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Calling All Teachers!!!!


Cindy!
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As I mentioned in another post, I am teaching at a Residential Substance Abuse Facility for Teenage Girls (ages 13-21).

I am teaching FIVE different subjects and am only certified in three of them.

If you have lesson plans, resources, experiments, ideas, or anything on these subjects....and you are willing to....please share them with me!!!

Here are the subjects I am teaching:

US History - US Constitution

US Government

World Literature

Science

World History

These girls are used to being labeled as "troublemaker" "difficult" "loser" "stupid"....you name it. So any contributions are met with disbelief and gratefulness.

Lesson plans, projects, unit plans, resources, worksheets....any kinda educational help will be very appreciated!!!! By them and by me!!!!

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Read True Notebooks by Mark Salzman, for some good stuff on teaching writing to incarcerated teens. Like your situation, the kids were starved for genuine adult praise.

There are lots of lesson plans out on the Internet, so Google "lesson plans high school" and start browsing.

I suppose the trick would be to make this stuff relevant, and then it would be interesting for the kids.

History: history is made when people make decisions at crucial times. Describe the context of the event and get inside the heads of the people who made history, and I think you will be teaching valuable lessons about decision making, ethics, and independence.

Literature: like history makers, every writer has a background and a vision. To teach about world authors is to teach diversity as well as history and culture. Incorporate music, art, and dance forms from all over, and you have taught that communication is more than just talking. Show them how an idea and an expression springs from a culture.

Science: at its best, it is deadly honest. It sees what is, and reports on what is seen, not what one wants to see or how one thinks it ought to be. Science also shows us the interconnectedness of life. We can't live it alone, even if we wanted to.

Resources?

1. Your local library -- if they don't have it, I betcha they can find who does.

2. The Library of Congress online -- http://www.loc.gov/index.html -- oh my.

3. The National Endowment for the Humanities -- http://www.neh.gov/ -- find out who in your area has the Picturing America series, a great way to teach US history through art. The pictures are 20" X 30" and laminated, real nice. Otherwise, all the materials, including Powerpoints of the artwork and the teacher's guide, are on the website.

4. Encyclopedia Britannica Online -- again, check your library to see if they have it in their online databases. Britannica ONline has 3 levels of detail for different reading abilities, but has videos and links for just about any topic.

5. TeacherXpress -- http://www.teacherxpress.com/ -- lots and LOTS of links.

Best wishes,

Shaz

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Excellent ideas and excellent post, shaz....thanks!!!!

I've been wading through the internet, but was beginning to feel bogged down in all the useless information and lesson plans that are not right for my student population.

Felt a bit more energized after seeing your post and how closely it reflects what I'm thinking of doing with the girls.

Many many thanks, gf!!!

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No joke-

get the Schoolhouse Rock DVD. 2 DVDs in the case, with every song they ever did.

The "America Rock" segments were so good, people studying for their Citizenship

tests were advised to go buy it.

If you completely forgot what was on them, go to YouTube and search

"Schoolhouse Rock". Play "The Shot Heard Round the World",

"How a Bill Becomes a Law" and "Preamble."

Based only on watching those in the 1970s, I was still able to recite the

Preamble to the US Constitution to this day- provided I was allowed to

sing it. :)

I also know which Amendment was for Women's Suffrage, and what

year the Amendment was passed. ("Suffering Before Suffrage.")

NYU's Medical School used one or two of the science ones.

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I had forgotten all about those, WordWolf.

They really do make "learning" fun.

Here are the youtubes you referenced.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEJL2Uuv-oQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_TXJRZ4CFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VQA5NDNkUM

Here's my personal favorite, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkO87mkgcNo

Edited by waysider
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