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Looking for feedback on my plan for this year!

Will Nash

Hello, everyone!

We're in the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of summer break in my district, so I've started to make my gameplan for this coming year. A few things to know about my situation:

  • 85 minute blocks on an A/B schedule
  • My district is reordering their social studies courses, so I will be the only World (1200) teacher in my school this year for students who are repeating and need the credit to graduate. I'll have mostly seniors, which means they'll be more competent than my typical sophomores, but also raises the stakes for success in my course this year.

Given all that, I want to try a different approach with more student choice. I know most of my students have taken the course in the past, so my plan is to condense the essentials into a traditional class for the first meeting each week. I have the topics listed way down at the bottom, based on my district's curriculum guide. The second meeting of the week, typically Wednesday/Thursday, would be for working on projects, which rotate every 5 weeks. And then, if I see students a third time (which is typically every 3 to 4 weeks) we will have 1-on-1 check-ins, an incentive for students who are on track (I'm thinking a chopsticks challenge for the first one since we'll be talking about the Ming) and calls home for the students who are habitually absent.

What do you think? Don't pull punches if you think I'm going to have a bad time carrying this out.


World History Assessment Structure

Term

County Assessment 10%

Required Assessment 10%

Flexible Assessment 10%

Q1 (Global Tapestry/Exploration)

CBA

Multiple Choice and DBQ/Written Response

Source Analysis
  1. Virtual Museum Exhibit
  2.  Podcast
  3.  Comparative Timeline
  4. Infographic/Concept Map 
  5. Newspaper Front Page
  6. Interactive Map
  7. Student-Designed Assessment (Q4)*

Q2 (Revolutions/Industry)

Mini Research Project

Q3 (Empire/Global Conflict)

Simulation

Q4 (Cold War/Globalization)

Comparative Essay

World History Week Structure

  • 1st Meeting(M/T): Content (Traditional Lesson with Formative Assessments)
  • 2nd Meeting(W/R): Project (Work on Assessments, Progress Reflection)
  • 3rd Meeting(F): Relax/Refocus (Incentive for on-track students, 1-on-1 meetings, make-up work for off-track students, contacts home for chronically absent students)

4 Weeks Each for Required and Flexible Assessments

Example: Week 1-4 Source Analysis, Week 5 FA Selection, Weeks 6-9 Flexible Assessment, Week 10 CBA

36 Weeks of Content for World History

Q1 (Global Tapestry/Exploration)

  1. Mongols/Black Death (Judaism)
  2. Yuan/Ming China (Confucianism/Daoism?)
  3. Ottomans/Safavids (Islam)
  4. Mughal Empire (Hinduism/Buddhism)
  5. Renaissance/Reformation Europe (Christianity)
  6. Explorers
  7. La Conquista
  8. Columbian Exchange
  9. Slave Trade

Q2 (Revolutions/Industry)

  1. Enlightenment
  2. French Revolution
  3. Haiti/Latin America/Mexico
  4. Nationalism
  5. Origins of Industrial Revolution
  6. Urban Game
  7. Working Conditions
  8. Child Labor
  9. Responses to Industrial Revolution 

Q3 (Empire/Global Conflict)

  1. Motivations for New Imperialism
  2. Scramble for Africa
  3. Congo Free State
  4. Opium Wars & Boxer Rebellion
  5. Meiji Restoration
  6. Causes of Global Conflict
  7. Weaponry/Tactics
  8. Fascism/Atrocities
  9. Peace Treaties

Q4 (Cold War/Globalization)

  1. International Organizations
  2. Cold War in Europe
  3. Cold War in Asia
  4. Cold War in Americas
  5. Decolonization
  6. End of the Cold War
  7. Apartheid
  8. Globalization
  9. Terrorism

  • This is a lot of work for a very specific situation but I like what your thinking.  I teach origins but two of my projects might come in handy.  I use an option in Google Earth called projects to have students map out a topic.  i do it for early cultures its the format you might like.  The second would be for Q4.  I call it the democracy project.  Is the world getting more democratic?  We use the topics you highlight to learn about a specific country and then present to the class.  

  •   This looks great!  It is evidence of a lot of time and effort. I suspect the challenge will be the pace, as with all students. And will this be a class where everyone is on the same page at the same time, or they’re each making up different parts of the curriculum?  The latter could prove a challenge as well 

  • I've been teaching World from 1200 and I think this pacing looks really good! I also like the schedule you've created - spending dedicated time doing long term projects seems like a great way to increase student engagement and do some really cool things in the long term. One really engaging project I do with my kids in the Globalization unit is a horror movie trailer project. Students select and research a negative aspect of globalization, and then create a horror movie trailer featuring this negative aspect as the villain. I've gotten a lot of really fun submissions from this. 

    I also think it is a fantastic idea to plan out specific opportunities for interventions and some kind of incentive for on track students. This will be really helpful! 

  • in reply to Carrie Emmerson

    They're all on the same page at the same time (for this year). We moved to a half credit system so that may be an issue in the future.

  • in reply to Eric Schulz

    I might swap out a flex assessment for your mapping idea!

  • in reply to Allyson Eubanks

    Thanks! Some of it is for me because I find the A/B schedule frustrating. Planning by the week is way better for my sanity.

    We had our first day back today and I kept hearing key words that align with my plan...student choice and voice, consistent routines, etc.