Comments

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  G. Dale Greenawald June 30, 2011 at 11:12am

  Chis-- SECOND set of COMMENTS : Because the comments bump to the front of the list my observations are going to be totally out of order. I would STRONGLY urge you NOT to have week 4 as a stand alone. Integrate the activities throughout the unit because  students will need  TIME to research and decide on an issue. They can't make that decision in a day--Give them time to look around  the school and community, follow the news, read papers and listen to TV and the radio--then YOU help them prioritize the issues  they had discovered--which ones are really important--how do we decide what is important? Which ones can we realistically be able to do something about given the time and other  resources we have?
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  G. Dale Greenawald June 30, 2011 at 11:03am

  Hi Chris 

   

  I'm not sure why your lesson posting does not allow comments. It's awkward to get from the lessons to this page, but I will try. 

   

  I think you're picked REALLY good themes--stuff students will enjoy. Under technology you may just want to look at one thing-- the cotton gin- and use that as an example of how an simply change in technology can have HUGE social impacts.

   

  Although it may seem to make sense to start  the unit with geography, I'd be tempted to start with the topic of social justice--just a one day exploration to get students hooked as Geography, even as a game can be pretty dull stuff. Students hear the term and their eyes glaze over. THEN I'd turn to the colonies and say we're going to look as them as an example of social justice, or more accurately, the lack thereof. When you shift to the Salem witch trials I'd be sure  to provide some sort of framework so that students can stay with you --ti's the idea of social justice that is tying these two places and times  together, Make sense??