Role-Playing Simulations: Middle School U.S. History - Exploration to Civil War

Review Jeremy Hilburn and I were happy to endorse Richard Di Giacomo's books at the National Council for the Social Studies Convention because there is a growing demand amongst Social Studies teachers to use simulations and encourage active learning. --Brad M. Maguth, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Education Department, Hiram CollegeIn this book students are put in roles in historic situations with the group solving problems and resolving conflicts. Rules are kept simple, and the games can be completed usually in one or two class periods.... Reproducible game pieces are provided. --Gary Lare, Social Studies Teaching Activities Books: An Annotated Resource Guide, 2006An Impressive Variety of Simulations. Dewey knew it. Good teachers know it. Real, authentic learning happens best when students are engaged in the material and, most importantly, when they get a chance to do something rather than simply passively receive information. Veteran teacher Richard Di Giacomo's extensive collection of simulations and role-playing games...are written to help teachers add to their reserve of new strategies. Di Giacomo offers an impressive variety of simulations designed to help students step into history and experience some of the decision-making and unscripted possibilities that real people in history may have also experienced. [The book] also include[s] a section of what if questions, which invite students to consider a wide variety of historical possibilities. What if the Mayflower had sunk? What if Hitler had been successful as an artist? What if Nat Turner's Rebellion had succeeded? What if the Stock Market had not crashed? These are only a sample of the hundreds of intriguing questions Di Giacomo offers to spark classroom discussions or inspire creative, thoughtful essays. Di Giacomo, who has written several other books to help teachers bring history to life, should be applauded for his efforts to share his passion for engaging students in their learning. Teachers who have experience using simulations should have little problem adapting selections from these collections to their own classroom. Di Giacomo invites teachers who are eager to give his simulations a try to contact him if they have suggestions or need additional help to make their experience more successful. --Julie Peters, University of Illinois at Chicago, The History Teacher magazine Product Description Sixteen open-ended simulations have students reenact history-changing events. The activities are: ''Native American Fictional Story Writing'' ''Map Along with an Explorer,'' ''Christopher Columbus Trial,'' ''Colonial Charter,'' '' 'Dear King George...','' ''Tory, Patriot, or Neutral?,'' ''War of 1812,'' ''Early American Inventors Patent Application,'' ''Mexican-American War,'' ''California Gold Rush,'' ''Reformer Resume,'' ''Underground Railroad,'' ''Abolitionist Movement,'' ''Antebellum Newspaper,'' ''Secession Convention,'' and ''U.S. History Counterfactuals: What If...?'' Lessons are correlated with Common Core and national standards. Grades 5-8. INT143 From the Author After having sold this book successfully for several years, I am excited to have this title added to Social Studies School Service's Interact product line. I am sure that ever greater numbers of teachers will now be able to use these innovative and exciting lesson plans. Challenge your students to think about history in whole new ways. With these creative, engaging activities, no one will ever think of history as a dry subject again! From the Inside Flap This book is an exciting collection of role-playing simulations for Social Studies classrooms. Thirteen open-ended simulations involve students in reenacting certain world-changing events. Students are actively engaged in assuming the roles of decision makers at critical junctures in history, using critical thinking and group decision-making skills to resolve conflicts. Although most of the simulations are written for World Hi