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News & Photos
Egypt is Timely Topic for Sixth Graders
The crisis in Egypt made the sixth-graders' recent cross-curricular unit all the more relevant.
With foreign language teacher Tristram Thomas, students were able to spend several class periods examining current events as they unfolded. Thomas showed them world news broadcasts on the Web, including some from Arab news network Al Jazeera.
"I wanted to take the opportunity to ... break down the current crisis and what it means for us, Egypt, and others, and how it relates to other issues they probably hear sound bites about on the radio all the time into terms that all foreign policy issues can be described in - sixth grade recess turf wars."
Students examined newspaper webpages from all over the world. They saw for themselves that the crisis in Egypt is a global concern. Plus, with some proficiency in Spanish, French, and German, students were able to read the language in the non-English publications.
Thomas put up a map so students could see where Egypt is and what countries surround it. Students volunteered stereotypical comments, including misconceptions that became grist for class discussions. "So one goal here was we realized that there is a lot going on in this part of the world, and it's really complicated and not so easy to just say general things," said Thomas.
"Are the kids foreign policy experts? No. Did they remember all the details? No, but I hope they realize that these things are far more complex than they used to think. And I hope they went home and started watching the news, which I know quite a few of them did ... so I was happy."
The crisis in Egypt made the sixth-graders' recent cross-curricular unit all the more relevant.
With foreign language teacher Tristram Thomas, students were able to spend several class periods examining current events as they unfolded. Thomas showed them world news broadcasts on the Web, including some from Arab news network Al Jazeera.
"I wanted to take the opportunity to ... break down the current crisis and what it means for us, Egypt, and others, and how it relates to other issues they probably hear sound bites about on the radio all the time into terms that all foreign policy issues can be described in - sixth grade recess turf wars."
Students examined newspaper webpages from all over the world. They saw for themselves that the crisis in Egypt is a global concern. Plus, with some proficiency in Spanish, French, and German, students were able to read the language in the non-English publications.
Thomas put up a map so students could see where Egypt is and what countries surround it. Students volunteered stereotypical comments, including misconceptions that became grist for class discussions. "So one goal here was we realized that there is a lot going on in this part of the world, and it's really complicated and not so easy to just say general things," said Thomas.
"Are the kids foreign policy experts? No. Did they remember all the details? No, but I hope they realize that these things are far more complex than they used to think. And I hope they went home and started watching the news, which I know quite a few of them did ... so I was happy."