Newseum: Headlines Around the World

I know, I know...the newspaper is dead.

But Newseum is a useful tool to provide a visual look at what the media thinks is "front page worthy" across the United States and Internationally.  Just hover over the city or change the country to see a visual of the front page.

Classroom applications:

• Discuss the similarities/differences of headlines nationally or internationally - what causes these similarities and differences?
• Discuss what makes an event "headline" worthy? Who decides that? Create a list of criteria and analyze the choice of various front pages.
• Track key events regionally and internationally (ex. elections) and analyze the perspectives/language shown in the headlines

PBL Journey continues...

During the Buck Institute training for Project Based Learning (PBL), we discussed the four "21st Century Skills" that the BIE  model stresses:
1. Critical Thinking
2. Communication
3. Collaboration
4. Innovation

One very useful site I found to stress the "innovation" aspect is Challenge.gov,  This site provides information and links to government challenges to have the public problem solve around current issues.  Some of my favorites from the site:

• Raising Teen Substance Abuse through Music
• How do I become President? Challenge
• We Can! Video Contest

Citizenship Information

Via Larry Ferlazzo's blog today.....

A "Citizenship Resource Center" sponsored by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services provides student friendly resources on the naturalization process, a listing of classes, study resources and specifics on the various components of the citizenship test.

While designed for those students seeking US Citizenship, I always found it an interesting test of "natural born" citizen knowledge of our country and frequently included these questions on tests for my students.  Like this one:

What is the “rule of law”?

PBL Journey

Today was Day 1 of a Project Based Learning training for me and some colleagues using the Buck Institute Model.  In order to understand the process and help guide teachers through it - we have been working on developing our own PBL unit.

Note I said "unit." One of the big a-ha moments for me today was that PBL is not really anything new - we have all done projects.  Instead, it is reframing our thinking.  Instead of the project being the "dessert" at the end of a unit - the project is the unit.  And, in the process, the design mirrors much of what many of us already do: formative assessments, use of essential questions, teaching concepts - not just content, and authentic learning experiences.

We worked today on developing some "driving questions."  These were actually  much easier for me than I thought they might be  - perhaps in part because developing "big ideas" and using the UbD model has become second nature for me.  Anyway - nothing is perfect so here are the questions I developed and feedback is welcome!

•   What does art tell us about the values/beliefs of culture?
•   In what ways has science and technology helped humankind meet it's basic needs?
•   To what extent is the Industrial Revolution still occurring?

Historical Thinking Matters

One of the reasons I named this blog "Not Your Father's Social Studies Class" is because that is exactly what I set out to do in teaching history. It was not going to be learning names and dates and regurgitating them back to me in an essay or on a test and then flushing them to learn the next set. I wanted my students to think, to question, to recreate history given many sources. I wanted them to practice listening and empathy. I wanted them to be historians.

All of this involves historical thinking.

How do you do this?

Start here with this amazing video of a historian thinks through resources around the Battle of Lexington in 1775.

You can continue on using resources from this site - or any site or materials that give you multiple perspectives on an event. (HINT: In NYS this is pretty easy as it is exactly what the Document Based Question was intended to do!) 

And be sure to register to get this free classroom resource to hang in your classroom.


I'll keep trying to provide resources and questions and opportunities on this site.

The beginning of modern warfare

On this day in 1914, the first trenches were dug on the Western Front. While the trenches were extremely brutal ways to live, they actually saved many lives with the advent of modern warfare. This 6 minute video is a good way to introduce students to the realities of trench warfare during World War I.

How does this compare to the ways in which war is waged today?

The last photograph of the late President McKinley. 

Taken as he was ascending the steps of the Temple of Music, September 6, 1901

On this day in 1901, President William McKinley died after being shot while attending the Pan-Am exposition in Buffalo, NY.  The first president of the 20th century a glimpse into documents from that time period helps students to understand the dramatic shifts the United States was undergoing.  

A fantastic resource for documents surrounding the assassination and the time period can be located at McKinley Assassination Ink.

Why the Supreme Court rests upon the support of the people!

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer met with Brian Williams on NBC Nightly News today and shared his view on what exactly the public needs to know and understand to support the Supreme Court.  His views on what is important are much the way I framed the importance of details in my social studies class.  My students needed to know two dates in American History: July 4, 1776 and January 12, 19??*.  Everything else was relative.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

* It took them a while to figure out the latter was my birthday!

To Collage or Not to Collage

Teaching middle school students - it was important to me to engage my students in multiple ways to represent their learning.  They loved to make posters and collages and I found them to be a critical way to have them represent their learning in non-visual ways.

The drawback? Not everyone is crafty or artistic (aka ME!) and I had to impose what I called the "Dollar Store Rule."  If you didn't purchase it at the dollar store - you shouldn't be using it on your poster.  I wanted to prevent the "I bought something more glitzy than you so I should get a higher grade mentality." (NOTE: At no time did presentation or artistic ability outweigh the content aspects of the project on my rubrics!)

Glogster seems to have leveled the playing field for students by allowing them to create electronically.  See this fabulous example from a sixth grade student.    AND NOW - if you use wikispaces or edmodo, you don't even have to leave the site to create a poster!

Be sure to check out Glogster EDU to see the options available to educators and check out the social studies related Glogs under categories. 

Those darn kids!!

Cave painting of a dun horse at Lascaux (via wikipedia)

Four teenagers wandering around looking for their dog, Robot, and they stumble upon a cave. Not just any cave - a cave in pristine condition housing amazing pre-historic art.

What can art tell us about history?

This Day in History: September 11, 2001

We were in the computer lab working on a webquest when the school media assistant came up to me and asked me to step outside.  She had CNN playing in her office and wanted me to see the television because she didn't understand if what she was seeing was real.  When I saw the first smoking tower, I joined in her confusion and then immediately worried that my students were on the Internet and might stumble across the exact same site.  If I wasn't sure what was happening, how on earth cold I explain it to 12 year olds?

Each year since then, this date has given me pause as it has millions of people in the United States and beyond.  The first few years, we revisited it with whatever perspective we could muster in class and talk about how current events were impacted by that one fateful day.

Nine years later - the impact has not lessened as the nation is once again torn apart by plans for an Islamic center and mosque near "ground zero" in NYC cause controversy and debate.

While the anniversary of this event falls on a Saturday and in the middle of opening week activities for many schools in the United States, I am sure that it may have gotten lost in the remembrance.  But the current events aspect is important and one I am hoping is addressed in classrooms.  Some resources for teaching about the event and it's lasting legacy are below:

The September 11th Education Program (A Ning sponsored by the September 11th Education Trust)
Reflecting on September 11 (Constitutional Rights Foundation)
Beyond Blame: Reacting to the Terrorist Attack (Education Development Center)
Who are the Arab Americans? (Teaching Tolerance)
Best Sites to Help Teach about 9/11 (Larry Ferlazzo)

Debate me!

One of my favorite activities to do with my class was to ask them to debate an issue.  History is full of them and it is the perfect opportunity to push students to apply their learning, as well as to listen to other perspectives.

If you are already using debates in class, one way to continue the conversation or to engage students in a weekly topic is to use aMap - short for "argument map" it is an interactive, visual tool for mapping out complex arguments.  See my sample (and respond!) below:




How can you use this tool?

• Embed a weekly debate on a current event or class topic on your class webpage or blog.
• Have students create their own map for arguments you have assigned in class.
• After creating a class argument and supports, post and ask other classes or parents to engage.