By Hannah Lazarte
Interactive lessons, such as simulations, are one of the best ways to get students to see things from a new perspective and learn in a new way. These interactive activities bring life into lessons, making them special.
Student-led projects also allow students to see the topics taught in class in a new light. The creative freedom makes students more excited to do the assignments, giving the topic a more memorable tone.
In history classes, simulations are used to help students understand a point in time better. Through students acting as certain important people, they see a different perspective, allowing them to grasp the point of the lesson better.
Let’s see how some teachers plan these unique lessons!
Kelly Ducat’s Flower Shop
US History teacher Kelly Ducat finds her lesson inspiration from the Common Core State Standards and textbook covers. Although she doesn’t find lessons online, she collaborates with other teachers in her department to create units and lesson plans. At the end of a unit, Ducat brings together everything in a unit to life with a simulation.
“[The flower shop is] a simulation of a speakeasy in the 1920s, and students are given the role of an influential person from the 1920s like Langston Hughes or Bessie Smith or Charles Lindbergh,” Ducat said. “And then they go around and they mingle and meet with these people and learn what they contributed to the 1920s whether it’s political, social [or] economic.”
The simulation allows students to experience a speakeasy as a person from back then. For example, if they were to be given the character Bessie Smith they would experience what it would be like to sing at speakeasies, affecting people with the lyrics in her songs.
Martin Baratti’s war simulations
AP European History teacher and World History teacher Martin Baratti also does simulations for his classes. Over the school year, Baratti does various simulations, such as an industrial type that focuses on the economy and another entertaining one on the spark of World War I.
“I do several simulations on the more difficult topics, such as the French Revolution, which lasts about four days, and it’s designed to engage people in a very difficult concept [and] to get them invested in it,” Baratti said. “So they’ll be interested in the topic, and then get across the importance of it.”
Like Ducat’s flower shop simulation, students acting as an important figure, such as Archduke Franz Ferdinand, would allow them to see the event from a different point of view. This would allow the students to have a better understanding of what happened.
Julie Chaicharee’s culture project
Model United Nations and US Government teacher Julie Chaicharee creates her lessons by modifying the assignments in a way the students find fun and exciting. For AP Human Geography, she assigned an “Aspects of Culture” project, where students had to pick one aspect of culture and compare it to other cultures around the world to show how students were all the same or different.
“The entire project culminates our unit on culture which covers language, religion, ethnicity, tangible folk and popular culture: music, clothing [and] sports,” Chaicharee said. “So this paired project allowed the students to collaborate with a classmate on any aspect of culture and [pick] one aspect and compare and contrast 10 other cultures.”
Students were allowed their own interpretation of their project and the finished projects were all unique and different. The imaginative projects that students bring in are one of Chaicharee’s favorite parts, showing how creative everyone is.
It allowed students to connect the cultures they learned in class and contrast them with what other cultures do. The project is interactive and helps students learn more about the culture in their own time and have fun while learning, expressing themselves and their creativity through it.
Although simulations and projects help students understand a lesson more memorably, both Ducat and Chaicharee believe the knowledge from regular lessons, such as what a speakeasy or the 18th Amendment is, contributes to success in these activities.
