The Teaching Channel: A Great Source to Develop a Lesson

Today I worked with a new source, the Teaching Channel. This sight was great for getting ideas on how to form a solid lesson within a subject area. The site is easy to use and breaks things into subjects and categories. As a future Social Studies teachers I found great videos on how to use maps within the classroom and how to tackle topics with specific questions for students to show critical thinking.

The first video I watched was entitled Reading Like a Historian: Sourcing. This video was on using sources to analyze the Gulf of Tonkin incident that led to the declaration to begin full out conflict in Vietnam. The video used multiple sources including the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution. The students explored various angles to the situation from political and social aspects. Since 1964 was an election year many students argued that the resolution was a way for President Johnson to look good for re-election and some argued that it was a just resolution since an American ship was attacked. The use of sourcing is important in backing points in an essay assignment through citing that source. By doing a class assignment in class it gives students practice in using sources in future assignments such as essays.

The second video I watched was entitled Reading Like a Historian: Philosophical Chairs. This video was on taking sides on the Vietnam War through a social, economic, or political viewpoint. This lesson was for students to form an opinion on the Vietnam War through sources, which included viewpoints from John Kerry and Martin Luther King Jr. The students formed a viewpoint and presented their evidence in groups based on what viewpoint they chose. It enabled the students to get a broad overview of popular opinions in the United States at the time and to give them a broad perspective of the conflict.

The third video I watched was entitled Exploring Emigration: Maps and Migration. This video was on using maps and technology to show multiple migration routes. The lesson used the migration routes of the "Lost Boys" of Sudan during the second civil war in that country. The students used maps to draw out those routes. They would be called up to show those routes they drew on the smartboard for the class to see as a whole. They used maps such as topographical, climatic, and population density maps to further analyze the routes taken by the migrants. It was a way for students to dig deeper into the lesson and to come up with various explanations to some of the trials and tribulations of the migration by the "Lost Boys."

Here is a link to the third video: https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/teaching-human-migration#