intro to an exciting lesson

I created a really fun powerpoint for my kids. It is a virtual tomb excavation task. I scanned several pictures of artifacts from the Zhou Dynasty. The students try to guess what each artifact is and what it is made from. I let them shout out answers because this gets their competive side fueled. They want to get the answers first so they work really hard. After each group discusses the slide, we disscuss it as a class. Even the least cooperative kids get engaged in this task! They end up learning a great deal about the daily life without even realizing they are learning because they are having so much fun. They think that they got to play a game as a reward!

I tried to attatch the powerpoint, but it erased my post and didn't go through. If you'd like a copy email me at [email protected]. Please put east asia in thye subject as I delete most emails that I don't recognize.

I think that using the LCD projector alone has been my saving grace for drawing students in to lesson. Especially at the beginning of the year, students are amazed that I can even type notes "up on the screen"! However, Video and PowerPoint is really what captures their interest as the year goes on...I will forever search for more ways to bring in video, and I love to create PowerPoints for them. Here are a couple ideas for intros to lessons on the Silk Road (this is the topic I created my curriculum unit around):

Show clips of scenes from the Silk Road (or at least it is supposed to be and looks like the Silk Road!) from the movie "Warriors of Heaven and Earth" (rated R, so you can't show the whole movie in the classroom)

9 mins- great desert scene with camels
35 mins- desert scene with horses
36 mins- camel caravan in desert
49 mins- camel caravan in desert
52 mins- rocky terrain and mountains (through 60 mins, though there is a fight scene you would have to omit)

There are others, but these clips are a great start. I am not sure if it was shot on location, but I believe that it is certainly a good collection of clips to show students a little bit of what it was like to travel the Silk Road.

Also, I am attaching the Intro to the Silk Road PowerPoint I created to get students interested. It is VERY basic because the mini-unit I created involves the students researching details and creating a more detailed class PowerPoint about the Silk Road. (Hopefully the attachment works!)