Teaching World Diplomacy Through Risk

Sometimes students have issues understanding why battles happened. For the most part they understand that battles are generally either in response to an attack or to gain more land. They don't always understand strategic battles designed to better position one side later on in the world. The easiest way to explain this is the game of Risk.

There is one slight issue and that is the fact that the game of Risk is a whole world game, thus in its normal format, it is only valid for teaching major world events such as the World Wars. However there are other formats that can be used for different battles, and if need be you could always create your own map.

Castle Risk(Europe+Russia and Turkish empire)

Napoleon Age Risk

By creating game maps that would allow students to participate in simulated battles or historical wars, some students will walk away with a much better understanding than usual. Using Risk is a method that plays directly into the theories of Howard Gardner. Playing a game of Risk to talk about world battles allows those that learn better when they can be a little more hands on and also it would be beneficial to those that learn better when they are allowed to interact with others. 

Renaissance Ninja Turtles

While Video games are a great way to connect to the kids outside of school, they don't always help students remember important figures. Luckily for the renaissance, there is something that all the kids know that they can use to remember Renaissance Artists.

While there isn't much actual connection between the Renaissance and the Ninja turtles, the names can help students make a memory connection in their heads. Students won't always remember those little facts they are given but they will remember it better if it is connected to a TV Show they watched.
Pisano and Giotto:

Nicola Pisano

These two men are the most important fore fathers to the Renaissance. They began the change in the style of art, While they didn't have much contact with the four major Renaissance Artists, they heavily influenced them along with the rest of the Renaissance. They would be similar to the character of Splinter in the Ninja Turtles Series.






Leonardo Da Vinci:

The two go somewhat hand in hand. Leonardo da Vinci is arguably the most well known Renaissance artist and somewhat of a leader, and The blue ninja turtle is the Leader of the group.

Michelangelo:

Michelangelo is most famous for painting the Sistine Chapel and carving the statue of David. You can use those two pieces of art to explain not only the changes in artistic style but also to explain the idea of Art Patronage during the time period.
The statue of David shows the lack of proportion that was evident prior to the Renaissance. David's hands were much larger than a man his size would have.
With the Sistine Chapel, the story of the Pope threatening Michelangelo if he did not finish the painting, greatly explains the issue with old art, that paintings were done because someone paid for them, not because the artist wanted to paint it. Also a good story to mention is the Cherub in the upper portion of one wall of the chapel that is giving the pope the Italian version of the middle finger.















Raphael:

 The Fresco artist Raphael is not as well known as the first two major artists, yet he is just as important. Michelangelo believed that the only reason he got the job painting the Sistine Chapel was that Raphael was trying to set him up for failure.
 Raphael's famous piece of art is arguably the School of Athens. Initially only available for viewing in the Pope's private library, the painting includes many of the great ancient Greek philosophers. Also included in the painting is Raphael himself, and it is believed that the images of Plato and Aristotle are also representative of Michelangelo and da Vinci.

Donatello:

 The least famous of the four names used for the Ninja Turtles and ironically the least known Ninja Turtle. Donatello was the premier sculptor of the Renaissance. One of his most interesting works is his statue of David, which is greatly different from the one sculpted by Michelangelo. Michelangelo's David, portrays him as large, strong, and confident, while Donatello's David portrays as small, somewhat weak looking, and very feminine.

David By Michelangelo

David by Donatello

 

Teaching the Crusades

The Crusades is a very interesting topic as it is an economic battle hidden under layers and layers of religious conflicts.
Their are numerous overlooked facts about the crusades that are very interesting to most students. The first being that in the First Crusade during the Siege of Jerusalem, the Crusader knights killed everyone regardless of religion. This is a very important fact to get across to students.

A good movie to show about the Crusades is the movie Kingdom of Heaven. While most movies are historically inaccurate, the movie does a good job to show the difference between the European perception of Islam and the actual thing. The movie also shows the Islamic forces in a very positive light, which in the Post 9/11 era is sometimes a rare thing.

Another angle for teaching students about history is the numerous conspiracy theories surrounding the Knights Templar. There are numerous fiction novels such as

The Da Vinci Code,

The Last Templar,

and The Templar Legion

These all feature the Templar's and there actions during the Crusades as the basis for massive world wide cover ups. While this is not something that is required to be covered by the Standards, it is something that the students know and will likely be interested in, thus you can use it as a conduit of teaching the rest of the Crusades. 

Teaching the Renaissance through Video Games/PopCulture

The Renaissance is a very interesting and important area in the history of the world. It is very important that students learn about this era of history but also get the ideas behind it, but given that talking about a time period that is centered around revolution within the arts, some students aren't incredibly excited about it. This is where video games come in.
First in 2007 the Assassins Creed series has taken an interesting twist on World History. Framing historical events around a mythological battle between the Assassin's and the Templar's, the game takes major historical figures and subtlety teaches  students about who those people were.
For Example here is the games take on Leonardo da Vinci:
http://assassinscreed.wikia.com/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci

The wiki mentions some of the more subtle things, such as da Vinci's chronic procrastination or the fact that he was left handed. The third game in the series also gives players a chance to take a look at and use da Vinci's war machines, such as his flying machine or his tank.
Tank

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQBE90YjJck 


Flying Machine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORGVc1Sg7e8


By putting the Renaissance in these terms, students become more engaged in a subject that may normally be boring to them.