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100 Experiential Learning Activities for Social Studies, Literature, and the Arts, Grades 5-12
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100 Experiential Learning Activities for Social Studies, Literature, and the Arts, Grades 5-12



February 2008 | 176 pages | Corwin

"This unique contribution is both a wonderful source of teaching ideas and a reminder that authentic learning involves engaging experiences that encourage inquiry."
—Dan Thompson, Assistant Professor of Education
Penn State University

"Educators are always looking for interesting activities that challenge students to think beyond the ordinary. The authors have done a great job of compiling a variety of activities for different subject areas."
—India Meissel, Social Studies and English Teacher
Lakeland High School, Suffolk, VA

Encourage critical thinking while teaching meaning through learning experiences!

Learning in secondary school classrooms involves much more than students reciting the "right" answers on high-stakes tests. This activity-packed book encourages educators to move beyond traditional models of teaching and learning and provides them with the tools for getting started.

100 Experiential Learning Activities for Social Studies, Literature, and the Arts, Grades 5–12 focuses on using active learning to engage students in critical thinking and reflection about complex content knowledge in the humanities and the arts. Through easy-to-use matrices, the authors link lessons investigating history, economics, literature, music, and visual arts to McREL, NCTE, and NCSS standards. The 100 activities address significant social issues, including social justice, culture, language, and diversity. Teachers can emphasize comprehension, encourage creative thinking, and promote transfer across disciplines to help students:

  • Explore primary sources to uncover practical and relevant information
  • Construct careful arguments to integrate new learning with prior knowledge
  • Question deeply held assumptions to arrive at authentic understandings
  • Approach new ideas with confidence

Take your students through meaningful learning experiences and make knowledge come alive!


 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
About the Authors
 
Introduction
 
Matrices
NCSS

 
McRel

 
 
1. Creating a Language
 
2. Point-of-View Pictures
 
3. Rosie the Riveter
 
4. Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
 
5. How Is History Portrayed? Columbus and the Discovery of the New World
 
6. Spanglish
 
7. Slave Narratives
 
8. The Paradox of Theseus's Ship
 
9. Creating an Personal Historical Timeline
 
10. Poems Inspired by Art
 
11. Art Inspired by Poetry
 
12. The Paradox of Infinity
 
13. Point of View and Cultural Perspectives
 
14. Final Flight of Yamamoto: Should We Have Struck Back?
 
15. Double Consciousness: Examining Oneself and the Concept of Privilege
 
16. The Fable of the Blind Men and the Elephant
 
17. Creating a System of Writing
 
18. Magic and Technology
 
19. The Birthday Paradox
 
20. Mobius Strip and Different Perspectives
 
21. Thinking Out of the Paradigm: The Columbus Egg Problem
 
22. Arthur C. Clarke's First Law
 
23. Is Technology Neutral?
 
24. Writing a Letter to the Editor
 
25. Science Fiction and Literature as the Future
 
26. Creating a Political Broadside
 
27. Exploring the Great Depression
 
28. Family Photographs
 
29. Women's Rights
 
30. Today in History
 
31. Photographs of the Farm Security Administration
 
32. Primary and Secondary Sources
 
33. Thinking Outside the Box
 
34. Riddles
 
35. Exploring Community Festivals
 
36. Rebuses and Concrete Writing
 
37. Mnemonics
 
38. Designing a Memorial
 
39. Stepping Into a Painting
 
40. Japanese Internment During World War II
 
41. ASCII Code
 
42. Protest Songs
 
43. Inaugural Presidential Address
 
44. Portals to the World
 
45. Stories From Childhood
 
46. Round-Robin Stories
 
47. Writing Grab Bag
 
48. Using Census Data
 
49. Explore a Favorite Artist
 
50. What Makes a Good Life?
 
51. Creating an Ethical Will
 
52. Written in Stone
 
53. Photographic Timeline
 
54. 1900
 
55. Ninety-Five Theories
 
56. Analyzing the New England Primer (1692)
 
57. Slavery in the Constitution?
 
58. How Crowded Was the Middle Passage?
 
59. The List of Creepy Coincidences
 
60. Sacrifices
 
61. The Classroom Missile Crisis
 
62. Listening to Sources?
 
63. Personal Timelines: A Puzzle?
 
64. Movies as a Window Into History
 
65. Writing Their Own Script
 
66. Write Obituaries
 
67. Take a Trip to Mars
 
68. CIA Fact Book
 
69. Talking to an Expert
 
70. Famous Last Words
 
71. Columbus and Culture
 
72. Collage
 
73. Making Models
 
74. The World Without Human Life
 
75. Creating the Scene for a Story
 
76. How Long Is a Thousand Years?
 
77. Creating a Dadaist Poem
 
78. War Stories
 
79. Editorial Cartoons as Social Commentary
 
80. True or False
 
81. Creating Codes
 
82. What Is the Law?
 
83. When Is the Law the Law?
 
84. Symbols in Our Culture
 
85. Symbols on Our Money
 
86. What's on the Stamp?
 
87. Place Names
 
88. Art Museums of the World
 
89. America's Attic
 
90. Written in Stone
 
91. Photographic Community Timeline
 
92. The Sounds of Silence
 
93. What's in a Name?
 
94. More What's in a Name?
 
95. Crazy Inventions
 
96. Idioms
 
97. Famous Inventions and Their Impact on the World
 
98. What Is in Good Taste?
 
99. Creating a Self-Portrait
 
100. Found Art
 
References

"Educators are always looking for interesting activities that challenge students to think beyond the ordinary. The authors have done a great job of compiling a variety of activities for different subject areas."

India Meissel, Social Studies and English Teacher
Lakeland High School, Suffolk, VA

"The attention to critical thinking and problem solving sets this collection of activities apart from others."

David C. Virtue, Assistant Professor of Instruction and Teacher Education
University of South Carolina

"This unique contribution is both a wonderful source of teaching ideas and a reminder that authentic learning involves engaging experiences that encourage inquiry."

Dan Thompson, Assistant Professor of Education
Penn State University
Key features
  • 100 standards-based units promote critical thinking, deep understanding, and transfer of knowledge to real-life situations
  • The authors emphasize critical issues such as social justice, culture, language, diversity, the arts, economics, and science and technology
  • Each learning strategy is set up in a convenient 2-page format and includes extension activities, a listing of resources, and suggestions for pacing and time management
  • All units align with curriculum standards established by the National Council for the Social Studies and the National Council of Teachers of English as well as McREL's content knowledge standards
  • A matrix linking each unit to the relevant curriculum standards encourages ease of navigation and lesson selection

Sample Materials & Chapters

Preface

Chapter 1


For instructors

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