I teach History to 5-8th graders and often cover wars or other world changing events. The World War II activity discussed in Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works obviously appealed to me. I find it challenging to summarize the events and changes World War II brought to the world in a unit that consists of month or two, or possibly even shorter. Personally enjoying World War II, I could spend a whole semester or year on the events and changes World War II brought. Being able to introduce topics or resources that could supplement the lesson would help students gain a better understanding of the causes of war and changes it can bring. In the past we have used the game Risk to show impact of War and the strategy behind it. Implementing new ways and avenues that students find interesting would only help the learning process. The book discusses how constructivism helps students learn together, through each other and take an active role in the learning process. Board games or gaming in general, allows the students to take an active leadership role in the learning process because of the responsibilities the game places on the players. Being responsible for a country’s well-being at home and abroad and during war times, gives the students a resemblance of what goes on within a country during war. The hands on approach I believe when supplemented with some background knowledge would allow students the opportunity to take away more information from the unit and better understand the events and changes of World War II.
Orey, M.(Ed.). (2001). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
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Hi Corey,
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask you what is "OVP-1 site director for GearUp"...I saw it in your personal description... I live overseas and am not up to date on terminology, but would like to be.
I also teach grade 6 (math and science) and wanted to ask you if you knew of any games that teach WWII that I could link with math concepts...I'm guessing probability would be a good match...have you ever played a board game called Settlers of Catan...it has a lot of concepts of running a small state and conflicts and negotiations, very usable by grade 6.
When I was reading this week's resources I was pleasently surprised when they detailed a section on teaching WWII. I myself love history but I can remember being in school with other classmates who were so disinterested and did not take the time to fully grasp the importance. I believe that one of the reasons that I can't get enough of history is most likely due to the fact that I had very engaging teachers that presented the material in hands-on, creative ways. We did many intersting projects throughout high school but the one I remember the most was creating an actual 3 x 3 foot float on an assigned country. I still remember having the country Turkey and I had to research many aspects about the country, build and construct a float and creatively represent many things specific to that country. It's funny how you remember certain things in such vivid detail. As a teacher, I now understand that the project had such powerful meaning due to the fact that I was able to create it myself.
ReplyDeleteCorey,
ReplyDeleteTaking a constructivist approach to history at first seems like it might present challenges since it seems like history education contains a lot of facts rather than skills, but from the resources this week I am seeing that there are many projects and ways for implementing technology in every facet of education. I think that the WWII idea from our text that you mentioned is a great example of this. Most adults have a hard time understanding the complexities of war. If a game or piece of software can help them understand the causes and effects of war than I think that these are tools that a teacher of history would want to use. I think that if a teacher has their students best interest in mind, they would want to implement them into the curriculum to aid them in getting a better grip on this difficult concept that they can take with them outside of school regardless of what job-field they enter.
Jason