Today kicked off a new year of GIANTS, this time centered around 8th Grade United States History! For those of you who are taking this course online and on your own time, after each session you’ll need to visit this page and “sign in” by answering the questions at the end as a comment.
The first session is a long one! Weighing in at about 5.5 hours (breaks have been removed from the video recap) we cover quite a bit of ground walking you through the first weeks of instruction.
The agenda for day 1 is shown below. Scroll below for questions.
9:00 — 9:45 Unique components of the G.I.A.N.T.S. units—Beckie
*Literacy connections
*Spatial modes of thinking
*Universal themes of history (activity)
*Skills from The C3 Framework
9:45 — 10:15 Making Geographically Sound Decisions—Phil
10:15 — 10:30 BREAK
10:30 — 11:30 Unit 0—Sue, Kirk, Ruth
*A word or two about vocabulary strategies and dictionary sites—Sue
*Reading Strategies—Sue (15 min.)
*Core values and Constitutional principles—Kirk
*G>SPEC Strategy and History links—Ruth
*Lesson Procedures
11:30 — 12:00 LUNCH
12:00 — 1:00 *MI Open Book —Kirk
*General regions of the N. American continent—Phil (45 min.)
1:00 — 1:15 *Founding Fathers Quiz (10 min.)
1:15 — 1:45 *Overview of Lessons 1 & 2
1:45 — 2:00 BREAK
2:00 — 2:45 ”Reading is a Geographical Act”—Phil (45 min.)
2:45 — 3:30 Overview of Lessons 3 & 4 (25 min.)
Recap questions:
- What is one thing from GIANTS 8th grade that you’re excited to try out this year with your students?
- What is one thing you would like more clarification from the authors and Dr. Gersmehl on?