“I freely confess: It was the objection of David Hume which first, many years ago, interrupted my dog-matic slumber” (Philosopher Immanuel Kant)”
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*** Star Wars offers the image of the Teacher: Think of the wise, respected, and mysterious martial arts Teacher, and the focused, eager, and respectful student/learner.
Dear Teachers:
One of the difficulties in teaching citizenship, multiculturalism, and pluralism is integrating into lessons resources that are effective at encouraging differentiated instruction and fostering creative and critical thinking while being truly cross curricular and engaging. I think you will find a springboard for all those things at this site as a whole. Our goal here is not simply to provide set units and lesson plans, but rather offer a springboard from which lessons and rubrics can be drafted with students, grade/division teams, etc.
There are a wealth of freely available creative and critical thinking resources from school boards and the web, so it is just a question of integrating them into lesson and unit building. If students are to be assessed on their creative and critical thinking skills, these need to be explicitly taught and modeled.
Darth Plagueis The Wise: Teacher of Darth Sidious
*** image fair Use Wiki: https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Darth_Plagueis?file=DarthPlagueisHS-SWI130.jpg
Here are some of my favorite Lesson Building Resources:
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New Year’s Resolutions
This is a great time of year for thinking about your goals for the new year. Pick one from the list below and come up with some of you own! New Year’s resolution ideas for kids (5 to 12 years old) I will drink water every day and healthy beverages like milk with meals. I
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The Art of Jokery: Reference for Teachers and Older Kids
Learning to play with and master language is essential for kids in becoming thinkers, whether with logic (“that’s impossible”) or humor (“that’s impossible, lol!”) Jokes can be classified in various ways, but many rely on linguistic mechanisms like figurative language (e.g., metaphors or exaggerations), ambiguity (e.g., words with multiple meanings), or usage contrary to norms
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The Flintstones
The Flintstones was one of the most popular cartoons of the last century. Do you notice anything odd about this clip?
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What’s the True Meaning of Christmas, Charlie Brown?
In this Christmas classic, Linus explains to Charlie Brown what the true meaning of Christmas is: Do you agree? What if you are Jewish and don’t have faith in Christ? What if you are a secular kid and don’t believe in the supernatural? Can you celebrate Christmas without Christ?
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Write a Parody Song or Poem
A Parody Song uses the music from a song but changes the words to make it funny. One easy way to do this is to use a rhyming dictionary (there are lots online). Here are 3 fun examples from Weird Al:
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Flat Earth: Home Schooling
Did you know that some kids don’t go to school, but have their parents or guardians teach them at home? Look at the book cover below and try to think up reasons home schooling might be a good idea, or a bad idea:
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Learn Like an Ancient Student
In ancient Greek education, the practice of “writing in role,” such as composing a letter or speech as if you were a historical or fictional figure like Socrates, was known as ethopoeia (ἠθοποιία). This exercise involved crafting a speech or text in the character, tone, and perspective of a specific person, often to demonstrate understanding
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New School Year Resolutions
The new school year is getting near. What are your new school year resolutions? Do you want to do better in a subject this year? Do you want to make a new close friend? Write down your top five goals for this year. What is the difference between a hope and a goal?
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Why is Ancient History Tough? The Telephone Game
Have you ever played the telephone game? One person starts with a sentence that they say to second person, who then says it to a third person, and so on through the group trying to keep the sentence the same. What we find is that the sentence you start with is often very unlike the
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Create a Coat of Arms
Source: wiki A family crest or coat of arms show what a family wanted people to think about them. What do you think the lions in the coat of arms above mean? Design a coat of arms showing the important things in your life.