Two Departmentalized Teachers Integrate Lessons to Help Students Become More Engaged Two departmentalized teachers share how they integrate their subject matter to make lessons meaningful for their students. There are strategies, lessons, and tips on how they easily manage their cross-curricular planning. Challenges or Obstacles: Challenges can occur if you are sharing the subjects mentioned […]
Category: Social Studies
Kennedy Assassination: Crime Scene Investigation
Unique Class Assignment Encourages Students to Use Problem Solving and Communication Skills Students travel back in history to 1960 to the presidential election between Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy. We spend a week acquiring biographical information while comparing and contrasting the influence of media then and now. Once students have a good understanding of […]
Use of Quarter Courses to Increase Curriculum Diversity for High Ability High School Students
Quarter Length Courses Allow Students the Choice Between Multiple Narrowly Focused Subject Matters Throughout the Semester Quarter courses were developed to increase the diversity of courses available to high ability students. Courses last for half a semester and are usually developed in pairs taught by the same instructor. Topics for quarter courses are usually more narrowly […]
High School Social Studies
Exercise to Encourage Students to Embrace Politics Teaching the American Presidential election of 1960 using the commercial simulation “1960: Making of the President” (Z-Man Games: 2007). This is a relatively sophisticated simulation that uses familiar board-game concepts (turns, cards, mapboard, marker cubes, etc.) to examine the classic — and close — Kennedy vs. Nixon electoral […]
Utilizing Expeditionary Learning
Expeditionary Learning Creates Positive Changes Utilizing Expeditionary Learning as the structure of my teaching has achieved incredible results. In an Expeditionary Learning model, each semester, the teacher creates and executes an expedition. The expedition is standards-based, hands-on, and community focused. It is grounded in either science or social studies standards and acts as the integrated […]