#history-education

Design a VR lesson for a world history class using Google Expeditions or similar platform. Objective: Students will identify key architectural features of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Pre-VR Activity (10 mins): Introduce key vocabulary (arch, aqueduct, forum) and provide historical context. VR Experience (20 mins): 1. Guide students through a 360-degree tour of the Colosseum. 2. Pause at points of interest, asking questions ('What events took place here?' 'How does the architecture support a large crowd?'). 3. Move to the Roman Forum, have students identify different building types. Post-VR Activity (15 mins): Students write a 'postcard' from ancient Rome describing what they saw, or work in groups to build a model of a Roman structure.

Teach students to analyze primary sources like a historian. Framework: Sourcing, Contextualizing, Close Reading, Corroborating (Stanford History Education Group - SHEG). Activity: Give students two primary source documents about the Boston Massacre—one from a British officer, one from a colonial patriot. Analysis Steps: 1. Sourcing: Who wrote this? When? Why? Is it reliable? 2. Contextualizing: What was happening at the time that might influence this account? 3. Close Reading: What claims does the author make? What words do they use to persuade the reader? 4. Corroborating: How do the two accounts differ? Where do they agree? Which account is more believable and why? This moves students from memorizing facts to interpreting evidence.

Create a role-playing simulation of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Roles: President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, military advisors (Joint Chiefs), Soviet Ambassador, etc. Scenario: Students receive role-specific briefing documents with classified information and objectives. Process: 1. Students meet in their advisory groups to discuss options. 2. The 'President' facilitates a series of meetings where advisors present their cases (e.g., blockade vs. air strike). 3. The 'President' makes a decision. 4. Teacher reveals the historical outcome. Debrief: Students reflect on the pressures of decision-making, the role of information, and the consequences of different choices. Compare their simulation outcome to the actual historical events.