History in the making … (France Recognizes Libyan Rebels)
You have an awesome opportunity. Your students can experience history as a real, current, live, event. I will apologize in advance for the rambling nature of this post. It is spur of the moment, and not on my “official has to get done list for the day” – but I just needed to post. History [...]
History Before Our Eyes – Using the Present to Study the Past
Help us PLEASE! If your students have been paying attention to the events unfolding in Egypt for the past three weeks, then they have seen history happen. I’m sure you have been discussing this and encouraging them and helping them to follow the events that unfolded. It has been a great time to monitor our [...]
2011 World Hotspots
It is an unfortunate aspect of Social Studies, but one you must encourage in your classroom. Following conflicts around the world isn’t always easy in the US. Our nightly news tends to focus on domestic news – the only world news we tend to get is that which directly impacts US interests. This is a [...]
Current events: Read the front page of newspapers around the world
Front page of newspapers around the world From the Newseum: http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/
The Middle East: Cartograms
Cartograms: Countries in the Middle East http://www.flickr.com/photos/mideaststrategy/page2
Brinksmanship? A Current Event.
Do current events get the attention they should in your Social Studies classroom? Are we on the brink of another war between the Koreas? What would the implications be globally? Please share this with your students. From the BBC: South Korea says it will retaliate with missile strikes against the North if faced with “further [...]
China sentences woman to labor camp for Twitter post – CNN.com
Your student deserve to see articles like this. While we can all cite issues we face in America, there is no doubt that our freedom should be taken as precious. A Chinese woman has been sentenced to a year in a labor camp for retweeting a Twitter post that mocked Chinese protesters who smashed Japanese [...]
Current Event Trending Stories
A daily wrapup of stories related to social studies teachers.
Teaching About Elections: The Two Party System
Democrats and Republicans. Blue and Red. Donkeys and Elephants. Left and Right. These represent our two-party system. Why two parties, and not three? Can I start my own political party? What do the donkeys and elephants represent?
Argument Revisited – Your Help Needed!
This is where I need your help. I have been asked to write an article on current events and the new media. The article is to be a guide to help teachers understand their way around the ever changing world of a partisan media. My primary research from this article will be information I collect from this blog and interviews I conduct with social studies teachers.
Filed under … really cool current event application.
What’s happening in the world at a glance. TimeSpace is an interactive map that allows you to navigate articles, photos, video and commentary from around the globe. Discover news hot-spots where coverage is clustered. Use the timeline to illustrate peaks in coverage, and customize your news searches to a particular day or specific hour. (Many [...]
An (aspiring) Educator’s Blog
Academics. I love the exchange of ideas. Unfortunately life and bills tend to get in the way! This morning, however, I was able to follow some twitter links to some academic sites (thanks for the tweets jclerch) when I came across a great little blog -> http://educatorblog.wordpress.com/. The exchange of ideas on at least one [...]
Where in the World is Somalia?
Where is Somalia?
300 Women Who Changed the World
March is Women’s History Month and Encyclopedia Britannica has a great article and bios on 300 women who changed the world. For millennia, women have left their mark on the world, at times changing the course of history and at other times influencing small but significant spheres of life. Only in the past century, however, [...]
The Second Annual World History Tournament of Champions
Thanks so much to all of you who have sent us emails telling us how great an experience this was for your class last year. If you weren’t able to take part in this last year – trust us, you don’t want to miss out this year. Printable Brackets Will be Available on Monday, March [...]
World War I – Armistice Day
Yesterday was the 90th anniversary of the end of World War I. On November 11, 1918, World War I came to an end. Both sides declared a ceasefire. Armistice means “ceasefire.” (Months later, a peace treaty was drawn up.) From then on, the U.S. celebrated a national holiday on November 11th. At first, it was [...]
Hamilton & Jefferson: The rise of the two-party system
Take a look at these free lessons! Lecture: What was the Early Republic? Political cartoons: Hamilton vs Jefferson. Chart: Compare and contrast Hamilton and Jefferson. Internet: The top 10 things you should remember about each man. Games: “Ham vs Jeff.” Groups: What do YOU think about the two-party system?
1929 or 2008? Run on banks reminiscent . . .
Social studies teachers should use summer ’08 bank runs as an opportunity to teach about the Great Depression.
So we started a trend . . .
You may remember a few months back we had the Tourney of Champions. Well it seems it caught on . . . The British chose Winston Churchill; the Americans chose Ronald Reagan; and the South Africans chose Nelson Mandela. Now Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and Tsar Nicholas II, the country’s last monarch, are running neck [...]
Juneteenth – What is It?
Ok – the post is a day late – but that’s what I get for taking Monday off! Missing in the classroom . . . I fear that because this day falls in the summer, it doesn’t get the attention it deserves in the classroom. But Juneteenth deserves some recognition. File this post for an [...]
Seven Billion?!
It seems like just yesterday I was pondering the 6 billion (people on earth) mark. While in actuality, it was in 1999 – that’s a very short time to add 1 billion people to the planet. According to this AP article, that’s exactly what will have happened by the year 2012. SOCIAL STUDIES TEACHERS – [...]
hacked off . . .
While I’m sure it would be a stretch to call it an “officially sanctioned action” by the Chinese government, but it seems they really don’t like our congressmen talking about their human rights violations. Wolf, a champion of human rights in China and elsewhere, said at a news conference that authorities investigated the attacks on [...]
speaking of Indiana Jones . . .
I’m not sure how coincidental it is – but I’m finding so many news stories this week that would fit right in with an Indiana Jones plot. Enjoy . . . Ancient Christian Shrine Possibly Found in Jordan The Looting of Machu Pichu? Egypt Uncovers ‘Missing’ Pyramid of a Pharaoh Britain’s Atlantis: the search for [...]
hard to believe in 2008 . . .
AP Photo It’s hard to believe that in 2008 – there are still tribes isolated from outside contact. “We did the over-flight to show their houses, to show they are there, to show they exist,’ said Jose Carlos dos Reis Meirelles, an expert on “uncontacted” tribes, who works for the Brazilian government’s Indian affairs department. [...]
Daily Class Starter – pain at the pump – or par for the course?
Click to Enlarge. Depending on what happens at the pumps for the remainder of the year, we might have our most expensive gas year ever. Certainly we all feel it in our wallets, but historically speaking – are we not par for the course? In the ’80s and ’90′s and even early 2000′s, we were [...]
please read this to your students on Tuesday 5/27/08.
Everyone knows what we do in celebration of Memorial Day . . . pools open, we go to barbecues and we get a day off of school. But do all your students know why we celebrate Memorial Day? I found the following article on history.com: Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it [...]
the Hunt for Red October – for real?
Titanic search in ’85 was cover for secret Cold War subs mission Source: Times (UK) (5-25-08) The man who located the wreck of the Titanic has revealed that the discovery was a cover story to camouflage the real mission of inspecting the wrecks of two Cold War nuclear submarines. When Bob Ballard led a team [...]
Why did schools collapse in China?
China says over 70,000 dead or missing from quake Lucy Hornby, Reuters Published: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 CHENGDU, China (Reuters) – China raised the number of dead or missing from a devastating earthquake to more than 70,000 on Tuesday, as rescuers found more survivors eight days after the huge tremor hit. A government statement said [...]
New Product: China on the Eve of the Olympics, 2008
A Controversial New Toolbook . . . about China! This workbook may be controversial. Our point of veiw tends to side with those who say China is guilty of atrocious human rights violations. Eye Opening This summer, China will host the Beijing Olympics. Splendid China! What a magnificent display! And a propaganda extravaganza. Thanks to [...]
