge off of her in this way.

Then again, why should this be any different than anything else I’ve borrowed from her over the years?

The “Cause & Effect” Conundrum

It’s not unusual to see history presented in terms of “cause and effect.” It’s a rational, if simplified, method of trying to pull events together and understand the connections and interactions that make it all meaningful. Without cause and effect, history could only be taught as a series of unconnected events – this happened, then that happened, then another thing happened, and probably some other things, until today… so make of this what you will.

While there are those who capitalize off of accusations that teachers are somehow manipulating and abusing students by not presenting history in a completely random, meaningless, way, the reality is that none of us can cover in exacting detail everything that’s ever happened anywhere in the world over the past 10,000 years or more in 180-or-so class periods. Some degree of subjective triage is essential, and “cause/effect” is a useful part of that.

Causes, Triggers, Events, and Results (CTER)

The anchors of the whole “CTER” approach are whatever major historical events you choose to prioritize in class. Surely we can all agree that some stuff that’s happened over time is more important than other stuff (at least for educational purposes). While no one wants to shortchange Coleman Sellers’ patenting of the Kinemascope in 1861 (allowing the illusion of motion when exhibiting stereoscopic pictures and eventually leading to what we today call “movies”), most biased, brainwashing history teachers set that aside in favor of discussing the secession of the South and the onset of the American Civil War.

The Civil War, then, was an “Event.”

Like most Events, the war had multiple Causes. Causes are generally ongoing – they can be in place for days, weeks, months, or years without the event actually happening. Debates over slavery, sectionalism, tariff disputes, cultural differences, vocal antagonists on both sides – these were all Causes of the Civil War.

Events also have Results. Like Causes, Results can be short-term or long-term, and sometimes interact in unexpected ways. Reconstruction, the end of slavery, three new constitutional amendments, nearly a million dead Americans, a dramatic increase in the power of the federal government – these were all Results.

Just to keep things interesting, the Results of one Event easily become Causes for the next. (History’s wacky that way.)

The new wrinkle (for me) was Rhonda’s concept of the “Trigger.” While Causes may occur for an extended time without an Event actually beginning, Triggers convert all of that potential into action. They strike the match that ignites the fuel and timber. Without the Trigger, Causes might continue or eventually fade, but the Event wouldn’t occur – at least not when it did and how it did.

I’d argue that the firing on Ft. Sumter was the Trigger for the Civil War, because until people are shooting at each other, all we have is conflict and tension. You could reasonably make a case that the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 was the Trigger, or the secession of the southern states – and I could live with that.

So, yeah – Triggers can prove a bit subjective and some stuff happens without them, but I’ve found it to be quite useful in helping students organize the general flow of events in any history class.

CTER: An Easy Example

The American colonies had been restless for decades regarding British rule. Enlightenment ideals shaped the thinking of their most accomplished citizens. They enjoyed the benefits of “salutary neglect.” It was difficult for an island so far away to effectively rule a continent. Then came more specific antagonisms – the Proclamation of 1763, the Sugar Act, the Stamp Act, the Boston Massacre, etc. Individuals and small groups begin pushing back more forcefully – the Boston Tea Party, Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense,” and so on. These were all Causes of the American Revolution.

But every one of them occurred without a revolution starting – at least not in the violent “you’re not my mommy anymore!” sense. Some had been going on for years and may have continued for many more.

Then came Lexington & Concord – the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.” At this point, those causes were suddenly activated, lit on fire, and exploded into the Event. The American Revolution began and lasted nearly a decade. (It was a pretty big deal, so it’s an “Event.”)

Many things after the Revolutionary War weren’t the same as they had been before. The colonies were now independent and resented Great Britain for generations afterwards. They called themselves the United States of America and wrote a constitution called the “Articles of Confederation.” George Washington was forever after known as the “Father of Our Country.” 40,000+ men who’d been alive before the war were dead. Because war is expensive, there was also debt. Debt meant new taxes, and since not everyone felt equally represented in the new government, there were some who objected to this new taxation without—

Well, you get the idea. Some of the results of the American Revolutionary War became Causes of the next major event – replacing the Articles of Confederation with the U.S. Constitution to which was quickly added a “Bill of Rights.” The process continues through Manifest Destiny, the Civil War, the Gilded Age, a few world wars, the 1960s, grunge, and Donald Trump somehow getting elected President. One way or the other, it all connects and more-or-less flows together.

Using CTER In Class

There are two ways I like to use CTER in class. The first is as an introduction or overview for major events or eras. Students are given a CTER graphic organizer for one or two events from the upcoming unit. As we move through the unit, they use their CTER organizers to keep new information coherently tied together. (If you choose, however, you could just as easily use them as unit summaries or quizzes.) CTERs don’t require deep analysis, but they do require a “big picture” understanding of main events and why stuff happened the way it did – and that ain’t nothin’.

The second way I love to use CTER is as end-of-semester review. Students work in small groups and each group is given a stack of index cards. On each card is written a Cause, Trigger, Event, or Result. (I never label them as such, but Causes are all one color, Triggers are all another color, etc. Whether or not I share this system with students depends on the group.) Groups are assigned to place the Events in chronological order and to identify the Causes, Trigger, and Results of each event.

The activity requires factual recall, but also a degree of ongoing analysis and understanding of how things connect. There are few things which promote retention and understanding more than impromptu debates over whether a card makes more sense as a Result of this Event or a Cause of that one, or whether such-and-such was truly the Trigger or just another Cause. Sometimes students organize things differently than I would have; if they can justify it, that’s fine.

The specifics of the activity vary with the needs of the moment. Sometimes I end up dropping hints to keep groups from getting overly frustrated. Other times, I’ll allow students to use their textbooks or technology to look stuff up as they go. Most of you are educators – you know how this stuff works. It’s also easy to simplify the activity for some classes or make it a bit more challenging for others.

We wrap up by walking around and seeing what other groups did, then discussing. You can even hand them cards and assign a new Event or two to create their own for later review. Once you’ve established the concept, it’s infinitely flexible.

The attachments below represent all sorts of variations of this particular activity. Most are primarily American History, but some are from World. You can use them “as is” or modify them to fit your needs. If you really go to town with the idea, you can do right by the rest of us by sharing whatever you create with me and I’ll add it here.

Intro to CTER (Presentation) – Google Slides

Sample CTER Events w/ Causes, Triggers, and Results (for Teachers) – Google Document

CTER Individual Practice GO – PDF

CTER Two Events Generic – PDF

CTER Protestant Reformation – Columbus 1492 – PDF

CTER Sample – American Revolution (Completed) – PDF

CTER Fr-In War – Declaring Independence (w Key) – PDF

CTER Am Rev (basic) – PDF

CTER Am Rev – Fr Rev – PDF

CTER Key – 4 Early 19th Century Events – Google Slides

CTER Civil War – Reconstruction (w Other Stuff) – PDF

CTER World War I – PDF