Students do not need to memorize history facts in order to survive in a global future. They need to be able to listen, think critically, and collaborate with others for learning. Help provide kids the tools to that will help them learn the skills they need to be active members of a global society.
My students care about what's going on around them and they want to talk about it.
Over half of my students face poverty daily requiring free and reduced services.
They want to learn but do not have all of the resources they need, such as access to news sources.
Many have spent a large portion of their school careers sitting and listening to their teachers when really they want to be heard.
Middle school students are adolescents who are ruled by their emotionally charged brains. Therefore, they need opportunities to channel their emotions for constructive use.
My students are adolescents who need to learn how to collaborate with many different people in order to survive in a global future. Unfortunately, many of them do not live in homes where collaboration, discussion, and critical thinking take place. Therefore, I feel I need to provide this type of environment for them.
My Project
"What do you think could be done to improve this situation? What have we learned in social studies that applies to this situation? What are your thoughts about this situation? What would YOU do? Why? Support your opinion. Do you agree with your classmates? What ideas from your classmates did you gather today that helped you form your opinion?" All of these critical thinking questions and more will be asked regarding the Current Events magazine the students read. These questions will be asked in a format that allows students to speak freely, learn from their classmates, and do so using polite and explicit discussion etiquette. Students will be able to critique behaviors such as body language, discussion content, and more by reviewing their discussions on the Flip Video Camera. Reflecting upon their work using the video camera provides a deeper learning experience than just discussing the current events alone provides. My students need current text and a video camera to critically read and learn to discuss the world around them in order to influence active participants in our democratic society.
If I don't teach my students how to think critically about current issues of today, how will the think critically about the current issues of their adult lives?
It is vital these students analyze current events and learn how to discuss and collaborate with their peers. The Current Events magazine subscription and video camera will help assist me in this large, imperative task.
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