Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

1
Making Lemonade Out of Lemons

• A Classroom-Based Research Project by Mark McGrady

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The lemons . . .

• Trying to teach world history, a course with
  humongous amounts of content
• Trying to teach it in a 48-minute period
• The 48-minute period is split by lunch.
• Most of the first half of the class is occupied
  in showing Channel One

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Solutions?

• Refuse to show Channel One
• Frees up time
• Violation of schools contract with Channel One
• Only news most students will see during the day
• Or try to make lemonade out of lemons
• Try to use program for two goals
• Increase students knowledge of current events
• Make connections and encourage critical thinking

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Learning About Current Events

• Channel One is a 12-minute show with 10 minutes
  of news and two minutes of commercials
• Used www.channelonenetwork.com to get the daily
  script before the broadcast

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Learning About Current Events

• Literature suggests students learn about current
  events better if viewing the news is combined
  with a discussion led by the teacher.

6
Testing Students Learning

• Near end of student teaching, gave six-question
  quizzes on student teaching.
• Students averaged four of six on first quiz.
• Students averaged about the same on second quiz.

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Compared Results to Control Groups

• Senior government classes did not watch Channel
  One
• Gave second quiz to them as well
• Results
• World history4.12
• 5th hour government2.41
• 6th hour government1.14

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Connections to World History

• Bicycle Helmets and John Stuart Mill
• French youth protests and Adam Smith
• Using Iraqi soldiers to fight insurgents
• Trade talks with China
• Why Irish emigrate to U.S.?
• Afghan Christian and Vietnam

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Cross Curriculum Uses

• Barry Bonds and Ex Post Facto Laws
• Immigration reform and jus soli
• Immigration protests and Tinker v. Des Moines
  School District
• Mandatory community service and involuntary
  servitude
• No Channel One on Good Friday

10
Critical Thinking

• Channel Ones Clique Experiment
• Teenage happiness
• Irony of DST and teenage physiology
• Global warming
• Violence and school size
• Placement in technical track by test scores

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Increased Ability to Think Critically?

• Bonus points if make connection between last
  weeks news and world history
• Disappointing resultsonly success was student
  who compared Omaha redistricting plan to past
  segregation