All of us have been impacted in one way or another by the COVID-19 outbreak. We're doing everything we can to keep learning accessible throughout the pandemic. Learn more about those efforts here.
By now, you’ve had a chance to dive into the new World History Project (WHP) course! We hope you’ve been loving what you’re seeing. We consider the curriculum as it stands in 2019/20 to be a “public preview.” While we do have a handful of teachers piloting WHP in classrooms throughout the United States, the full curriculum will not be available until the 2020/21 school year. However, we welcome (and strongly encourage…
OER Project Team
Washington, USA
As we all spend more time at home, you might find yourself doing something you don’t do much as a teacher: sitting. Get up and move!
Join Mike Skomba (OER Project teacher extraordinaire and the 2020 New Jersey Strength Coach of the Year), along with other OER Project teachers and team members, for a weekly movement session. Mike is hosting a free, 4-week online fitness series for World…
Bennett Sherry, WHP Team
Maine, USA
Pandemics are scary. People don't act like themselves when they're scared. Think about some of the things you or your family and friends have done during the current pandemic. Maybe you noticed that a dear family friend now guards a dragon's hoard of toilet paper. Individuals act in odd ways when they’re scared. And when fear is strong enough, like during a pandemic, it can make whole…
Bridgette Byrd O’Connor, BHP Team Member
Louisiana, USA
Well, we’re all probably in some weird limbo land at the moment with the spread of the coronavirus shutting down schools across the nation and the world. And while it can be a pretty scary time for kids (and adults!), there are lots of connections that can be made in Unit 9, which focuses on globalization, to what is happening in our world right now. Another…
OER Project Team
Washington, USA
Note: All of us have been impacted in one way or another by the COVID-19 outbreak. We're doing everything we can to keep learning accessible throughout the pandemic. Learn more about those efforts here.
This is the second episode of our Teaching at a Distance series, in which Ian Usher will help you navigate the sometimes overwhelming roster of digital learning resources. (See the first…
Trevor R. Getz, WHP Team
San Francisco, USA
It took me a long time and a lot of hard work to figure out how to think like a historian, but it’s been worth it. I use those skills every day, to orient myself to the world around me, to figure out what’s going on, and to make plans for the future. Probably the most important historian’s practice I’ve learned is the skill of conducting historical inquiry.…
Trevor R. Getz, WHP Team
San Francisco, USA
What’s in a name? Somewhere between 1493 and 1495 CE, the disease we know as syphilis began to spread rapidly across Europe. When a person became infected, first they developed sores, then a rash, sore throat, a fever, and eventually such terrible symptoms as brain damage and blindness. Nobody really knew where it had come from (there are still debates today!), but the Italians…
OER Project Team
Washington, USA
Note: All of us have been impacted in one way or another by the COVID-19 outbreak. We're doing everything we can to keep learning accessible throughout the pandemic. Learn more about those efforts here.
For the time being, we’re at home, as are our students. For those of us that haven’t taught at a distance before, this can be a little daunting.
We know it isn’t as simple…
WHP Team
Washington, USA
Note: All of us have been impacted in one way or another by the COVID-19 outbreak. We're doing everything we can to keep learning accessible throughout the pandemic. Learn more about those efforts here.
So, you’re a kid stuck at home and bored silly when you could be with classmates enjoying world history class. Or, you’re a teacher whose plans for the whole year have been upended. Or you’re…
WHP Team
Washington, USA
Note: This blog contains information that might be upsetting for some people. All of us have been impacted in one way or another by the COVID-19 outbreak. We're doing everything we can to keep learning accessible throughout the pandemic. Learn more about those efforts here.
The focus on, and the response to, the most recent coronavirus (COVID-19) has been overwhelming. Many people are frightened…
Joe Jarvis, BHP and WHP Teacher
Connecticut, USA
Note: This blog contains information that might be upsetting for some people. All of us have been impacted in one way or another by the COVID-19 outbreak. We're doing everything we can to keep learning accessible throughout the pandemic. Learn more about those efforts here.
An earlier version of this activity did not include links to the source materials. The Coronavirus…
Bob Bain
Michigan, USA
I have this condition… it’s my memory… I have no short-term memory. I know who I am. I know all about myself. It’s just, since my injury, I can’t make new memories – everything fades. — Leonard Shelby, Memento (2000)
With that quote, Leonard Shelby, the protagonist of the film Memento played by Guy Pearce, explains that he suffers from anterograde amne…
World history is pretty big. If you’re new to WHP, you might feel like Alphonse the Camel, straining under the weight of human history and the need to teach it to dozens of expectant students. In WHP, we’ve provided our three course frames (communities, networks, and production and distribution) to lighten the load. The frames are meant to help you and your students make sense of all…
Megan Schultz, BHP Teacher
New Jersey, USA
“Mrs. Schultz? Are we learning Big History again this year?” This is the question that Justin, a student in my eighth-grade class asked me on the first day of school. He seemed a bit confused when I told the class I was teaching them World History Project (WHP). My response to Justin, and the rest of the confused, eager students, was that it was a brand-new course I was teaching…
Wayne Journell
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Introduction from World History Project (WHP) Team: Thoughtfully and effectively navigating online information sources is more difficult than ever. It’s also more important than ever. World History Project puts tools in teachers’ and students’ hands that allow help them evaluate information in the current media landscape. Here Wayne Journell of the University of…
Sharon Cohen, WHP Teacher
Maryland, USA
Base Course > Era 6.1: Liberal and National Revolutions > Activity: Revolutionary Women
1750 Course > Unit 2.2: Liberal and National Revolutions > Activity: Revolutionary Women
I have a confession to make. Sometimes when I read a description of a lesson or activity, I think “oh well, that doesn’t fit for me or my students,” and I don’t try it. In the case of the WHP curriculum…
Bennett Sherry
January 3, 2020
“A kid in a ball pit.” “Prolific.” “Inspiring.” “Dream big or go home.” “A warm, crackling bonfire.” These are all words and phrases colleagues of Trevor Getz use to describe him. Those who know Trevor—students, friends, and historians—will doubtless read these words below and smile knowingly. But they will also certainly come to the same one-word conclusion: deserving. Trevor has been awarded…
The cat’s officially out of the bag: the Big History Project course (BHP) has found its perfect pairing with the introduction of World History Project. Our new family of two also has a shiny new name: OER Project. In true BHP fashion, read on for the OER Project “origin story” and learn more about why we went from one course to two.
Before we go any further, let’s define OER: No, it’s not what you use…
