20th Century History

Those who follow me and regularly read my blog understand my love for history. While for some it makes absolutely no sense... to me it's fascinating!

What does history really mean? 

HIS- STORY

 

Really, it all comes down to one thought. God has known since the beginning of time...

On our first day of class I asked the kids to always keep in the back of their mind, and ask themselves this question: "Can I see His footprint?"

You see...
History ALWAYS repeats itself!
The question is... will we learn from it?

With all that said, let me take some time to introduce my amazing history class and some of our doings...

 Day one... Yes, we do have chairs... however... sometimes the floor just needs used!

This year I am teaching 20th Century History, Assisting in Chemistry, Subbing for Biology, harassing the kids during study hall and teaching a wonderful class called Fascinating Woman.

Obviously, if you read this headline you already know I want to share my amazing history class today!

Q: What are we doing in history this year?

A: Visual timeline of the 20th century.

Q:How will this work?

A: We will visit every decade from 1900-1999. I have sectioned out approximately 3 weeks of class for each decade. Because I want learning to be FUN and because I would like them to actually remember something from history class later in life, I try to mix things up. My main focus is on 10 interesting facts in each decade. Each event has a visual object that they can touch, move, arrange and mentally order.

One of the activities I am doing is printing off pictures from each decade. I made 2 sets of each picture with a caption of what it was. I then give each group a stack and ask them to put them in order according to decade. By looking at the pictures and the clues that each give they have come remarkably close. They will know all of these events by heart at the end of the school  year.

I have alternated the pictures from week to week so they learn something new each time.

Sometimes there are great debates about what came when... and then there are funny little remarks like "Elvis really died on the toilet?"

 

Here is a glimpse at our cell phone center... Still not complete but this gives you a good idea what I'm getting at here in my class. ALL cell phones go on the shelf! This shelf sits just inside my door so.... 

 This pic was taken on Back to School night... See that young man over there? Yep, that's my boy Nick!

We are still thanking God every day for his healing! Those shoes? That would be Miss. Hali... aka... Two socks! The other day at Target I saw another young girl with the same pair, only opposite feet. Secretly I don't mind this fad. I no longer feel guilty about pairing up socks!

Lastly, this is an example of one of the visuals I brought to class. In 1900 Kodak manufactured the Brownie Camera. It changed the world of photography. On Kodak's 50th anniversary they released an updated version of the Brownie and give it to kids 12 and under during the celebration. Having this Brownie camera, touching it, looking through the lenses.... and placing it in order of it's time in history has been priceless!