Search form

Back to Blog

Star Wars Can Teach History?

x wingIt is one of the most beloved film franchises of all time, and now Star Wars has been examined and presented as a means to teach world history. A new book entitled Star Wars and History claims that the epic space story parallels many earthly historical events. Star Wars creator George Lucas has denied any intentional links to actual events, but admits that due to the films' overall narrative of good vs. evil and war and rebellion, it would be impossible to avoid any similarities.

Nonetheless, authors Nancy Reagin and Janice Liedl have created an interesting way to present world history to students via a pop-culture phenomenon that is almost universally loved. CNet sat down with Liedl for an interesting look behind the making of the book. Read the interview here.

More

Why have lunch with students?

Why I have lunch with students?
I eat lunch with my students on most days. While some educators think that is crazy and others perceive it as not wanting to eat with the other teachers~ I wanted to share why I think it is important. First~ if you're teaching from bell to bell~ there is very little downtime to chat and get to know...

Superhero Day

I want to share an idea that worked really well for me.

A few weeks ago~ I had the students come to school dressed like a super hero of their own creation. I was dressed like a villian~ black cape~ black mask. I also used a voice scrambler to sound like Darth Vader.

The class then competed against mein a series of challenges that tested math~ vocabulary and science skills. Every time they got an answer right~ they got a point. The same went for me. While the...

The Gifted Gauntlet

I am thinking about trying the following idea:

Set the room up like a maze or gauntlet~ using curtains~ sheets~ etc. My students then have to navigate the maze and pass a series of tests before preceding to the next section. I want to set the tests up so they test students on nationally established standards for gifted students~ like determining their strengths and choosing the learning style that best works for them.

I would have parents help adminster the...

Gail Hennessey's Website for...




"Your time is limited~ so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma-which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important~ have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."...

Gail Hennessey's Website for...

I retired after teaching for 33 years and continue to develop teaching materials(all free) for use in the classroom. I just returned from a trip of a life-time~ a trip to China and~ many pinch me moments-including walking the Great Wall of China. I just posted pictures and captions which you might find of use in your classroom at my website.http://www.gailhennessey.com/index.shtml?chinafolder.html and...

Collaborative Program Vision Building:...

Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Scott Taylor~ an educator from New Jersey.


A Protocol for Developing Meaningful Curricula
The actual process of developing curricula has not been properly defined for educational leaders who aspire to collaboratively engage their teachers in a thoughtful and sincere codification of the programs they are expected to implement in their classrooms. There are plenty of curriculum...

Jump for Joy!

Try a trampoline.

I asked a parent to donate a mini-trampoline to the classroom and began using it to create excitement in my fifth-grade classroom.

Sometimes~ I jump on it for fun~ and when I land~ I have the class yell "boom!"

Other times~ I reward students who get a correct answer by letting them come up and get in some jumps. It is amazing how hard they will work to jump a few times on a trampoline!

Without exception~ visitors...

The Celebrity Challenge!

Greetings~

I want to share a technique I stumbled upon that I call the Celebrity Challenge! Though it can be used for any subject really~ I use it to motivate my fifth-gradestudents during math instruction.

I hang up a poster of a popular celebrity~ the more controversial the better. Then~ I tell the students that I will tear a small piece of poster up everytime they collectively score a 90 percent or better on a test (the CPS remote system I use provides me with a quick...

Changing the Culture to Foster Embedded...

Editor's Note: Today's guest post comes from Dr. Scott Taylor~ an educator from New Jersey.

There are certain realities about professional development (PD) that we cannot ignore:

1. After-school hours and the regular school calendar do not provide schools with enough time with which to engage teachers in professional support (Fullan & Miles~ 1992).

2. There are more and more requirements~ codes~ standards~ and...

Pages