Course Overview
This “World History and Social Issues” video course covers all of the content students need to successfully complete a 6th, 7th, 8th, or even 9th grade World History or Humanities class. It uses a Humanities model (English Language Arts & Social Studies) to examine contemporary issues in the world and explore their historical roots. Students will make connections between conflicts in world history and current events, think like historical detectives, and consider the role of civic action in solving today's most important social problems.
The course has four units addressing the following themes: European colonization of the Americas and Caribbean struggles for freedom, U.S. imperialism and immigration issues, industrialization and child labor today, Apartheid in South Africa and racial injustice today.
This course includes:
• 4 UNITS
• 80 WORKSHEETS/ACTIVITES/READINGS
• 40 VIDEO-LESSONS
• 39 EXERCISE REVIEW VIDEOS (I explain correct answers to the assigned activities)
• 40 ONLINE QUIZZES AND EXAMS
• 40 QUIZ/EXAM ANSWER SHEETS/KEYS
• ADDITIONAL OPTIONAL/ENRICHMENT EXERCISES
• VOCABULARY DEFINITIONS FOR MOST LESSONS
• BLANK NOTE-CATCHERS
• NEARLY 20 HOURS OF VIDEO-LESSONS!
Course Goals
Upon course completion, students will be able to make connections between historical events and current-day social issues such as economic inequality, immigration, racial injustice, and child labor. Students will use analytical thinking, informational reading, note-taking skills, argumentative writing, and media literacy skills to analyze the content and demonstrate their learning. This course will prepare students to be informed and active citizens who can use evidence to support their viewpoints and engage in civil discourse about some of today's most important social issues.
Target Audience
This video-course is primarily intended for middle school students who are interested in real-world issues that are not always discussed in world history courses. Students looking to better understand the world and seek solutions to social problems will develop their critical thinking skills in this course, where they will encounter rigorous and meaningful curriculum that is authentic and relevant to their lives.
Course Requirements
Students taking this course will need to have completed elementary school history/social studies and English Language Arts.
World History and Social Issues Course Outline
Unit 1: Colonization of the Americas & Caribbean Struggles for Freedom
Lesson 1: Intro to Colonization
Lesson 2: God, Gold, and Glory: Reasons for European Colonization
Lesson 3: Columbus in the Caribbean
Lesson 4: The Columbian Exchange & Triangle Slave Trade
Lesson 5: The Haitian Revolution
Lesson 6: U.S. Imperialism & The Spanish American War
Lesson 7: The Cuban Revolution
Lesson 8: Dictatorship in the Dominican Republic
Lesson 9: Current Struggles for Freedom: The Restavek Children of Haiti
Unit 2: Industrialization & Child Labor Today
Lesson 1: Origins of the Industrial Revolution
Lesson 2: The Spread of the Industrial Revolution
Lesson 3: Industrial Revolution in the U.S.
Lesson 4: The Struggle to Organize
Lesson 5: The Fight to End Child Labor during the Industrial Revolution
Lesson 6: The Triangle Factory Fire
Lesson 7: Sweatshops and the Garment Industry Today
Lesson 8: Child Farmworkers in the U.S. Today
Lesson 9: Child Labor Around the World Today
Lesson 10: What Can We Do?
Unit 3: U.S. Imperialism & Immigration Issues Today
Lesson 1: Immigration Debates
Lesson 2: Why do people migrate?
Lesson 3: Immigration Myths and Facts
Lesson 4: Timeline of Immigration
Lesson 5: Immigration Maps
Lesson 6: How to Immigrate to the U.S.
Lesson 7: U.S.-Mexico War
Lesson 8: US Imperialism and Latin American Immigration
Lesson 9: The Global Refugee Crisis
Lesson 10: Border Walls
Lesson 11: Immigration Opposing Viewpoints
Unit 4: Apartheid in South Africa & Racial Injustice in the U.S.
Lesson 1: What was Apartheid?
Lesson 2: What is Race?
Lesson 3: The Effects of Apartheid
Lesson 4: Apartheid Laws vs. Jim Crow
Lesson 5: Apartheid Resistance Leaders
Lesson 6: The Arts in the Anti-Apartheid Movement Part 1
Lesson 7: The Arts in the Anti-Apartheid Movement Part 2
Lesson 8: History of Racial Injustice in the U.S.
Lesson 9: The Civil Rights Movement
Lesson 10: The New Civil Rights Era