The Cold War Website Project
The end of World War II signaled the end of armed conflict and a return to normality in the United States, right? This could not be further from the truth. We entered into a forty year "Cold War" over political ideology, nuclear showdowns, espionage, and witch-hunts for communists within. I challenged my students to see just how difficult this era was. Consequently, I challenged my students to create a website that showcased their knowledge of the Cold War topics in a fresh way. I was very pleased with the outcomes and most importantly, the students were proud of their work. Feel free to borrow the lesson plans below or click this link to see a example of the finished product.
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A Whiteboard & MarkerJust because the students have a wireless netbook it might be logical to conclude that technology drives instruction but I like to use technology where it makes sense. In some situations it doesn't - this is one of them. I want to keep alive this organic, almost anti-technology approach to learning. When we were starting our unit on the Civil Rights Unit, I began to draw the previous days concepts out on the whiteboard for students to take a look at. Over the next few days I encouraged students to add their own drawings on the board showing their interpretation of previous lessons. It is incredible what students can produce. I hope you click on some of the pictures to see what the students sketched out.
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Historical Board Game With a Twist
The last bit of student work I wanted to showcase was a video made by two of my students who wanted to break the mold. One of the final projects for U.S. History-B was for students to work in groups and create a historical board game that covered the state standards. Two students said they could cover the state standards but instead of making a board game, they wanted to make a video game based movie instead. I let them get started right away. After several days of lower amounts of sleep and many energy drinks later, the two students showed their video game movie to the class. Feel free to watch the video below.