Customer Reviews

American History Simulations

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4 star:		(1)
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Do you want to make history come alive in your classroom? This book is packed full of hands-on, brains-on simulations that will really get your students thinking about some important events and concepts of American History. These activities help students to make an emotional connection with the historical events that shaped America by having them participate in role-playing simulations. My personal favorite is an Activity called "The King's M&M's" (the kids loved it too!) I have used these activities in my 7th and 8th Grade American History class and have been thrilled with the discussions it has inspired. These simulations grab the students from the start and keep them hooked. Try them!

I recently ordered this book for teaching fifth grade social studies. The simulations to not all align with the emphasis of US history in 5th grade but there is enough to make the book worth buying. This week I adapted the simulation "Brown Gold" and hid a brown slip of paper on the playground. The winning team were given a Chocolate candy bar to share. We came back to class and debriefed our experiences using the questions in the book. The questions are just listed for discussion, but I typed them and left space for students to answer each question individually. My students were amazed and understood how the drive to find gold lead the Spanish conquistadors to America. I also like how the book has questions that you can use for students to search for as they read their Social Studies book. The simulations lend themselves well to being used as an anticipatory set before you actually teach the lesson. I will probably use about four of the Simulations from this book in my classroom this year. An 8th grade or 11th grade teacher would find that even more of the Simulations align to their curriculm. As a classroom teacher, I recognize that there are definately ways this book could be revised for ease of use in the classroom. But for now, this is the best book published for using simulations to teach 5th grade social studies.

I am not a social studies teacher specifically. I teach Middle School Special Education and I am always looking for ways to make education come to life. This book has some great ideas for making historical issues relevant to youth today.

this book has 27 different simulations spanning from the native Americans and explorers all the way up through Watergate, however, about 20 of them are from 1900 and before. Interesting activities - some are not so much simulations as activities, but they involve putting yourself in the participants place mentally at least - nice format that summarizes objective, materials needed, etc at beginning of each simulation. Good discussion suggestions and follow ups included as well. Reproducible pages and a minimum of outside materials needed. Easily adaptable to different age groups I think but 8th grade can basically use it straight out of the book.

Great product and received very quickly. I will use this product during the school year and my students will love it. It is awesome!