Showing posts with label free lesson plans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label free lesson plans. Show all posts

Monday, December 17, 2007

Chinese Inventions

Four Chinese inventions changed the history of Europe!
If you've ever read a book, flown a kite, ooohed and aaahed at a fireworks display, or eaten spaghetti, you've experienced just a few of China’s amazing inventions.
Just imagine how the Italian merchant Marco Polo felt when he visited China in 1271, and discovered that the Chinese were far more technologically advanced than anywhere in Western Europe.
Discover for yourself how four Chinese inventions changed the history of Europe . . . and the Americas.
Free lesson “The Four Great Inventions of China!”

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Free Lesson Plans - A Medieval Christmas

A Medieval Christmas!
Many of the holiday customs we observe today originated in medieval Europe. So bake that gingerbread and pour hot cider into a punch bowl! Dress up as mummers, sing carols, and dance the jig! Extroverts will love the memory game, “The Twelve Days of Christmas.”
(Introverts would rather play chess.)

Too much religion for you, amigo?
Well, it can’t be helped.
The Middle Ages was the “Age of Faith.”
Unless your students grasp that, they’ll never understand the Reformation. Much less the Age of Reason.

Besides . . . All of the terms in this lesson appear on standardized tests. So if anybody gives you a hard time, make ‘em “eat humble pie.”

Are you teaching the Middle Ages?
FREE lesson “A Medieval Christmas!”.

Free Lesson Plan - Medieval Missionaries

Medieval missionaries:
How did they convert the barbarians of Europe?
It’s not easy to convert a barbarian.
If he’s a Viking, you’re messing with Yulefest, his favorite winter holiday.
And Thor, his mighty god of thunder.

How St. Patrick converted Ireland.
How St. Augustine converted England.
How Charlemagne converted France & Germany.

Are you teaching the Middle Ages?

Free lesson “Medieval missionaries”

Teach Better by Becoming a Great Storyteller

Become a GREAT storyteller.
It can lead to success on the standardized test.
Years ago, long before I started teaching history, I overheard two seniors talking. The year before, they had taken the 11th grade U.S. history state test. Now they were discussing their high scores.
“Excuse me,” I said, curious as heck. “Why do you suppose your scores were so high?”
“Mr. Smith!” they said, smiling.
“Fine,” I said. “But what did Mr. Smith DO?”
“He tells stories!” they said, smiling.

It’s as simple as that. Mr. Smith was a great storyteller. His stories wrapped everything up: people and events, terms and concepts, causes and effects.

Are you teaching the Civil War?
Take a look at our FREE lesson on Lincoln.

Free Lesson Reminder: “Pakistan: On the brink?” It has nuclear weapons. It has Osama bin Laden. And President Musharraf’s government is STILL in chaos.
This free lesson is more relevant than ever!

Free Lesson Plan - Ibn Battuta

In 1325, Ibn Battuta was 21 years old and living in Tangiers, Morocco. That year, he went on the hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca.
He traveled for 30 years, visiting 44 countries, and covering 75,000 miles. The only medieval traveler to visit every country of the Islamic empire, he kept a diary that chronicled his run-ins with princes and pirates.

Robbed, bribed, kidnapped, and nearly drowned, Ibn Battuta made maps that were the most accurate of his day.
(p.s. Ibn Battuta lived at the same time as Marco Polo.)

Are you teaching medieval history?
Islam in the Middle Ages?
Take a look at our FREE lesson on Ibn Battuta.
(from Famous People in the Middle Ages)