Basic Skills: World Cultures/World History
Lessons in the Basic Skills series help social studies instructors respond to the need to both teach course content and provide meaningful instruction in basic skills. Organized by skills, this unit is designed to be a supplement to the adopted world history textbook, not a replacement for it.
In Basic Skills: World Cultures/World History, areas of study are categorized chronologically (pre-1500 and post-1500) or as general content. Topics covered in this unit include the Black Death, the Enlightenment, and the French Revolution. Part 1 strengthens reading skills with lessons such as Using the Textbook Effectively: Table of Contents and Index and Using Primary Sources: Medieval Marriage Contracts and 1848 German Labor Contract. Part 2 reinforces study skills with lessons that include Listening for Information: Origami Swan and Summarizing Information: The Middle Ages and the Sixteenth through Nineteenth Centuries. Part 3 addresses reference and information research skills. Lessons include Using the Newspaper: World Cities to 1500 and Revolutions since 1500 and Using the Internet: Searching the World Wide Web. Part 4 focuses on maps, globes, and visual materials. Lessons include Using Scale: The Incense Road and the Trans-Siberian Railroad and Determining Location: Ancient Olympia and Stratford-upon-Avon. Part 5 provides practice in using information skills, with lessons such as Analyzing Information: Feudalism and General Pinochet and Distinguishing between Fact and Opinion: U.S. Immigration. Part 6 explores interpersonal relationships and social participation skills. Lessons include Decision-Making: Nuclear Power and Social and Political Responsibilities of Citizenship: World Hunger.
About the Series:
Social Studies curriculum units contain complete lesson plans with preliminary and follow-up work, teacher notes with background and rationale, ready-to-use worksheets, and suggested answers for student questions. These materials encourage the development of thinking, reading, speaking, research, and writing skills as well as critical thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
Price: $39.95
Student Activities
Academic activities include comparing and contrasting historical and present-day Africa, assessing the impact of the Greeks and Romans, examining twentieth-century military conflicts, exploring Chinese and Japanese culture and history, investigating Mexico during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and studying the Armenian Tragedy of 1915. Students use primary sources, interpret political cartoons, and conduct research in the library media center and on the Internet.