Chalk Beat New York – David Sherrin
“If you want to transform your English or social studies classroom into a place of deeper learning and higher engagement, consider transforming your students into other people. More precisely, consider transforming students into characters from the past or from literature. In my classes, we don’t just learn about history and we don’t just read the books; instead, we become the individuals who we are studying. One day, a group of students might stand atop desks that cross the room. In their mind, it is a bridge taking them out of the city of Tenochtitlan. Other students, sliding on chairs, approach them imagining that they are on canoes gliding across a lake. The room is dark. It is just after midnight. We roll dice, envisioning arrows flying. Some students on the desk are hit and pretend to fall into the cool water below. Those on canoes scoop the prisoners up to bring them back to a temple to offer their hearts in sacrifice.”(more)