Traditional Geography
I created these before I realized there wasn’t much “geography” in the state geography standards – at least not in terms of traditional stuff like understanding latitude and longitude or the difference between a rain forest and a swamp. Go figure.
Vocab Squares – Geography Terms, Land (Assignment on Google Slides)
Vocab Squares – Geography Terms, Water (Assignment on Google Slides)
World Religions
Animated Map Shows How Religious Spread Around The World (Assignment on Google Slides) – This is someone else’s video from YouTube with questions I’ve added to crush any joy or engagement which might otherwise be sparked.
Fundamentalism Video #1 (Assignment on Google Slides) – Another video from YouTube with questions I’ve added. In case you’re wondering, this is groundwork for a specific state standard I’m supposed to address. Clearly the legislators who approved this believe it’s primarily about those OTHER religions and how destructive THOSE people can be…
Fundamentalism Video #2 (Assignment on Google Slides) – See Above.
World Belief Systems Reference Poster Project (Assignment on Google Docs) – I’ve done variations of this in my World History classes near the beginning of the year. It gives me something to put on the walls so administration is happy and it looks good for parents, but mostly it gives me content to point to the rest of the year since the major belief systems come up again and again and again and again and again…
World Belief Systems Reference Poster Project (Assignment on PDF) – Ditto.
Five Great Flood Stories
I’ve used several of these in various contexts over the years and lost track of the extent to which the edits are mine, borrowed from others, or lifted callously from other parts of the internet. (Sorry – but it’s “for the kids,” if that helps.) The current scale is a bit ambitious, but I’m hoping to jigsaw this in some way that makes it work. We’ll see how it goes.
Five Great Flood Stories (Sources on Google Docs)
Five Great Flood Stories (Sources on PDF)
Five Great Flood Stories Organizing Table & Discussion Questions (Assignment on Google Doc)
Five Great Flood Stories Organizing Table & Discussion Questions (Assignment on PDF)
Push-Pull Factors
In the interest of transparency, I’m posting these as something I intend to use this coming school year – but it hasn’t happened yet. Also, after searching for just the right source materials, I ended up using Claude.ai to create the articles. I’ve been happy with its accuracy, its ability to understand what I’m looking for, and its success rate creating materials based on my specific needs and audience. In this case, I shared Indiana Social Studies Standard GHW.3.2 with Claude and we “discussed” a half-dozen different options for topics. Once selected, I asked for factual articles at a high school reading level which explicitly addressed the standard without calling everything a “push” or a “pull”. The questions at the end of each article are mine.
#1: Barbarians Into Rome (Article w/ Qs on Google Docs)
#1: Barbarians Into Rome (Article w/ Qs on PDF)
#2: Expansion of Dar al-Islam (Article w/ Qs on Google Docs)
#2: Expansion of Dar al-Islam (Article w/ Qs on PDF)
#3: Immigration to U.S. in 19th Century (Article w/ Qs on Google Docs)
#3: Immigration to U.S. in 19th Century (Article w/ Qs on PDF)
Urbanization
Indiana Social Studies Standards GHW.5.1 and GHW.5.2 have some very specific areas of excitement related to urbanization. This is another unit I haven’t taught yet and for which I consulted Claude.ai to both help me decipher the standards and create the content. How it will actually unfold in class…
#1: Urbanization of Chicago (Article on Google Docs)
#1: Urbanization of Chicago (Article on PDF)
#2: Urbanization of Tokyo (Article on Google Docs)
#2: Urbanization of Tokyo (Article on PDF)
#3: Urbanization of South America (Article on Google Docs)
#3: Urbanization of South America (Article on PDF)
Questions Over All Three Urbanization Articles (Google Docs) – I’ll have to blog soon about the process of working with Claude.ai to write good questions. It’s an interesting experience – neither as easy nor as convoluted as you might assume.
Questions Over All Three Urbanization Articles (PDF) – Same.
Compare & Contrast Table of Urbanization from All Three Articles (Google Doc) – This is Claude’s compare & contrast summary for teacher reference and possibly a starting point for a wrap-up assignment over this unit. At the moment it’s much too detailed for my purposes, but I figure someone might find it useful or interesting.
Compare & Contrast Table of Urbanization from All Three Articles (PDF)
Primary & Secondary Sources – Analysis & Close Reading
Problems of Civilization (Secondary Source w/ MCQs on Google Docs) – An American historian ponders the inequalities created by the Neolithic Revolution.
Problems of Civilization (Secondary Source w/ MCQs on PDF) – An American historian ponders the inequalities created by the Neolithic Revolution.
Excerpts from the Code of Hammurabi, c. 1750 BCE (Primary Source w/ Qs on Google Docs)
Excerpts from the Code of Hammurabi, c. 1750 BCE (Primary Source w/ Qs on PDF)
Excerpts from the Laws of Manu, c. 200 BCE (Primary Source w/ Qs on Google Docs)
Excerpts from the Laws of Many, c. 200 BCE (Primary Source w/ Qs on PDF)
Captain Cook’s Thoughts on Australia, c. 1771 (Primary Source w/ Qs on Google Docs)
Captain Cook’s Thoughts on Australia, c. 1771 (Primary Source w/ Qs on PDF)