X-Sample+Station+1+Starters

(Teacher's View) On this page, I will add sample discussion starters for Station 1 Teacher led face 2 face Demo and/or Discussion time.

=World History Unit 4.= Unit Topic: Medieval Ages and specifically the anarchy and its consequences after the fall of Rome.

This goal of this activity to teach the rationale behind order and rules, a concept that most children find irrelevant and unfair at best. The activity sets the stage to what happens in Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire.



Activity Materials: 1/2 standard size pieces of blank paper One hat or basket, coffee can, or bowl (any container to collect the folded pieces of paper)

At the beginning of the class distributes small pieces of blank paper (about the 1/2 the size of a standard notecard) to each students. You can even give more than one piece to each student. NOTE: You must Tell them, that they are **not allowed to share their answers out loud** even if it hurts. They will be able to share later during the discussion.

When the students are ready, pose the following scenario to the students (you can embellish the scenario to make it more or less appropriate for your students): When you enter your assigned first hour classroom, you see your teacher quickly throwing her few belongings into a box and scurrying out of the classroom. You stop her to ask what is going on and she says "Hey, I am not really sure but I suddenly remembered that I have somewhere else to be right away....so, uhm...nice taking to you and have a good one!" Then she turns and scurries around the corner holding her box under one arm and waving the peace sign at you. You then notice more teachers leaving the building and within an hour, all students realize that the adults are not coming back. Someone reads a news bulletin on the internet that says that teachers nation wide are leaving their posts because their district refuses to pay them because they have all been replaced by computers. You also read that most local police officers, have also left their jobs in fear of the ramifications of having thousands of unsupervised school age children in the streets. So before long, you notice that many students have gotten ideas of what to do in a school building when there are no adults supervising it.**
 * It is the first day of school and as you enter the school, you notice that strangely there are no adults in the school. In fact, the front office doors are opened but there are no secretaries no administrators there. Vital student records and petty cash is stored there so it is very strange that the office is on attended.

NOTE: Remember to try your best to keep the students from sharing their comments and thoughts out loud

Have your students answer the following questions on their piece of paper. Their answers will be shared with the class anonymously so please tell them to put their names on the paper. Because their answers will be anonymous, please encourage the students to share what they really think :
 * 1) What is ONE thing (only one) that you know other students will do in this scenario?
 * 2) What areTWO things you would personally do, knowing that you will not get into any trouble?
 * 3) What would you gain personally by doing these things?

When the students are finished writing, have them fold the paper in fourths and collect them in the hat (you could pass the hat around or have a student pass the hat).

Discussion Time: Round 1. Take an anonymous entry from the hat and read the answer to Question #1 (do not read the answers for questions 2+3. Save them for the next round). Then engage the students in a discussion about the actions mentioned on the entry. Here are some sample probing questions:
 * 1) What would be the effects of this action?
 * 2) How would other students react?
 * 3) What would other students that did not like or appreciate this action stop the action?

Read all the number #1 answers. Round 2. Read the answers to questions #2+3 (in many cases, you may find that even though students believe that mayhem may ensue in the after effects of the given scenario, many students when asked personally, may opt to act kindly, responsibly and try their best to restore a semblance of order in the school). Then encourage a discussion about the actions mentioned in these entries. Here are some sample questions:
 * 1) Why would this person choose to do this action?
 * 2) Do you think other students would join this point of view?
 * 3) Why would other students listen to you?
 * 4) What would you do to make sure other students not only listened to you but they did exactly what you said? Remember that their is no police to help.

Wrap up this discussion activity by showing the first few minutes of the [|Early Medieval Ages Videos] from the WHI-HS224 Moodle Course (Unit 4). Refer often to this discussion in your subsequent class lecture and instructional delivery.