Where to begin teaching BHP?

Kerry Lynn Like Gwen Duralek said- what is your timeframe?  There is a wide range here in the forum.  Many get to teach the class all school year, others have semesters, and some, me for instance, teach BHP three times a year in trimesters.  Donnetta Elsasser teaches BHP a few days a week over I believe a semester.  So there is a wide range and many teachers who can match you up to a plan of action.  Here is a list of my topics and timeline on a trimester-

Week 1- Introductions, vocabulary activity for the course, course outline, building a personal timeline (understanding thresholds)

Week 2 - Claim testers, understanding claims, writing claims.  Big History initial assessment.

Week 3 - Origin Stories and the Big Bang Threshold 1

Week 4 - Threshold 2 and 3- Stars Light Up and Elements Form

Week 5 - Threshold four, Our Solar System and Earth

Week 6 - Life - Threshold 5

Week 7 - Threshold 6 collective learning and early humans

Week 8 - Threshold 7, Agriculture and Civilization

Week 9 - More Threshold 7, Cultures and World Religions

Week 10 - Little more Threshold 7, Exploration, Expansion and interconnectedness/ Globalization. 

Week 11/12 - Speed of information Threshold 8.

Week 12/13 - The future

Kerry Lynn Like Gwen Duralek said- what is your timeframe?  There is a wide range here in the forum.  Many get to teach the class all school year, others have semesters, and some, me for instance, teach BHP three times a year in trimesters.  Donnetta Elsasser teaches BHP a few days a week over I believe a semester.  So there is a wide range and many teachers who can match you up to a plan of action.  Here is a list of my topics and timeline on a trimester-

Week 1- Introductions, vocabulary activity for the course, course outline, building a personal timeline (understanding thresholds)

Week 2 - Claim testers, understanding claims, writing claims.  Big History initial assessment.

Week 3 - Origin Stories and the Big Bang Threshold 1

Week 4 - Threshold 2 and 3- Stars Light Up and Elements Form

Week 5 - Threshold four, Our Solar System and Earth

Week 6 - Life - Threshold 5

Week 7 - Threshold 6 collective learning and early humans

Week 8 - Threshold 7, Agriculture and Civilization

Week 9 - More Threshold 7, Cultures and World Religions

Week 10 - Little more Threshold 7, Exploration, Expansion and interconnectedness/ Globalization. 

Week 11/12 - Speed of information Threshold 8.

Week 12/13 - The future

Thank you, Bryan Dibble . Wow, teaching the course three times in a school year is impressive!  I teach BHP to freshmen as part of a year-long world history course. I've got a lot of flexibility as long as I cover the standards.

Thanks for the great outline, Bryan Dibble .

It gives a great structure to guide pacing and duration of topics. Then people can fill in with which activities they want based on the frame.

And you are correct that I only see my students a couple of times per week. 

So many good options and adaptations of the curriculum. 

Hi Kerry and welcome.  I also teach BHP to freshmen as a year-long course.  Let me know if you have any general or specific questions.  I'm in New York.  Where are are you located? 

 Todd Nussen , thanks so much for the welcome. I am teaching in Arizona and we begin school next week. What activities do you use to hook students during the first week? I want to get students excited about this new course. The History as a Mystery and History of Me seemed engaging. What do you recommend for starting the year? 

Thank you!

I highly recommend Big History on a Football Field.  It's completely engaging, becomes an excellent reference throughout the year, and it's fun.  Depending on the weather, you can always do a modified version in your school gym or the hallway.  

Take a look at the activity and figure out what works best for you.  In my version, I print out the thresholds on different pieces of paper and then I divide the class into three groups.  Group one is given the task of trying to put the thresholds in order and space them out correctly, then as the next group goes (and the last), I provide a little bit more information and let the group ask me a question.  

That looks like a great activity, and I like getting students outside and moving! I noticed there's some math involved. Do you do this with the students? I worry it would scare my kids and they would lose interest before we got to the field.

I am always so impressed by your pacing, Bryan Dibble ! Whenever I feel crunched for time, I find calm in looking at how much you cover in a short period of time. I also am just now realizing that you spend a bit more time on threshold 8 and the future than you do on the earlier thresholds. Anything in particular that you like covering in those two thresholds?