There are more displaced people around the world today than at any time in recorded history. Why are such large numbers of people leaving their homes? What are their experiences? What have been the responses to their situations?
The Choices Program has just released an update to our popular Teaching with the News lesson “Refugee Stories: Mapping a Crisis.” The free lesson explores personal stories and experiences of refugees. Students examine maps, data, and broader trends in the global refugee crisis. They consider the human geography of the refugee crisis and the challenges facing both refugees and the international community. Students also weigh responses to the crisis.
The updated lesson includes revised maps and new data, refugee stories, videos, and news articles. “[This] lesson gives students a real life story behind a refugee situation and includes the map annotation needed for geography,” says Kelly, a history and geography teacher in Georgia. Check out this free lesson for use in your geography and current issues classes!
CELBRATING 35 YEARS OF CHOICES
If you’re the same age as Choices (35!) or younger OR you’ve been teaching for 5 or fewer years, remember to enter our October giveaway as part of our anniversary celebration! We’ll randomly select 35 individuals to receive a free curriculum unit. We’d love to celebrate with you! Giveaway ends October 31.
AHA REPORT ON TEACHING U.S. HISTORY
The American Historical Association recently released American Lesson Plan: Teaching US History in Secondary Schools, a report on a “two-year exploration of secondary US history education” (p. 8). The report provides a detailed look at what students in U.S. history classrooms are learning, based on surveys, interviews, and reviews of instructional materials from across the country.
Choices appears several times in the American Lesson Plan, which describes the Choices Program’s “distinguished role-playing” activities and notes that “the ‘options’ moment—when a student is tasked with making a decision as a historical actor—is preceded by substantial historical and historiographical context” (p. 106). The variety of positions that Choices provides for role-plays and perspectives activities exposes students to wide-ranging viewpoints and opinions as they develop their own positions on a topic.
The report observes that Choices Program materials often cover events and information “less commonly cited in standards or broad timelines” (p. 142) and provide “in-depth histories of specific places” (p. 160), such as in the Choices Program’s Westward Expansion curriculum unit.
TITLE 1 SCHOOLS
Choices offers discounted access to our Digital Editions platform to support schools that serve low-income student populations around the country. If your school receives Title I funding and at least 50 percent of your students receive free or reduced lunch, email us at choices_digital@brown.edu f
