Ali- Yearlong Prep

Yearlong Preparation Camp (Ali)

Yearlong Preparation Camp

This last week we has a week long camp for the students going to America (and one student going to Canada). It was really nice to get to know the students and spend time together. During the mornings and afternoons we had classes, essay writing, presentations, American culture, and US History. All of them were taught in English to get the students ready for school. I spent the mornings teaching US History. It has been so long since I've taught!

Every year the students going to the States struggle in their History class (which is understandable because American students also struggle). So I designed the history class to give them a basic understanding of early American history. This way when they first start school in America understanding the lectures from their teachers would not be so overwhelming. Our first day together was spent learning about the First Americans. About their travel across the Bering land bridge and their spread across the Americas. Many of the students remembered the Bering land bridge from the Hippo CDs. The second day, we learned about exploration and colonization of the Americas by the Europeans. We spend quite a bit of time on what the Europeans found in the Americas and brought back to Europe, as well as where they colonized. The third day we studied the American Revolution and why Americans were unhappy with England. On our last day, we briefly talked about the Civil War. We focused mainly on why the North and South didn't get along. After lunch, I had them take a test to see how much they understood. I was so happy with everyone's' score! No one got a zero! Almost everyone got above 50% of the answers correct and over half received a B or higher. Everyone studied very hard and I am so proud of them. I hope that they continue to work hard and ask questions in their history classes in America (and Canada).