Within U.S. History II, I developed the practice of having students review various video segments from www.hjistory.com that coincide with the decade being discussed and reviewed.  Students were provided with the graphic organizer and the video segment was loaded onto the library computer, (so that I could be working with students in U.S. History I at the same time in another location).

Students would review the video segment, usually not focusing on a specifiic historical event I would cover during instruciton time, but more about American culture during the time period being reviewed.

The goal of this activity was to engage the students in learning about individuals, items, practicies associated with a historical time period that would not necessrily be reviewed in class.  Topics could include (in)famous individuals, physical items such as toys used in the time period/decade, news events and occurrences such as sporting activities, etc.

Students would then need to analyze the event using the graphic organizer not only for information about the event, but also how the event could impac tthe students in today;'s world.

For each week, there would be a packet of 5 (1 for each day) graphic organizers.  Students would complete the packet for a grade in place of a test/assessment.  The goal is to not only analyze an audio/visual lesson on a partiuclar subject, but also to formulate a connection between that subject and the world today.

In teaching U.S. Hisotry 2, I came across two issues.

One, how to occupy/engage students in revieiwng content while I was teaching U.S. History 1 content.

Two, how to assist students in developing an understanding of how historical events can and do impact the world today.

So, I developed a series of graphic organizers, each focusing on a particular decade.  And the focus of each graphic organizer was not on an event that would be typically covered in a history textbook, but was more of cultural importance to Americans during the decade.  These graphic organizers were set up to be done while viewing a short segment from www.history.com, that was already pre-set on a computer in another location.

Students would review the video, and be annotating the event/subject using the graphic organizer, and then the last question encourages the students to identify how the event/subject impacts today's world and on the student.  These projects were done to encoruage students in developing how news and historical events can and do impact their lives today.