Linking Current Events to Ancient Mesopotamia

I have been teaching my 7th graders about Mesopotamia and the Middle East.  This week, President Obama visited with Mahmoud Abbas, and met with Benjamin Netanyahu a few weeks ago.  We did some research about the history between the Palestinians and Israelis (this map is a good discussion starter).  Peace talks are scheduled between the two, but appear to be at an impasse.  Each year this is in the news and it is important to link the history (beginnings of Judaism and Islam, creation of Israel, etc.) with the current issues going on there.

Linking the two gives students a way to see that events are connected to past events, and the past history people have with one another effects how they relate to each other now.  They don't care much about the history if they don't think it has any impact on something going on in the world today (and I don't blame them for feeling that way).  They are also more interested in current events when they know some things that led up to the event and know some of the history.  They go hand in hand and compliment each other.  It makes it more interesting to teach, and for the kids to learn.

Crowdsourcing Flight MH 370 (Geography Lesson Ready Made)

Students have been fascinated by the Malaysian flight missing for over a week.  I read about the Tomnod site that allows people around the globe to view satellite images of the area.  They want to use crowdsourcing to find the missing 777.
It was the easiest day of teaching ever - the students were glued to the images and asked question after question about the flight, satellites, and geography.  Alas, nothing was found, but they are all pretty familiar with the geography of SE Asia.
They did not seem too familiar with crowdsourcing (I was surprised that I was familiar with a tech term they did not know) but some have heard of Kickstarter.  I told them it was like teachers passing out papers to students and having each student grade a couple so the teacher does not have to grade them all.  They understood that.

Genius Hour (OK, maybe 15 minutes to start)

I just read about Genius Hour (time given to Google workers to explore something they are passionate about during work hours).  Teachers have been using this concept in Science classes to give students time to explore what interests them.  I love the idea.

I decided to try it with Social Studies today.  The students watched CNN Student News, then I gave them time to do some research on their chromebooks about anything in the news that they wanted to know more about.  Some students tried to find out more about the Malaysian plane crash, INTERPOL, Eric Snowden, a new dinosaur species, or an interactive Pizza Hit table.  It was 15 minutes of students researching something in which they are interested.  Good use of time, I'd say.

The students had to submit a few paragraphs to me to show that they learned something new and they gave me feedback on their interest levels during class.  I learned a lot from reading their posts and I feel they recognized what I was trying to do and they appreciated it.  7th and 8th graders should have some time to explore interests and start to figure out what they might want to do in life.  How much do people earn?  What requirements are needed for certain jobs?  What colleges offer what I need to study?  These are individual questions that I can't answer for everyone.  They have the devices to find information - give them some time to explore what interest them so they can become interesting and productive citizens.

Developing Students' Historical Consciences - the Future Depends on It

I discussed the Ukraine with my 7th and 8th grade students today.  They are becoming experts on Eastern Europe since we have been reading about it since the fall.  There were a few good articles that we read today.

Ukraine Demographics

Ukraine Ramifications

The first shows how the Ukrainian population is divided east/west by language and ethnicity.  It also gives a little history of the Crimea.  It was ceded by Ukraine from Russia in the 1950s when they were both part of the USSR.  Now that they are independent countries, Russia wished they never let it go.  I had the students imagine if Michigan ceded the Upper Peninsula to Wisconsin (it might not be a big deal if the states remain part of the US).  If ten years later the states became independent from the US, Michigan might want that territory back.

The second article explains how this crisis may affect the world economy (already the US stock market has taken a hit).  The students need to understand the potential impact of events in other parts of the world.

Also, I  tried to explain to them that all events they experience and learn about will become part of their understanding of the US.  These experiences will help them form their opinions in the future that may affect the US.  Adults today use events like Vietnam, the Gulf War, Korea, USSR/ Afghanistan, etc, to help them make decisions today - or at least we hope they are using past events and understanding of our relationships with other countries to help guide their decisions.  We also hope that individuals from their generation are paying attention to these things as well.

I related it to them being asked over to someone's house.  To decide if they would like to go you must take into account your past history with this person and what you know about them.  If this person beat you up a few months ago and spent last week in jail you would use this information to make an informed decision.  Hopefully, someone knows the past history of other countries and the US's relationship with them before making decisions.  My students might be future presidents and military leaders - they need to pay attention. 

Don't Worry About Content - Teach What is Relevant Each Day

I used this article last week to explain the Venezuela conflict (Venezuela article).  It is split into 7 sections so I had each group read and discuss one section.  It was a great discussion with a lot of good vocabulary learned by the students.  I made a list of words for each group to look up to better understand the reading - they enjoy learning new words and showing off when they know a word.

Some of the words they defined included: black market, dire straits, polarization, staples, inflation, personae non gratae, repression, and diplomats.  That discussion alone was a good day of social studies.  The discussion turned into a debate between capitalism and socialism, freedom of speech, the First Amendment, and oil production.

It would be my dream to teach like this everyday.  I'm convinced if we did this in grades 7 - 12, we would have citizens ready to participate in civic life upon graduation.  We need to get away from the list of content expectations at each grade level.