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When President Bush enacted the, "No Child Left Behind Act", he created a large hindrance of learning for the subject area of history and other humanities. This act primarily focusses on the subject areas of math and literacy. With the recent election of President Obama, similar patterns have continued to exist concerning the area of history. President Obama's policy concerning education focusses on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Author, Chelsea Gibson, states, despite the continued emphasis of math and literacy and the support these subjects receive from the government, history and social studies will always teach our children important life lessons. This in turn will create responsible and informed critical leaners. Gibson states 4 reasons as to why the application of history in schools creates critical and informed lifelong learners: 1. History teaches analytical skills. History requires students to make connections and allows them to ask question. Gibson states, critical thinking is the foundation for history therefore, making critical learning an essential learning tool. 2. History is also integrated into other curriculum areas such as the Arts, psychology, philosophy, and modern languages. 3. History teaches and improves writing skills. 4. Finally, history makes students more aware of their heritage.

The Montreal Gazette Newspaper published an article on November 11, entitled, "The Need for Remembrance Day Endures." This article recognizes the importance of veterans and their memories they bring from experiencing historical events in history. Ultimately, individuals who fought in World War I, World War 2, and the Korean War, lay the foundation of Remembrance Day ceremonies across the country. The fascinating stories of veterans' lives serve as the purest form of experience as it provides invaluable insight to historical events. While there is an array of documentation of veterans' experiences, it is more meaningful and engaging to have them orally share their stores. Although many will no longer be able to share their experiences with us, it becomes essential for parents and educators to continue honouring the individuals who sacrificed their lives for our country. A poppy can serve as a simple testament of respect as well as the desire for peace. As we continue to fight the war on terrorism, the desire for power and resources raise the possibilities for greater global violence and turmoil. By paying tribute to our war veterans, it becomes essential to teach students the importance of reflection by promoting peace and community within the classroom environment.

Want to save some time in your busy classroom? Wondering how to integrate different subjects effectively? This article demonstrates how to combine social studies and visual arts in an effective and meaningful way for students. Students demonstrate an understanding of both art and history curriculum expectations as they separate what they can observe from a piece of art from what they can infer from the same piece of art. The article offers tips on how to best present a piece of art. For example, you can enlarge a detail of a painting and describe the specific detail. Then return to the larger image and discuss how looking at only part of the picture can be misleading; just like in history how only looking at one part or perspective of the story can be misleading. Artworks are primary resources in the same way that letters, diaries, and other textual sources are. Historical context is extremely important to the "reading" of these resources. This is why combining visual arts and history can be a very useful and practical way of teaching these subjects. As well, Matching an image to a complementary excerpt can help students deepen their understanding of a person, event or concept and will help build up their skill at making connections; a skill that should be well developed in both inside and outside the classroom.

Do you keep hearing about how important creativity in the classroom is but have no idea how to teach such a skill? There seems to be an understanding that creativity is something that one is born with and not something that is taught. This article offers reasons why it is important to teach creativity in your classroom and offers examples on how you can accomplish this seemingly incredible task. Creativity is not a bestowed gift; if can be experienced and learned by students in a classroom setting. The article emphasizes that there is a desperate need for creative thinkers in the world; we are in the midst of a creativity crisis. A sustainable future depends on having creative thinkers think up innovative solutions to complex problems. Creativity is a set of skills that must be taught to the future generations. The article provides examples of teaching creativity in the classroom. For example, As part of their social studies report, high school students developed a strong sense of empathy when they worked with the art teacher to create masks representing the emotions embodied by people from significant historical events: Polish Jews during the Second World War; a mother and her children leaving Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine in 1847; and parents receiving news that their son or daughter has been killed in action in Afghanistan. Students' creativity cannot be constantly held back by the tight constraints of producing a specific product to exhibit their understanding in a specific way. Creativity should be further explored in our education system if it is a skill that future generations will need to deal with our future complex concerns; not pulled away from simply because it is a concept that many people have not quite figured out how to explain and teach in a school setting.

This article describes three authors from Laurier who have written a book entitled "Canadian Battlefields 1915-1918" which is a guide to and describes the battlefields of northern Europe. In addition to the book, the article describes the use of Google Earth images in better understanding the situation that soldiers were facing during the First World War. It is the author's opinion that by utilizing the technological images, "readers better understand what the Canadians were up against during their battles in the French countryside." I believe that this would not only be an interesting book regarding teaching of historical events, but also an interesting way to incorporate technology into history and to modernize history for students.

Youth Leading Global Change is the Movement of our Time.

Science for kids is a great interactive website for both teachers and students. This website provides different games, experiments, videos and even lesson plans and worksheets for teachers.

This opinion article touches on the pros and cons of Black History month. While the author does not agree that Black History Month should be removed from schools, he challenges us to reconsider how we present Black History Month, the content we include, and how we can change the current program to make it more effective. The article asks why slavery is rarely discussed in depth during Black History Month, then immediately after, asserts that Black History does not begin with 17th century slavery - did black people not exist before this time? The author is concerned with how Black History Month approaches the issue of black inequality as if it is completely disconnected with the present - the issues are still relevant and should be taught as such. As well, the author recognizes that discussing black history in the classroom should not be restricted to one month of the year - Black History month is a great opportunity to celebrate the past from the perspective of African Americans, but this perspective should not be lost for the rest of the year. Weighing the pros and cons of having 'Black History Month,' or any month dedicated to one ethnic group, will be important to consider when developing your own social studies program.