Students can learn about WWII in an interactive format while also engaging in media meaning making and digital creation in this remote learning unit. This series of Google slide decks, or hyperdocs, contain videos, interactives, maps, and other primary sources to help students learn about WWII. Each slide deck contains social studies content, media literacy practice, and historical thinking exercises. The unit culminates in an activity in which students are asked to create some digital media synthesizing what they’ve learned about WWII. These slides will be shared with other educators who can make a copy and edit the slides to best fit their needs.
We are in the midst of a health crisis and teaching has gone fully remote and digital. Teachers, including myself, need to shift, refine, and reformat many of their lessons to be more immersive and meet the needs of learners on digital platforms. Many teachers have incredible lessons and resources available, but not all of their instructional materials are appropriate or even usable on a digital platform. The goal is to take what I have and adapt it, making it interactive, immersive, and digitally friendly.
The target audience is twofold. The lessons are primarily intended for students who will be completing them as part of their remote learning. I also intend to share these lessons on social media with other educators, many of whom are scrambling to create lessons and adapt their instruction.
These lessons can and will be used digitally and remotely, meaning outside the physical classroom walls until we return to school - that’s if we return to school. As of right now, New York State schools are scheduled to reopen on April 29, but that is most certainly going to be extended. At the same time, many schools across the nation will remain closed for the remainder of the school year, requiring instruction to continue online. My hope is that through sharing some of the created lessons on social media - particularly Twitter - some teachers may be able to use, edit, or take some portion of the lesson to use in their own instruction, saving them time and, hopefully, reduce stress. I can also share these lessons with teachers within my school district, members of the Central New York Council for the Social Studies, and beyond.
Students will directly engage with materials to learn, create, synthesize, and analyze content, primary sources, and other media. Teachers can use the materials for inspiration, as templates, and for turnkey use in their own instruction.
I will submit the lessons to my instructor, assign them to students, and also share them with other educators via Twitter and other platforms. Even better, once these lessons have been created, I (and other teachers) will be able to use them in the classroom for years to come!
Students will be able to: