History+&+Simulations

History & Simulations
History is a subject that can lose the interest of many students. One way to engage learners and keep them interested is by using simulations~ or projects that they can interact with. There are many online simulations that are available for teachers and students- from experiencing the Gold Rush to The Cuban Missile Crisis. Here are some projects and links to get you started on the never-ending process of bringing your students into history.

**Links:**

Immigration

This project focuses on Immigration into the United States during the early 1900's. I introduce the project with review of vocabulary, the poem The New Colossus, and The Statue of Liberty. I supplement this with video clips from Discovery Education about the life of Immigrants coming to America.

The next part involves group work. The students use numerous documents to develop 'characters' that they will become. They will be making decisions in their groups concerning jobs, houses, getting to and from work, and even shopping for necessities. The goal is to work collaboratively to make the best decisions for the family and to ultimately see how much money they can save in the process. They use their blogs to create diary entries of their character. They create fictional accounts of what life was like for them starting new in America. Some notes on using blogs-
 * have parent permission slips
 * change settings on blogger to prevent search engines and listings from finding blog
 * change viewers to only those invited by student (make sure they add your email address so you have access to view blog)
 * use kidblog.org> teacher sets up blogs for the class- no email necessary
 * [[file:FourShips.xls]][[file:Jobs.xls]][[file:Housing.xls]][[file:Transportation.xls]][[file:Market Basket.xls]][[file:Family budget.xls]][[file:Immigration Group Project Directions.doc]]

Analyzing data is an important skill for 21st century learners. At this stage, students are using charts and graphs to answer questions about immigration. The last area is a short research project which students research a famous immigrant to America and perform a monologue of that person.
 * [[file:immig_country.pdf]][[file:total_immigrants_chart.pdf]][[file:mulit_column.pdf]][[file:singleline.pdf]][[file:Questions for the Number of Immigrants by Country Table.doc]]

The Stock Market Crash of 1929 and The Great Depression