Frank Patalano

Instructional Lab- The 20^th Century

Many history/social studies classes strain to cover the 500+ years of American history. This leaves many teachers with no choice but to skim/skip important people and events beyond WWII. With the end of the century approaching fast, few students have the necessary base of 20^th century history to be prepared for the 21^st century’s trials and challenges. Students must have some knowledge of the recent past in order to succeed and survive in the future global culture. It is depressing that students in other foreign countries know more about 20^th century American history than our students do.

Week 1-

This week will be used for students to gain knowledge about some of the most important people of the 20^th century. This style allows students to learn more about individuals who fit their own personal interests. The use of the computers at the end of the week will allow them to learn how to research online, for future projects and presentations. Groups will probably be divided based on computer ability or random selection.

Day 1-

1. Introduction to the Course- The 20^th Century Why? An introduction is a good starting point for an topic, class, etc.
2. Work on a Vocabulary Sheet to define 10 key 20^th century terms. ex. World Wide Web, Television, Radio, Computer, Nuclear Weapons, Cold War, Highway, Vaccine, United Nations… Why? Although there are hundreds of words that were coined/created in the 20^th century, a narrow list needs to be created for a good introduction into a class that will teach about the entire 20^th century.
3. Choose 3 famous people to research from a list of +/-120. Why? The students will be able to see the entire list so that they can choose individuals who might be associated with their own interests.

Day 2-

1. Basic Research on 3 famous people- Who, Accomplishments, Birth-Death, Why are they considered so important. Why? If students complete research on 3 people there is less of a chance that they will be disinterested with the class then if they only researched one person and did not like the person after researching him or her.
2. The students will write on a who, what handout for each person. Why? This handout will show us how much the students have been researching their people.

Day 3-

1. Select one Famous Person. Why? This allows each student to focus on a person who they are very interested in from a choice of 3.
2. Research- Select 3 Accomplishments and expand on them 1 paragraph each. If the person has one accomplishment, the student has to focus on it and write 2-3 paragraphs on it. The students must also include why they chose this person. Why? Some students might research a person but only find out one thing about him/her and then expect to be done with the entire day.

Day 4-

1. Presentation/One minute Biographies- Group 1 Why? Presentations allows students to be proud of their work and it allows them to be teachers to the rest of the class.
2. Computer Work- Using the Internet- Group 2 Why? Computers are the wave of the future and few students get time to learn educational things on it. This class will allow students to learn how to research on-line.

Day 5-

1. Computer Work- Using the Internet- Group 1
2. Presentation/One minute Biographies- Group 2