Devising Real-World Activities for Adolescent History Students. A MiddleWeb Blog Every year, at least half a dozen students ask me some variation of the following question: “Why do we need to take history? How am I going to use this in real life?” It is a question any good history teacher can answer, but often not to the satisfaction of the adolescent mind. An educated adult can see the value in studying the patterns of human behavior in history and understanding the origins of our various social systems. There is little room in their worldview for the big picture. It’s a Small World Because of the developmental narcissism of my students, I try to make sure any real-world activities resonate with their immediate interests. My goal is to show them how they can utilize the skills and knowledge acquired in the classroom to analyze, plan and execute a plan of action in pursuit of a concrete goal.
Petition, Assemble, Speak My real-world activity this year was centered on the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. History Detective Report. I randomly came up with this idea during the last week of school. One of my reading groups had finished their book and project before any of the other groups had finished.
Instead of giving them a new book (there was only one week left), I quickly created this template and told them to pick an event in history and research it. I had one boy choose the Vikings, someone else chose the atomic bomb, a girl wanted the great depression, and another student picked the Korean war. I loved that everyone had such diverse topics. This list is something I quickly generated. Want to hear some GREAT news? World History. History Net: Where History Comes Alive - World & US History Online.
The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Best of History Web Sites. American Rhetoric: The Power of Oratory in the United States.