Today's conversation starter is about the controversy developing over President Obama's plan to deliver a speach to public school students on Tuesday. This would be a great opportunity to for students to explore a variety of related topics such as (but not limited to) conservatism versus liberalism, rights of parents and families, and President's use of power.
I observed my cooperating teacher using this site (Census in Schools) for a 6th grade geography class. The students responded positively and were actively engaged in the lesson. The students were able to work with their own individual maps while exploring and answering essential questions. The site also has information and materials appropriate for all other grades. I think that this site could also be used for U.S. History since the first census orginiated for the purpose of creating a representative government.
Each button at the top stands for one of the development goals. Each page contains video clips, a short web game (very simple) and information about what that goal is, what students around the world are doing to make a difference and suggestions for actions more students can take.
The "Add your voice" portion has a place where students can send in videos that they have made about the Millenium development goals.
There's also a Youth Action Guide that you can download and print for your classes!
For each goal there is:
* Information about the goal
* Information on how much progress has been made towards that goal
* Projects that other students have done
* What still needs to be done
* Links to more information
This information is not particularly engaging but it is condensed in an easy to find location. It's certainly not a game or anything and kids won't be tricked into learning by any cool effects or anything.
From the Millenium Campaign website: "*End poverty by 2015.* This is the historic promise 189 world leaders made at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000 when they signed onto the Millennium Declaration and agreed to meet the "Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).":/goals The MDGs are an eight-point road map with measurable targets and clear deadlines for improving the lives of the world's poorest people. World leaders have agreed to achieve the MDGs by 2015."
This short (3.34) youtube video is much more enticing than the webpage.
http://www.youtube.com/mcampaign
Perhaps a teacher could show the video and then ask students to research one of the goals using this site. The culmination could be designing an action to participate in on the date of action. This year that is Oct 16th-18th. May be a good introductory activity to get kids to see the importance of global issues before launching into global history (or concurrently :-)
Website for the event: http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/
The UN's Millennium Goals as they have constructed them for kids. It's still a ton of information and not in the easiest or most engaging format but it might be a great place for students to get started examining world issues like Hunger, HIV/AIDS or Infant Mortality and what they can do.
Rethinking schools offers some fantastic resources for teachers. The Rethinking Globalization text has activities for all ages to start making students aware of the global nature of our lives and to help them to take action instead of being passive consumers of world goods/culture.
Articles, resources, and publications from teachers and educators that subscribe to critical pedagogy. The information is based in opinion, theory, historical documents, and cool lesson plans and curriculum ideas.
I recommend checking out the articles that are here, and checking out some of their publications from a library (or from me, I have "Rethinking Globalization").
Rethinking Schools is an organization committed to equity and to the vision that public education is central to the creation of a humane, caring, multiracial democracy. While writing for a broad audience, Rethinking Schools emphasizes problems facing urban schools, particularly issues of race. Rethinking Schools tries to balance classroom practice and educational theory. It is an activist publication, with articles written by and for teachers, parents, and students. It also addresses key policy issues, such as vouchers and marketplace-oriented reforms, funding equity, and school-to-work.
The National Constitution Center has an excellent biographical list of all of those that attended the convention, you can search by interactive map. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were not at the Constitutional Convention, as they were serving as ambassadors in Europe.
This lesson should be taught after the Articles of Confederation are taught. Students should have a knowledge of what the Articles of Confederation were and why they failed to work.
This is a time when chronological teaching is most helpful because the Article of Confederations is the entire basis for the Constitution and that connection should be a main emphasis. The movie 1776 is an excellent way to teach the Articles because it is a musical, which helps the students remember the people, which can be confusing. It is also a way to incorporate multiple intelligences.
Make sure to arrange groups so that struggling students will be included into stronger groups. If a large number of these students are present, the entire activity can be done in a group discussion format.
I will be teaching the Era of the Constitution this upcoming Wednesday. When I was in US history in high school we did a cool simulation where we played the roles of the convention's members and I thought this was a pretty good lesson plan for doing such an activity.