Last week I mentioned that I would be teaching the Enlightenment to my 7th graders which is no easy feat. I resorted to computer animated trickery using Blabberize.com. Modern technology makes it possible to bring history to life, or at least for middle school teachers to come up with a few gimmicks that might capture the attention of a middle schooler in late May. The results are below. Imagine them projected onto the big screen.
I did the same with the John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and a couple of others. My morning class loved them and was shocked to find out that all of the voices used were mine. I didn't think my accents were all that good. They tended to slip in bad Monty Python French after a few lines. My afternoon class sat there like a bunch of lumps. I could tell they were all thinking, when will he just go away and leave us alone. Both classes liked my Voltaire the best.
If you're wondering, the answers to the questions Voltaire asks are that he belived in freedom of speach and that he was put into prison several times and forced to flee both the city and the country several times. Thesedays many people say they believe in Freedom of Speech, but Voltaire walked the walk. And if you haven't read his novel Candide, you really should. It's a riot. Many of my 7th graders would probably love it, but it's not at all appropriate for 7th grade.
6 comments:
LOVE it! Even though I loved studying all this, I know this creative way of presenting these historic figures makes it all so accessible to the kids that would normally be handed some dry passage to study!
Thanks for sharing!
THat is really funny, and clever. I'm impressed that is your voice! A man of many talents! You deserve some credit for trying to introduce these kids to something classic with a modern methodology (even though some didn't appreciate your brilliance!)
I'm sitting here in amazement. You are continuing to teach, really teach, despite the fact that almost everyone else has shut down for the year.
Suzanne, Thanks. I think they'd be much more interesting if this material came earlier in the year. It really ought to be pushed back to 8th grade--it's too important to the founding of the United States to let it slip by at the end of the year.
Sandy, Thanks. They are lots of fun to do. I predict many more of them next year.
Readerbuzz, Aww, gee. Thanks. I try to teach for one more week, then we basically play games until the end of the year. And there is the school picnic, too.
Hilarious. And I loved Candide. I remember my then girlfriend (now wife) couldn't understand why I didn't like Forrest Gump. I told her I'd already read Candide and seen Zelig and they were both better.
Jim, Voltaire's satire has teeth. Gump and Zelig, which I like more than you, are good, but neither really has teeth they way Voltaire does. It's interesting how we are unwilling to go the distance with satire like Voltaire was.
Of course, he was run out of town when he wasn't arrested for his satire.
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