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It's that time of the year, and author Jim Whiting is giving us a little holiday history lesson that will definitely expand student's knowledge base! |
Social Studies
Explore World History - Seleucid Dynasty
Author Whiting begins this Minute with a reference to a Seleucid emperor. Have students explore the Seleucid Dynasty to see there it fits in terms of world timelines and world geography. If you keep a world map or timeline on display, consider marking off the Minutes as your students experience them - you will have a visual representation of schema building at the end of the year!
Explore religion - polytheism vs. monotheism
The cultural clash of religious beliefs is the origin of many conflicts from the past and in the present. This particular conflict was one of power and theological clashes. Depending on the level of students you teach, you can use this to introduce the concept of polytheism and monotheism - the similarities and differences, or for more advanced discussions, have students explore how these concepts affect the success, spread and eventual decline of a society. Students will find a wealth of theories postulating that polytheism helped the Roman Empire flourish and was eventually the keystone to its demise. Set up a debate and ask your students to create justifications for their positions.
Explore holiday origin stories
Everyone loves a good origin story - where do things come from? Author Whiting has given us the origin of a Jewish holiday. All holidays, both secular and religious, come from somewhere. Have your students explore the origin stories behind a holiday of their choice. Consider creating thematic parameters, such as holidays from a geographic part of the world or from a specific time frame - looking for holidays around an equinox or solstice yields interesting results that students can analyze for patterns.
STEM
Explore negative numbers
Negative numbers can really confuse students, so take every opportunity to reinforce the concept and practice how they work. Whenever your classes are investigating history that occurred in BCE (Before Common Era), reinforce number lines and negative number properties. Have students look at the years cited in the Minute and set up the equation to find the difference, using a number line to provide for your visual learners.
Explore lunar phases
Lunar phases determine the dates of many religious holidays. Explore the lunar calendar and how that works. Have students figure out what the lunar phase was when they were born. Check out the Farmer’s Almanac for Kids. They can put their birth month and year into the end of the url or click through the years below the calendar to see what the lunar calendar the month they were born.
Research Skills
Explore Almanacs
Use this Minute to introduce your students to the class of reference devices known as almanacs. First, teach students the “define” function in Google (type define before any word in the search bar and get the definition). Next, take a look at online almanacs for comparison. Compare and contrast. Establish who the audience and what the purpose is for each online almanac. Challenge your students to tell you why it might be useful to know!
Explore World History - Seleucid Dynasty
Author Whiting begins this Minute with a reference to a Seleucid emperor. Have students explore the Seleucid Dynasty to see there it fits in terms of world timelines and world geography. If you keep a world map or timeline on display, consider marking off the Minutes as your students experience them - you will have a visual representation of schema building at the end of the year!
Explore religion - polytheism vs. monotheism
The cultural clash of religious beliefs is the origin of many conflicts from the past and in the present. This particular conflict was one of power and theological clashes. Depending on the level of students you teach, you can use this to introduce the concept of polytheism and monotheism - the similarities and differences, or for more advanced discussions, have students explore how these concepts affect the success, spread and eventual decline of a society. Students will find a wealth of theories postulating that polytheism helped the Roman Empire flourish and was eventually the keystone to its demise. Set up a debate and ask your students to create justifications for their positions.
Explore holiday origin stories
Everyone loves a good origin story - where do things come from? Author Whiting has given us the origin of a Jewish holiday. All holidays, both secular and religious, come from somewhere. Have your students explore the origin stories behind a holiday of their choice. Consider creating thematic parameters, such as holidays from a geographic part of the world or from a specific time frame - looking for holidays around an equinox or solstice yields interesting results that students can analyze for patterns.
STEM
Explore negative numbers
Negative numbers can really confuse students, so take every opportunity to reinforce the concept and practice how they work. Whenever your classes are investigating history that occurred in BCE (Before Common Era), reinforce number lines and negative number properties. Have students look at the years cited in the Minute and set up the equation to find the difference, using a number line to provide for your visual learners.
Explore lunar phases
Lunar phases determine the dates of many religious holidays. Explore the lunar calendar and how that works. Have students figure out what the lunar phase was when they were born. Check out the Farmer’s Almanac for Kids. They can put their birth month and year into the end of the url or click through the years below the calendar to see what the lunar calendar the month they were born.
Research Skills
Explore Almanacs
Use this Minute to introduce your students to the class of reference devices known as almanacs. First, teach students the “define” function in Google (type define before any word in the search bar and get the definition). Next, take a look at online almanacs for comparison. Compare and contrast. Establish who the audience and what the purpose is for each online almanac. Challenge your students to tell you why it might be useful to know!
© Karen Sterling, 2017 - May be used for educational purposes without written permission
