Developments in Science and Technology

I set up 5 stations, each with a different short reading about how science and technology developed during the war. Students were given 8 minutes to complete the reading and to add to a graphic organizer that I provided. After visiting all the stations, the students had to fill in a chart in which they ranked what they thought were the 3 most important developments. It is a good activity to use because it fits nicely into 1 period, the kids get to move around and there is opportunity for teams to talk about what should be included in their charts/organizers. The readings came from the new 2p text from McGraw-Hill. That text is fantastic; have a look at it if you have the chance.

Democracy at the Crossroads (unit 3)

So far, so good. The kids are very interested in this unit (with the exception of those who "hate war stuff"). One cooperative strategy that worked really well for me several times was "jot thoughts." Tom, you've seen this one.

We were going to do a mock D-Day invasion plan and we had done the same thing for Vimy. I told the teams they would have 2 minutes to write as many ideas on slips of paper that related to Vimy as they could. Students did their own and at the end they were told to sort them into 3 categories: technology used, strategies used, and significant effects of the battle. Teams reported and I filled in part of the chart I gave them on the o/h. After the D-Day research, we filled in the same categories for D-Day to see how the 2 battles compared...striking similiarities and the kids got the idea that technology became a much bigger part of war. If anyone wants the D-Day stuff, I will forward it to you.