REAL Assignments & Assessments
Design assignments that are engaging. Learning environments aren't just lessons, homework, or test preparation. They require assignments that get students excited and actively involved in the learning process. For example, rather than reading about Spanish Influenza epidemic in the textbook, start by going to the Center for Disease Control. Locate the current map on the flu season. What's this year's forecast? What's happening today? Write a diary entry for...? Support it with evidence. The, start with a diary excerpt and a problem. Where do you think Louise Hancock was living on October 15, 1918? What are the implications of this date? What's the Spanish Influenza Epidemic? Epidemic Books: The Great Influenza, The American Plague, The Influenza of 1918, Life During the Black Death, Dr. Jenner and the Speckled Monster, Crispin, Fever 1793, Sweetgrass, A Time of Angels. Student EngagementIs this really important to the world and our students? Read Flow States and Student Engagement in the Classroom by David Shernoff. He conducted a study on student engagement. Explore the following two books for more information on the importance of getting students into "the zone" including establishing clear goals, intensive involvement, complex challenges, and feedback on progress. According to Shernoff, student engagement involves concentration, interest, and enjoyment. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1990). Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. Basic Books. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1997). Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life. Basic Books. The graph below is adapted from Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly (1997).
Ted Sizer stresses the importance of developing good intellectual habits.
Make a DecisionMake a decision.
Debate an IssueExplore current bills, policies, and issues related to course content. 42explore: Debate National History School Debate Topic House Committee on Science Create ConnectionCreate a connection between a topic and the "real world." Complete a Real History in the Real World Project. Brown vs Board: Real History in the Real World Build Virtual AdventuresVirtual Adventures Teacher Tap: Virtual Field Trips Dispel MythsExplore myths, evaluate resources, and identify bad math and science. Critique an opinion, explore organizations, or highlight a dissent. Mythbusters Snopes Some disasters attributable to bad computing Bogus Science from WebExhibits Highlight Dissent & DifferencesArtists and musicians, poets, scientific discoveries, different perspectives, and different views. Use Ellis Island Records for the traditional way of thinking. Use Angel Island for a different way of thinking. Explore and develop literature-based WebQuests to explore different perspectives. The Depression: Esperanza Rising, Out of the Dust, Bud, Not Buddy, Grapes of Wrath, A Year Down Yonder, and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry Make ComparisonsNow and then, before and after, what if? situations are all good for making comparisons. For example, compare trading on the Silk Roads with trading in the same area today. Work TogetherConsider ways to use technology to cooperate and collaborate with a real-world audience. Collect and Compare DataCollect and compare data. Globe Program SEED Center for History and New Media Be brave. Identify a poll where you side with the minority. Take an unpopular stand. Persuade your peers. Exchange IdeasShare and compare ideas, issues, and experiences. Connect for discussion. Use blogs and forums to share ideas. CyberSchoolbus Epals Friendship through Education Global SchoolNet Iearn Learn to Question Look beyond "dead white guys." Seek out interesting books and article for discussion. Teacher Tap: Discussion Teacher Tap: Books Escrapbooking: Blogging Neil Gaiman Blog WebQuestsConstructing a Lasting Peace in India and Pakistan WebQuest Matrix by Bernie Dodge BayQuest Congratulations. Now Win! e-Gallery of Tragic Heroes Extreme Sports WebQuest FitQuest Get Me Out of Here! Too Hot to Handle Teacher Tap: WebQuests National Ed Tech Plan
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REAL ResourcesTextbooks provide well-organized, developmentally appropriate learning resources. These materials work great for some aspects of classroom instruction. However other resources are needed to provide up-to-date information, current events, and alternative perspectives. News and Current EventsNews websites, news groups, and blogs are just a few of the Internet-based tools used to access news and current events. Many television and radio stations are also available through the web. News aggregators are used for data mining and personalized news organization. Tools such as RSS, blogs, and "My" portals are great tools to help customize news. Google News Headline Spot Teacher Tap: News My Yahoo Bloglines Popular Science Reference ResourcesReference resources include the dictionary, thesaurus, directories, maps, almanacs, encyclopedia, and calculators. Teacher Tap: Reference Materials Information Please Employment Spot Library Spot StartSpot Froogle Amazon Ebay Visual ResourcesVisual elements include photographs, cartoons, line drawings, graphs, charts, and maps. Maps may be current or historical. They can be drawings, computer-generated, or photographs. Check out the map of Norfolk in 1895. First Gov: Graphics and Photos Teacher Tap: Visual Resources It's No Laughing Matter Chemistry Comics Gardner's Atlas of English History Pictorial History of the Locomotive (1899) Railroad Maps from 1891 Grain Dealer's and Shipper's Gazetter TerraServer.com 42explore: Maps 42explore: Historical Maps VideoBoth live and delayed (or archives) videos are available on the Internet. These may be downloaded or streamed. C-SPAN Artisancam Math in Daily Life Globalization 101: Ask the Expert AudioAudio can bring learning alive through sounds, speeches, music and sound effects. These may be downloaded or streamed. Barbara Jordan Obama at the 2004 Democratic Convention Lost & Found Sound from NPR Lost & Found Sound from CBS Multimedia Seeds Primary ResourcesHistorical Documents from Bens' Guide to US Government (9-12) The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History, and Diplomacy Ask Asia Legacy Project Indivisible WW2 People's War Teacher Tap: Primary Resources 42explore: Oral History 42explore: Journal Writing Data SourcesGovernment statistics, census information, science data, money matters, and calculators can all be found on the Internet. First Gov.gov DataLinks from EconEdLink 42explore: Statistics 42explore: Polls & Surveys Expert ConnectionsTeacher Tap: Ask-An-Expert Expert Central AskAsia Stories of American Community Library of the Workplace Electronic DatabasesElectronic databases are available in many school districts. These include topics such as SIRS, Gale Opposing Views and other great resources. Electronic Databases InteractiveBiotechnology Australia Amoeba Movies The Mint ReadWriteThink Materials Look-Listen-Learn Materials from ArtsEdge StageWork Using Electronic ResourcesLocating electronic resources is only the first step in using these materials in the classroom. Use the following resources to help you evaluate, identify fact and opinion, analyze, and synthesize information. Making Sense of Evidence from History Matters Noodletools |
REAL TeachingREAL: Relevant, Engaging, Authentic Learning starts with "teaching by doing". Ill-Structured ProblemsReal problems are complex and ill-structured. Provide learners with the foundations, skills, and help them locate information. Facing History and Ourselves: Examining History and Human Behavior Interpretation and GuidanceOffer your students help in interpretation through guided activities. Principles of Design: Harmony & Unity Contemporary ExamplesLook for example in controversy (America by Jon Stewart and the Daily Show) or shock (George Carlin's When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chop). For example, Carlin talks about euphemisms such as shell shock, battle fatigue, operational exhaustion, and post-tramatic stress disorder. Look up euphemism in the wikipedia. Provoke StudentsStart with something that seems simple... what group created the first democracy in North America? The American Indians! Watch 500 Nations. Visit the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC. Teach by DoingWe talk about "learning by doing," why not "teaching by doing." Alfie Kohn (Nov. 2004) presents this idea in the article Challenging Students - And How to Have More of Them in Phi Delta Kappan. Explore a teacher information inquiry blog at A Lighthouse in the Desert. Blogging Think about your own thinking. Are you focused on learning (What am I doing?) or performance (How well am I doing it?)? What about your students? In Feel-Bad Education: The Cult of Rigor and the Loss of Joy (Education Week, Sep 15, 2004), Alfie Kohn discusses need to put the happiness back in education. According to Nel Noddings (Happiness and Education), how students feel about themselves, their teachers, the curriculum, and the experience of school impacts learning. Rich thinking happens in places filled with discovery and excitement. Workshop Survey Please complete the Preworkshop Survey. Make your own survey. Please complete the Postworkshop Survey. Thanks. Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement by Robert J. Marzano, et al Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners by Carol Ann Tomlinson Discovering and Exploring Habits of Mind by Arthur L. Costa Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Good to Great by Jim Collins The Knowing-Doing Gap by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton The Leader's Guide to Standards: A Blueprint for Educational Equity and Excellence by Douglas B. Reeves Literacy with an Attitude by Patrick Finn Seeking Meaning : A Process Approach to Library and Information Services Second Edition by Carol Collier Kuhlthau The Skin That We Speak: Thoughts on Language and Culture in the Classroom by Lisa Delpit Understanding by Design by Grant Wiggins, Jay McTighe The World is Flat by Thams L. Friedman |
| Developed by Annette Lamb, 11/04. Updated 8/05. |
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