This week I got to go back to my social studies roots! I was able to work with 7th grade Global Studies and Mr. Meade. It was a fun experience and the students were so awesome! Mr. Meade and I met and talked about what we would do. The students have been studying Israel and Palestine and the conflict over land. The students were going to have to pick a side and then write a persuasive essay. It sounded like a challenging assignment!
First, I began the lesson by asking students what they knew about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. They knew some good facts! They talked about the fact that both consider themselves long-time inhabitants of the land. They discussed the end of World War II and how the UN divided the land. It was refreshing to hear students really on top of their game and understanding one of the biggest on-going conflicts in the world.
Next, we talked about a persuasive essay and what that might look like. They knew the basics. We reviewed those and then I showed the funniest video that Mr. Meade had given me. They thought it was both funny and exasperating! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watchv=DqjIKS82UNI
After we watched the video we broke down the different parts of an essay like the students in the video did: a hook, background information, thesis statement, body paragraphs with topic sentences, and conclusion.
The students were ready to go and spent the rest of the time working on their outline. It surprised me that students were quick to pick a side. I would have thought that would take a longer time. We did talk about how the number of years they have lived on the land might not be the strongest argument because both sides would try to make it. We talked about how the arguments have got to be convincing. And we discussed how if you have more than one rebuttal arguments, you might want to look at the other side. Students asked some great questions about both the conflict and writing an essay. And they were very conscientious students wanting to know when the paper would be due.
This was a fun one for me. Being back in a social studies classroom felt so comfortable. I really enjoyed myself and saw our amazing students really working hard and putting their knowledge on display. I was so proud! And then I showed the video one more time. Everyone groaned! 😊
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