So when they start learning about places like Greece and Rome and France and Great Britain...it's all (excuse the expression) Greek to them. They (most elementary kids in my school) have never been outside the US. So to study about the history of these countries....there is a slight disconnect.
A teacher friend of mine is teaching the American Revolution right now. She said it perfect, they love it because they know how it ended...because we live in America...this is how we got to this point. But with all those other countries, you can't necessarily say that. The kids don't know how it's different from what they studied because they haven't experienced it. And in all reality...many won't, for many years.
Here is where vacation planning came in for me. No, I'm not having them plan a vacation. (Well I actually had the 6th graders plan a trip to Greece.) But I found some websites that give the kids a tour of famous tourist spots in the country that they are studying. When going on a vacation, you may want to see where you're going to visit. What about when you're studying a country, you should see what it looks like now compared to what it was.
Are you studying Ancient Greece? Try a Greek vacation website: http://www.greecevirtual.gr/
Are you studying Ancient Italy? Try a Roman vacation website: http://www.touritalynow.com/virtual-italy-tours or http://www.youvisit.com/tour/rome
Are you studying England? Try a London Virtual Tour: http://www.visitlondon.com/discover-london/london-virtual-tour#zwHZOJL4xVSPhEP0.97
And all of this can be done to a degree on Google Earth as well!
Students can compare and contrast, they can talk about where would you rather live; then or now, they can rewrite history....the possibilities are endless!
Side note: this leads to a great conversation about the fact that websites are not just American...each country has their own. My students' minds were blown when we talked about the .gr at the end of the Greek website!
Now...where will you go?
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