Mummification

Here is a link to the "Mummy Maker"--an educational game that teaches the process of mummification.

Hammurabi's Code

While teaching Ancient Mesopotamia/Sumer, I want to focus on Hammurabi's code for the following reasons:

1. It highlights the political structure that Sumer developed 

2. The code of laws shows the challenges surrounding developing a civilization

3. The laws themselves reveal how the people felt about religion, their responsibilities, etc. (You can see people's values shine through in their laws)

4. Students can connect with living under laws and are at the age where they are starting to be affected by laws (Why should there be a law about the driving age?  About drinking? What if you were caught stealing from GAP?  What should be the consequence of your crime?)

I came across this great lesson plan while researching on the internet.  I will need to pear it down because I am fitting Ancient Sumer/Hammurabi's code into one day, but I really like the opening attention grabber (what are the positives and negatives of living in a large community? make a list of each on the board) and the stations.  I think the activity leads to a lot of interaction, discussion and possibly debate. 

Yay!

Comparisons--If it were my Home

I came across a fun, informative and quick to use website this past week: ifitweremyhome.com.

This website lets you click on any country and it will compare it to where you live.  The comparison is basically a list of percentages.  For example, when I compare the U.S. to Japan this is what I learn:

If Japan were my home, I would:

have 54.56% less chance of dying in infancy

have 46.42% less babies

use 41.54% less electricity

consume 39.97% less oil

have 39.78% more chance at being employed

spend 61.59% less money on health care

make 29.74% less money

live 3.93 years longer

experience 15.33% less of a class divide

be 83.33% less likely to have HIV/AIDS

have 0.28% more free time

You can click on each different percentage to get more info about Japan.

The website would best be just a fun thing to direct students to and get them interested in different parts of the world.

World Civ Blogs/Collaboration

I recently found out I will be teaching World Civ next year at Timpview instead of Government.  I've been needing to do a mental shift over World Civ and took some time tonight to review materials.

Holly Bowers and Brenna Perry both taught a regular World Civ class last year at Timpview.  I found their blogs which will be invaluable.  It's going to be a tough task to teach all of world history in a semester, BUT it is doable.  Thankfully they have laid a good foundation and I just hope to be able to do it justice.

Here are the links to their blogs:

Mrs. Bower's World Civilizations
Mrs. Perry's World Civilizations

Update on Mexican Drug Cartels

Here, here and here are more updated articles on the Mexican Drug Cartels.  Now that I know I will be teaching Geography next year (yes!!!!), I would love to use these articles to keep my "cartel day" current.

Cuban Missile Crisis Video

Holly Bowers pointed out a great cartoon/song that explains the Cuban Missile Crisis.  This would be a great way to wrap up a CMC discussion.  It is super simple and enjoyable to watch.  And it's only 3 minutes about!

Cuban Missile Crisis Debate

Another great idea from Rebecca Simmons!

On our day where we discussed JFK and the Cuban Missile Crisis, we began class with some background on the 1960 election, the Space Race and the Bay of Pigs.  I gave this direct instruction as if it was the 1960's and we were feeling the Cold War pressures.

Then we watched a short clip of 13 days to introduce our "current crisis" with missiles being discovered in Cuba in 1962.  We watched from 10:38 to a little after 17 minutes (I cut it off right were Bobby Kennedy says that they should lock a bunch of smart guys in a room to try and figure out what to do).  I told the class that they are the "bunch of smart guys" and need to help advise Kennedy on which of the three options to take in the CMC.  The following are the 3 options:

1. Air Strike/Attack
2. Naval Blockade to prevent Soviets from bringing in more missiles
3. Diplomacy with the Soviets

One student was selected to be JFK and the rest of the students were given different roles.  They each selected a paper from a manila envelope titled with the words Top Secret written on the cover.  Their paper explained who they were.  About ten of the students became the real advisors to Kennedy (Bobby Kennedy, McNamara, etc.) and the students read about that person's stance during the CMC.  The rest of the students got a piece of paper explaining if that they could be a hawk (pro-war) or a dove (pro-peace).

Students then had 10 minutes to read their paper and write down their notes on what they would say to advise Kennedy (tell them this has to be turned in for points).

Then Kennedy stood and presented his current feelings about the CMC and then opened the floor for others thoughts.

I had Kennedy sit in a comfortable chair facing the podium.  Students were told that they each needed to stand at the podium and present their argument in order to receive points for the day (if they spoke once they got 10 pts, every time they spoke afterwards they got 1 extra credit point).  Kennedy could ask questions of anyone.

I was amazed at how well this worked!  Almost every student stood up of their own free will and presented their argument.

At the end, Kennedy made the decision.  Then we discussed what would happen if that was his real decision (what if we had really done the air strike).

We then debriefed and discussed why he choice the blockade and the real results.

THIS WAS THE CLOSEST WE EVER CAME TO NUCLEAR WAR!!!

Overall, this requires at least 45 minutes.  I wish we had had more time to allow students to respond to each other and participate more than once.

I used this in both an honors and a regular U.S. History class and it worked great for both!

Here is the website where the original ideas came from.  The website has the documents explaining each person's role as well as a PPT about each possible outcome.

I would totally use this again and would try and incorporate the same "advice" kind of debate for other topics as well.