Future of History / History & Current Events
by Sarah Cooper · Published 10/18/2015 · Last modified 11/22/2019
FDR’s “Four Freedoms” speech in 1941 versus Donald Trump’s debate performances this year: meaningful connection or unfair comparison? Sarah Cooper describes her recent lesson and presents her new ground rules for history and current event mashups.
Climate Change: Discover How it Impacts Spaceship Earth with 25 Projects is on a level that most tweens can grasp, yet it is not oversimplified and builds vocabulary. With its cool facts and high order questions, this book gets MS teacher Laura Von Staden’s recommendation.
Future of History / History Resources
by Jody & Shara · Published 09/21/2015 · Last modified 11/13/2019
In earlier years Jody Passanisi provided sources to her 8th grade history students. More recently, as they look to the Internet for information, she finds they need to understand not only how to cite sources they uncover but also why they need to credit ideas.
Differentiation / Future of History
by Sarah Cooper · Published 09/06/2015 · Last modified 11/24/2019
Wondering how – with enough learning time – she could reach individual 8th grade U.S. history students where they are “most curious & invested,” teacher Sarah Cooper considers the breadth of current events resources and connections she could suggest.
Future of History / Understanding Religions
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 08/23/2015 · Last modified 11/29/2019
Teaching about Judaism, Christianity and Islam is a staple in many middle school world history and culture classes. To help counter students’ frequent confusion about these religions, Lauren Brown points out misconceptions and offers resource ideas.
In his ELA classroom, David Sebek focuses on four aspects of what it means to be a “good citizen” – truthfulness, justice, equality and responsibility – and uses whistleblower stories and dystopian fiction to explore the elusive definition of citizenship.
Written from the experiences of two veteran teachers, Empowering Families is the most useful guide in promoting student literacy at home that 4th grade teacher Alex T. Valencic has ever come across. He plans to share its many suggestions with teachers and parents this fall.
When you think of Greek and Latin roots, you think high student engagement, right? No? ELA teacher Amber Chandler plans to make all those old roots rock this fall as she introduces the concepts of language development and acquisition to her students.
Teachers looking for new ways to incorporate primary sources into history lessons covering 5 centuries will find great ideas in Jana Kirchner and Andrew McMichael’s Inquiry-Based Lessons in U.S. History, says social studies teacher Michael DiClemente.
Future of History / Tragic Events
by Lauren S. Brown · Published 07/26/2015 · Last modified 12/11/2019
Whether a tragedy is recent or ancient, death is an unfortunate staple in social studies classes, writes history educator Lauren Brown. The challenge for MS teachers is to treat tragic events sensitively while helping students grasp the historical import.
