Journey Through History

The EASTCONN Teaching American History Project, headed by Dan Coughlin, was the best professional development I have participated in as a teacher.  Through workshops, seminars, field trips, and a summer institute, I expanded my knowledge of history and I learned interesting new teaching strategies.  Best of all, I was able to work with a dedicated group of teachers intent on improving their craft.  I highly recommend that teachers get involved in a Teaching American History Project, and teachers in Northeastern Connecticut need look no further than the EASTCONN region TAHP.

Here are three of the lessons I wrote for the TAHP.

The Media and the Spanish American War

In this lesson, students examine various Connecticut newspapers to determine why the US went to war against Spain, and to evaluate the role of the media in the US entering into war with Spain.  Just how “yellow” were Connecticut newspapers?  The lesson and materials can be found at:

• http://www.eastconn.org/tah/LessonMediaInTheWarSpAm.pdf
• http://www.eastconn.org/tah/SpanishAmWarArticles.htm

The 7 “Hats” of the President

Using the inquiry process, students define the jobs of the president and find current examples.

http://www.eastconn.org/tah/SevenHatsofthePresidentLesson.pdf

Hitler’s Rise to Power

Students work in groups to analyze primary and secondary sources and draw conclusions about why Hitler was able to come to power.

http://www.eastconn.org/tah/HitlersRiseToPower.pdf

I was terrified that I would turn students off of Shakespeare, but was gratified when Romeo and Juliet turned out to be their favorite text of the year! I attribute this success to the groundwork I laid in helping students understand the Bard’s language. To begin, I had students write Elizabethan-style skits. Then I asked them to guess whether Shakespeare wrote in Old, Middle, or Modern English. Of course, they guessed Old English, so I did a lesson on the changing English language. By the end of that, they were just relieved that we weren’t reading Old or Middle English! Finally, before starting the play, we looked at Shakespeare’s sonnets (see lesson, handout, and accompanying PowerPoint slides). I also did this lesson because I had them write a paper on a sonnet while we were reading Romeo and Juliet in class. By the way, this lesson was mostly taken from http://www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/language/lessonplan.html .

Before starting the play, I laid out Romeo & Juliet’s family trees. Then, once we got into Shakespeare a bit, I got students to appreciate Shakespeare’s use of puns, and had students play “Dear Abby.” (The family tree and the Abby assignment must be credited to my former colleague Cassie Green, who was a HUGE help in my first foray into teaching English!).

I heard about the “walking debate” from the luncheon speaker at the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies 2009 conference, and I tried it out soon after.  In a walking debate, students must gauge the persuasiveness of each other’s arguments and move accordingly.   First, students choose sides on an issue by going to one side of the classroom.  Then, each side has to make its case.  If, at any point, someone is persuaded by an argument made by the other side, they are free to move over to the other side.  It’s a great way to get kids listening to each other and moving around the classroom!

After years of having students play Jeopardy as a review game, and seeing a few students dominate each game, I went in search of another way to play.  Based on some reading I did online, I finally came to a solution.  I have students line up three vertical rows of desks and divide the class into thirds.  The front seat of each row is considered the “hot seat.”  The person in the hot seat may consult with the person immediately behind them to provide the answer to a question.  After each question, however, the person in the hot seat moves to the back of the row and the rest of the row moves forward.  Therefore, no one person can continually answer questions for a team, and everyone has the chance to answer questions.