Sixth Grade Teachers

The time I spent in Kenya this summer will have a lasting impact on who I am. I love the country, the people, the culture. It is a place where joy truly thrives. 

Since I had an opportunity to travel to Kenya this summer, I especially enjoyed teaching our social studies unit on African empires. As a culmination to our unit, sixth graders completed an “African Adventure” with one of the sixth grade teachers. One group learned about symbolism in African art with Mrs. Bauer and made clay masks with beads, cowrie shells, and raffia. Another group studied endangered animals with Mr. Parrish and used their understanding of scale to enlarge a photo of their favorite African animal. Mrs. Berry taught a group about African music and dance, and the students carefully created their own rendition of a tribal dance with drums, costumes, and all sorts of instruments!

My group explored a variety of current events occurring in rural and urban areas on the African continent. After learning about deforestation in Ghana, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, economic decline in Zimbabwe, and the illegal ivory trade, students researched an environmental, political, or social issue that is affecting the African people. After conducting research, students worked individually or in pairs to craft a narrative that highlights how one person (male or female, adult or child) is personally affected by the environmental, political, or social issue. The narrative, told in first person through the eyes of the imaginary character, was recorded in a Windows Photostory.

I will link to all of the photostories in another post, but I wanted to highlight Lizzie and Mariam’s work because of its connection to Martin Fisher, a definite hero of mine and social entrepreneur. I had the pleasure of meeting Martin when I attended Renaissance Weekend in Charleston over Thanksgiving break and his work is affecting hundreds of thousands of people. His commitment to ending poverty in Africa and KickStart, his non-profit organization, give me great hope for the continent which I love so much.

Mariam and Lizzie have both written posts about the impact that Martin Fisher’s work has had on them. Their posts are powerful and well worth reading. Additionally, their photostory is articulate, creative, and moving. I am proud of these girls and their interest in what is happening in the world around them.

KickStart

In light of our conversations about prejudice in values class and our study of Africa in social studies, I wanted to share an email I received from a friend who is living in Kenya. I visited her last summer, and she was back in the States for a few short weeks in December. After traveling for over 24 hours, Allison arrived in the Nairobi airport and entered a chaotic country – one that was peaceful only days earlier.

I think you will find her words interesting…

“In Nyeri, the school is still functioning as normal. Classes are still held and homework is given out as expected. However, at the moment, we are taking extra precaution by not having students leave the campus for cross country or other activities where the security might be questionable. At night, our security guards, armed with their usual bows and arrows, watch over us…”

“While there is no violence here, there is obvious tension around campus as the radio is constantly on in the staff room and conversations rarely touch on anything other than the current and developing situations in the country. In addition, we’ve had some of the school employees, as well as our first student today, leave Nyeri due to the fact that they come from a tribe other than the Kikuyu, the predominate tribe in this area and that of President Kibaki. They fear that after suffering at the hands of angry tribes who blame the Kikuyu for the flawed elections, the Kikuyu will act on revenge and therefore, they do not want to be seen as a possible target…”

“The major problem areas are the Rift Valley and the slum areas of Nairobi where many people come from tribes of Western Kenya. Many of those are the people who were promised by Rila Odinga, such ludicrous things as other people’s legal land and property, something that sounds awfully similar to what Robert Mugabe has done in Zimbabwe. Because Odinga lost the election,and therefore is unable to make due on his promises, many of those people have acted in anger, demanding to obtain the coveted land. However, there is rumor that the violence was planed long before the election and actually funded by one of the acting Members of Parliament, Ruto. More than anything, this supposed political violence, has become something rooted more deeply along tribal lines.”

“I  continue to love this country, but my soul aches to know and witness the raw brutality of the human race. Why is it that we refuse to learn from history? I can not, for all my efforts, understand the idea of people turning on one another simply because of the tribes they come from. And yet, this is not the first time humanity has witnessed it.”

“Let’s all pray for peace, love and unity – words that come directly from the Kenyan national anthem and realities that are so desperately needed now.”

I am interested to hear sixth graders’ responses – especially in light of our studies of Kilwa, Zimbabwe, and (next week), the Kongo. Here is a question that my friend posed:

What is it about human nature that forces us to put ourselves at such great odds with those who are different from us, be that in regards to race, religion, or ethnicity?

“If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.”

                                                  -Rudyard Kipling

In school, there is a time for reading and a time for social studies, a time for math and a time for music. Textbooks are neatly labeled with appropriate titles and pictures highlighting the subject area, and children know in which subject folder to file their notes. But what if social studies and reading collided? What if the lines were blurred and subject folders were kept closed?

Story telling is part of our day to day lives. Everyone has been on the other side of the table as a family member recounted a story from the past, and everyone has spun a tale to entertain others. Sad, funny, or scary, we enjoy hearing stories of ordinary heroes, antagonists, and climactic moments. Some of the greatest stories ever told, however, don’t get discussed at the dinner table. They remain “locked” in the pages of a social studies textbook.

In reading we talk of main characters, conflict, climax, and resolution. Our antagonists and heroes come from short stories, novels, and poems. The sixth grade teachers decided to do an experiment: in considering our unit covering the Empire of Islam, what if Muhammad became the main character of our story and the climax was the Battle of Tours? What if the fall of the Abbasid Empire in Spain was the resolution?

The three Photo Stories contained in this post reflect the information the sixth graders studied over the past few weeks. Told as a story, will it be less likely to be forgotten?

Sixth graders, please revisit the stories of the Islamic Empire. Retell the story to others, and visualize the pictures in your mind. What are your opinions on this style of social studies? How has it helped you to understand?

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ISLAM UNITES

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ISLAM EXPANDS

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ISLAMIC SPAIN

At the time that Caesar came to power, there was a huge gap between the rich and the poor.  The Roman leaders had become greedy as wars made them wealthy.  The rich ignored the poor, and there was widespread poverty and unemployment. 

When Caesar won the civil war in Rome, he hosted a banquet for over 20,000 of the city’s poor to celebrate his victory.   After declaring himself dictator, and ending theRoman Republic, Caesar addressed Rome’s social problems by starting several programs to help the poor.  Some of these reforms included giving grain to the poor, creating jobs to combat unemployment, and giving land to poor farmers.  All of these reforms lead me to believe that although Caesar was a dictator, he was concerned about the citizens of Rome and committed to helping them.  Again, this is not the type of leader that usually comes to mind when I think of the dictators that the world has seen since this time.

Under the Republic, Rome had a Senate and elected leaders.  There was a system of checks and balances, like we have in our government today, to ensure that no one man had too much power.  However, under this system the rich became richer and the poor became poorer.  The leaders were corrupt and greedy, and the poor were suffering.  So, even though the Republic in theory was a good system of government, it seems that Caesar was exactly what Rome needed at that time to make a change for the better.  Why is it that Julius Caesar, the dictator, helped Roman society at a desperate time, while the Republic, which was supposed to be the “right way” to govern ended up being the reason for many of Rome’s problems? 

While dictators are generally not considered to be positive rulers, in Caesar’s case I believe that he was exactly what Rome needed to survive and continue to flourish. Without his leadership at this time, Rome may have collapsed completely. Do you think it is possible to have a “good” dictator?

When I was a sixth grader, I remember learning about Rome and the Punic Wars in social studies class. I was fascinated by Rome’s invention of “the crow” which helped transform a sea battle into a land battle. The Romans, rushing across the long plank that pinned the enemy ships together, acted as marines and engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Carthaginians. I also remember learning about Carthage’s hero and military genius, Hannibal. His choice to lead his massive army (along with a number of elephants) over the mighty Alps was almost inconceivable to me as a child. I was fascinated with this period of time in world history but came to a road block when I wanted to learn more.As a sixth grade social studies teacher, I am amazed with the amount of information at my students’ fingertips. I started this post as an example. Next week, we will challenge our sixth graders to make post that relates to something that we’ve studied in social studies. Before I even thought about what I wanted to write, I began to do a little more research on Hannibal. I was amazed with what I came up with…

The National Geographic Channel has produced an impressive two hour movie (Hannibal v. Rome) about Hannibal’s attempt to crush the Romans - The trailer begins, ”Through these treacherous mountains, a warrior would mount one of the greatest invasions the world has ever seen….and he would do it with elephants.” What a great way for ancient history to come alive!

I also ran across a board game called Hannibal: Rome v. Carthage. In this game, “players use strategic-level cards for multiple purposes: moving generals, levying new troops/reinforcing existing armies, gaining political control of the provinces involved in the war, and generating historical events. If perchance two armies meet on the battlefield, a second set of cards is used to determine the winner. Ultimately both players seek victory by dominating both fronts: military and political.” When I was growing up, Battleship was the closest game that could have related to wars and battles!

Of course, there are numerous essays and books that cover this time in Roman history. Within five minutes, I was able to find multiple “kid friendly” websites (www.socialstudiesforkids.com) and some interesting photos of “Hannibal artifacts” that sparked my curiousity immediately.

So, in my quest to write a sample post about Hannibal, I changed my direction a bit. I wanted to list a few places (all having to do with Rome) where my sixth graders can go to explore:

-Odyssey Online (an Emory University/Carlos Museum site)

-The Roman Empire in the 1st Century (a PBS website)

-Roman Empire for Kids 

-KidInfo about Rome (great links attached to this page!)

The joy is…there is so much more out there!!

Trinity sixth graders have not only learned about how the geography of a region affects its culture, but they have also studied the rise and fall of the Roman Republic. I can’t wait to see what connections our sixth graders make as they post about a historical topic. There are so many possibilities. There are so many avenues they can wander down and explore. It’ll be fascinating to see what they come up with.