IDU Relationships in Time and Space

This IDU will integrate Individuals and Societies and Language and Literature. The purpose of the IDU is for students to synthesize historical research and source analysis to develop their creativity through the processes of writing historical fiction.

Key Concepts

Creativity - Language and Literature

Perspective - What is your character?

Time, place and space - What era are you writing in? What was the society like? Where is your story placed?

Related Concepts

Perspective - Who's viewpoint are you writing from?

Global Context

Orientation in time and space - To understand where the fiction takes place (space), what the locations mean to the characters (place) and how the sequence of cause and effect (time) in the historical setting informs the story.

Statement of Inquiry

Creatively exploring setting and perspective changes understandings of time, place and space. This can augment or distort “historical truth”.

Inquiry Questions

Factual Questions: Remembering facts and topics

    • What relevant historical events occurred before, during and as a consequence of the period investigated?
    • How did different people live during the period of study?
    • What worldviews did people have during the period of study?
    • What is imagery and how does it enhance descriptive writing?
    • How can the structure of writing evoke emotion in the reader?
    • How do we develop characterisation?
    • What are the conventions of the historical fiction genre?

Conceptual Questions: Analysing big ideas


    • How did people perceive the places they inhabited?
    • How do we share experiences of the past?

Debatable Questions: Evaluating perspectives and developing theories

    • How far can we really understand what it was like to live in another age and place?
    • Should fact and fiction be blurred?
    • What is truth in history?

Unit Outline and AtL Sheets

2018-19 Historical Fiction IDU - Year 8 Individuals and Societies MYP Unit Grid
2018-19 Historical Fiction - Year 8 - Individuals and Societies - Approaches to Learning Grid