Helpful Links for Teaching Global Studies

In my relatively short time as a Social Studies teacher, I've found that one of my biggest challenges is deciding upon which resources I should use to effectively teach required content in a curriculum.  This past year was unique in the sense that not only was I teaching a new class in a new school, but I also had to get used to teaching 79 minute classes!  Our school uses "block" scheduling so while I only taught 3 classes per day, each class was nearly twice as a long as a "traditional" class.  It was important for me to maintain a fairly rigid pace under this system, especially since I was given a new set of students midway through the school year!  I was very lucky to have wonderful colleagues who assisted me by sharing readings, presentations, assignments, and projects.  While we do have textbooks, they are quite dated and we rarely use them during the course of a semester.  I spent many hours over the course of the school year, especially during the first semester, searching for additional materials to help solidify my students' understanding of the world around them.

It is common for a "Global Studies" or "World Cultures" curriculum to vary slightly from school to school.  Our curriculum is a little different in that the class is taught "thematically" rather than strictly chronologically.  The links listed below are resources I have either used or considered using for my Academic and/or English Language Learner (ELL) Global Studies class.

Unit I: World Geography and Culture

The Argument for Ethnocentrism

• An interesting article on judging people from from different cultures.  I use this article when teaching cultural norms/taboos, cultural diffusion, and stereotypes.

Will Malthus Continue to be Wrong?

•  An article about human population predictions both past and present.

Unit II: World Governments and Economics

Queen Elizabeth and Her Constitutional Monarchy

•  Easy to read article on the history of the British monarchy and its current status as a "constitutional monarchy".

No, Bernie Sanders, Scandinavia is not a socialist utopia

•  Boston Globe article discussing the aspects of democratic socialism and Scandinavian culture.

Unit III: World Religions

Joint Statement of Current Law on Religion in Public Schools

•  Joint statement by the ACLU and numerous religious groups regarding religious issues in American public schools.

Unit IV: The World at War

English-Online: Fascism

• Article describing the rise of fascism in Italy and Germany.  English-Online is an excellent resource for many subject areas for ELL students.

The Arizona Dragonslayer

• True story about an American of German decent who becomes one of the best fighter pilots of World War I.  The article helps reinforce the concepts of; nationalism, trench warfare, and new technologies used in World War I.

Unit V: Imperialism

Alpha History: Foreign Imperialism in China

•  Article describing European Imperialism in China.  Article includes sections describing; arrival of Marco Polo and European missionaries, the negative impact of opium on Chinese society, the two Opium Wars, and European "spheres of influence" which would lead to the Chinese Civil War.

Alpha History: The Chinese Civil War

• Article detailing the conflict between the KMT Nationalists led by Jiang Jieshi (Chiang Kai-shek) and their eventual defeat at the hands of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) led by Mao Zedong.

Unit VI: Conflicts in the Middle East

Dummies: A Brief History of Palestine

• An easy to understand article which breaks down the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.