Category Archives: strategies

Sweet Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic lesson plans and instructional goodies

best practice, geography, Glenn Wiebe, lesson plans, primary sources, social media, strategies, , , , ,

Sochilogo

Are you looking for some sweet Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic instructional goodies? Here’s what I’ve got:

Start with the basics

News

Social Media

Mobile Apps
(I’m part of Team Apple so . . . these are iPhone / iPad apps. I did some checking – Google Play and Android also have tons.)

Lesson Plans / Instructional Materials

Have fun!

Disc vs. Plow: Social Studies in the 21st Century

best practice, Glenn Wiebe, historical thinking, standards, strategies

I grew up in western Kansas. Land of giant jack rabbits. Tumble weeds. Beautiful sunsets. Vast horizons. And wheat. Lots of wheat.

I spent a lot of time on the family farm in the northeast part of Finney County. Much of the land was broken out by my grandmother’s father and uncles around the turn of the century. Growing up, my brothers and I rode trucks, tractors, and combines, climbed windmills, fell off windmills, walked miles of fields, hunted pheasants, raced motorcycles, and generally had a great time.

As we got older, we drove the trucks, tractors, and combines – planting and harvesting wheat and milo.

The point? Continue reading Disc vs. Plow: Social Studies in the 21st Century →

“It’s Been A While…”

Brad Burenheide, history, literacy, Music, resources, strategies, Uncategorized

The title for this post is from the song of the same name from the band Staind.  A great rock ballad from a good rock band.  But I digress.  Now that I am back in the swing of things, I am ready to share some more great social studies information!  Today’s post is about the using of music in social studies education.

A good colleague of mine is Dr. Chris Goering from the University of Arkansas (and graduate of Kansas State University) has a wonderful website titled “Lit Tunes” where he talks about using music in language arts instruction.  As we know about the College and Career Readiness standards, we need to look at how we can incorporate language arts into our instruction.  I would greatly encourage you to look at Dr. Goering’s Soundtrack of Your Life assignment on the website.   Continue reading “It’s Been A While…” →

The Dreaded Textbook

Cassie Medley, graphic organizer, lesson plans, literacy, reading, strategies

I would almost be willing to bet money on the fact that my student’s least favorite part of my class is when I say “grab your textbooks.”  The groans that echo around the room are enough to keep me from repeating that phrase very often, but I know my kids still need to learn how to use their textbooks, so I brave the sound effects every now and then.  What my students dread most is opening the book and silently reading hundreds of pages (or at least it feels like that many to them), so I try to find fun reading strategies to alleviate the amount of reading while still ensuring my kids are getting the information they need. Continue reading The Dreaded Textbook →

Interactive maps compare current cities to 19th century versions

best practice, Glenn Wiebe, maps, museum, photos, strategies, technology, , ,

dc-spyglass-viewI love the Smithsonian magazine. Both the print and online versions. The articles are incredibly cool and range all over the place, from why we incorrectly believe that carrots help us see better to what people snacked on during the 1963 March on Washington.

During a recent run through their online history articles, I ran across a very cool interactive activity that lets you look at past and present maps of six major US cities. The magazine recently dipped into David Rumsey‘s collection of over 150,000 maps to find some of the best representations of American cities over the past couple hundred years. With some simple programming, they were able to overlay images of vintage maps of some major cities onto satellite images from today. Continue reading Interactive maps compare current cities to 19th century versions →