HISTORY IS FUN!

Unit Topic:
History 
Grade: 6
Lesson Topic or Theme: Countries Around The World

Lesson Objectives:
Instructional Technique: Students should work alone through the activity

Instructional Materials:


Theoretical Perspective:
It is important for students to know about history and to know about  places around the world. Because of all the information available on the internet,
students should be able to aquire an abundance of knowlege on other countries. This activity will help students find some of that knowledge and
become more enthusiastic about learning about places beyond our borders.



Procedure: 
A. Introductory Activity:
Start the students off by reminding them of all the different places they have been learning about around the world. Tell them that today
they are going to go on a "trip" to several different countries to learn some more about them. 

B. Step-by-step:
1. Have your students go to their computers and open up the web page http://wsc.ma.edu/personalpages/draker/edcom/edcomhome.html and
find "Traveling the World". Next, have them click on STUDENTS click here (about in the middle of the page) to start reading the passage about different countries.

2. Once the students are on the page titled "Lesson Plan", explain that they are going to be reading a passage that includes a few facts about several places around the world. Tell them that after they are done reading the passage
they must click on either the red or blue fireworks at the bottom of the page to start answering some questions. Explain that the answers to the questions are all in the passage.
**Note: You many choose to have a print-out of the passage for the students to reference, or you may want them to see how much they remember.

3. Hand out the Web Worksheet (click link to download) that the students must complete. Tell them to fill in how many chances it took to get the question right. They will not be graded on the amount of times it took them to get the question as long as they show an honest effort to get the correct answer. Each time they get the question correct, have the students click on the available links on each page for additonal information.
They should write down one fact they learned from the links that was not in the passage. If there is more than one link on a page, they must find one fact from each link. Tell the students
to write the new information down.

2. Ask the students if there are any questions. Once all questions are answered, tell the students to BEGIN. Walk around the classroom to make sure the students are
working alone and are staying on task.

C. Closure
Once all of the students are finished, have each students share aloud one fact that they learned from the links. Have a class discussion on things that were surprising, or that no one knew before. Ask the students why they think it is important to learn about history and facts about other countries. Continue the group discussion until you feel everyone has shared. 

D. Adaptations for different learners

E. Homework
Write one paragraph on one of the countries that was talked about in class. Include the facts from the passage, and the facts student learned from the links. Students must include atleast
5 facts in their paragraph. Since they probably did not originally write down 5 facts, they should look up more facts on their chosen country as homework to include in paragraph. If a
student wishes to research a different country he/she should be allowed to do so. The same criteria applies. 



Evaluation:

A. How/ when will you determine if you have met your objectives?
 B. Concerns or questions you have about teaching this lesson?

Click SUN to go to Home Page or
the "History is Fun" link at the top of the page
to look at the informational passage