CHALLENGING ACTIVITIES FOR MIDDLE SCHOOLERS
In the "challenging" edition Internet Activities for Social Studies, lessons open up many more possibilities for using the Internet. Using email, advanced searching techniques, project-based learning, and critical evaluation of Web sites are among the topics addressed through activities. Among the units provided are Maps and Map-Making, The Ancient World, Medieval Times, The World of the Vikings, and Mesoamerica. A sampling of three activities found in the volume provides a glimpse of the dozens of activities that make this a valuable classroom resource:
- Students will use information from the The Seven Wonders List Web site to explain why each of the Seven Wonders of the World is "wonderful." Then, to extend the activity, students are asked to nominate three modern-day achievements that might qualify as "wonders" of the modern world.
- Students are challenged to search a handful of Web sites (provided) to complete a graphic organizer (worksheet provided) that displays information about Daily Work, Shelter, Clothing, Transportation, and Amusements for three classes of people -- poor farmers, city dwellers, and the wealthy class -- in ancient Rome.
- Students use a chart and Web resources to write their names using the runes (letters) of the Vikings.
A NOTE ABOUT "DEAD" LINKS
Anyone who uses the Internet with frequency is aware how quickly URLs (Web site addresses) can change. A link that was working yesterday might not be active today. Not a problem! The people at Teacher Created Materials are well aware of the dead link problem, so they've created a special Updated Links page on their Web site. Go to the
page and click on the title of the TCM activity book you're using. You'll find, listed by page number, replacement URLs for any dead links. A very nice feature -- one that will extend indefinitely the life of these excellent activity books!
In addition to the three levels of Internet Activities for Social Studies reviewed above, Teacher Created Materials' TechKNOWLEDGEy series offers Internet Activities for Math (primary, intermediate, and challenging levels), Internet Activities for Language Arts (intermediate level), and Internet Activities for Science (challenging level). More to come!
The TechKNOWLEDGEy/Internet Activities books are one of many offerings from Teacher Created Materials. Catalogs full of resources for busy classroom teachers are available by calling (800) 662-4321. TCM's general catalog for PreK - grade 8 teachers offers reproducibles, bulletin board displays, incentive charts, student award certificates, game and activity books, and much, much more. You can also ask for TCM's special catalog devoted to technology resources.
Article by Gary Hopkins
Education World® Editor-in-Chief
Copyright © 1999 Education World
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The "primary" edition of Internet Activities for Social Studies opens with a kite-themed lesson that can be used to introduce the use of a simple search engine. (In this case, the search engine is Yahooligans -- a nice, safe search engine for young surfers.) From there, teaching units are introduced on themes such as Famous People, In the U.S.A., My World, and Holidays. Each lesson in the units provides a list of related Web sites and plenty of activities to introduce the lesson, to use the Internet to teach the topic, and to follow-up and reinforce learning.
The "intermediate" edition of Internet Activities for Social Studies opens with a pirate activity that introduces the use of a search engine. Then teaching units are provided on themes such as Inventors, People in U.S. History, My World (Multicultural Studies), and In the U.S.A. Each themed unit includes a handful of different lessons. For example, the In the U.S.A. unit has lessons on immigration, U.S. geography, U.S. landmarks, westward expansion, and Washington, D.C.