5V History/Current Events

We will study national and global issues through our current events class. We will use news articles from our school district's NEWSELA website and Time for Kids kids-news magazine. I will ask the students to think for themselves and look and consider both sides of the issue when appropriate. We will study age appropriate news stories. My personal and/or political views will not be used in classroom. Instead, students will have the chance to understand a topic or issue by studying both viewpoints. We will do reading and writing connected with our studies. Some studies from last year that I anticipate will be studied again include:

Immigration policy
Relations with North Korea
The ubiquity of technology
Amazon Company's Global Dominance
The "Russia Probe"
Chicago sports teams
Terrorism
The exploration and potential missions to Mars
Global Warming
The Second Amendment debate
FAANG's (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix Google) rise and takeover of the economy and lifestyle

This year we will probably also study:

The 2018 Midterm Elections
Tesla Motor Company
The latest new trends and gadgets

History:

Most likely our span of history will be between the ancient civilizations of the Western World and the American Civil War. We will study African and European time period and explorers as well as their exploration. In addition, we will study the European colonization of America, the colonial rebellion against England leading to the American Revolution. From there we will study the forms of government, our constitution, and the War of 1812. As the year ends we will study the expansion of America westward and end with the study of the Civil War.

During history class we do a lot of debates that are generated from mild to controversial issues that are inspired by our text. (i.e-Did Lewis & Clark prove more harmful to Natives than helpful? OR Which person was most influential in helping America win the Revolutionary War?) We play a game called Stand/Sit/Rise that promotes not only debate but polite exchanges between students that hold opposing views.

Finally, we do a lot of research and writing in the class. But my favorite thing is the discussion and debate. One thing I try to get the kids to do is compare history with contemporary times. For example-when we study Europeans coming to America in the 1600's I have the kids consider immigration policy today.

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