Short Role-playing Simulations for World History Classrooms
AN IMPRESSIVE VARIETY OF SIMULATIONS Dewey knew it. Good teachers know it. Real, authentic learning happens best when students are engaged in the material and, most importantly, when they get a chance to do something rather than simply passively receive information. Veteran teacher Richard Di Giacomo s extensive collection of simulations and role-playing games, ... are written to help teachers add to their reserve of new strategies. Di Giacomo offers an impressive variety of simulations designed to help students step into history and experience some of the decision-making and unscripted possibilities that real people in history may have also experienced. (The book) also include(s) a section of what if questions, which invite students to consider a wide variety of historical possibilities. What if the Mayflower had sunk? What if Hitler had been successful as an artist? What if Nat Turner s Rebellion had succeeded? What if the Stock Market had not crashed? These are only a sample of the hundreds of intriguing questions Di Giacomo offers to spark classroom discussions or inspire creative, thoughtful essays. Di Giacomo, who has written several other books to help teachers bring history to life, should be applauded for his efforts to share his passion for engaging students in their learning. Teachers who have experience using simulations should have little problem adapting selections from these collections to their own classroom. Di Giacomo invites teachers who are eager to give his simulations a try to contact him if they have suggestions or need additional help to make their experience more successful. --Julie Peters, University of Illinois at Chicago in The History Teacher MagazineJeremy Hilburn and I were happy to endorse Richard Di Giacomo's books at the National Council for the Social Studies Convention because there is a growing demand amongst Social Studies teachers to use simulations and encourage active learning. --Brad M. Maguth, Ph.D. Assistant Professor Education Department, Hiram CollegeI appreciated the author's quick response to my questions about the simulation. My students really enjoyed the game. Keep the creative, fun, and educational simulations coming! --Greg Israel, Social Studies TeacherSo far I have only road tested the Roman Emperor Simulation, but in the several days since we played the game, I have been asked each day whether we can play another round! More importantly, in our post-game debriefing students were quite articulate in explaining why each of the major social groups from the game would have had incentives to overthrow an uppity or weakly dominant emperor, and in our continuing study of the decline and fall of the Romans, students have referred back to game-making decisions as ways of understanding the internal and external challenges Roman emperors faced in the waning days of the Empire. I am a considerable fan of the "What If" counterfactual questions at the end of the book. End-of-semester finals approach quickly, and I plan on trying a few of these questions out as a way of encouraging a more entertaining but still historically-grounded review process. One final word -- as I was preparing to use this book in class, I had a few questions about the game. I emailed the author, and he responded quickly and with very complete answers. Student recommendations, the What-If extras, and good customer service (!) make this a quality product. --History AddictI appreciated the author's quick response to my questions about the simulation. My students really enjoyed the game. Keep the creative, fun, and educational simulations coming! --Greg Israel, Social Studies TeacherThank you for sharing your wonderful simulations. My classes have absolutely loved them ...my students and I wish you had one for every possible lesson. --Ryan ValleryI appreciated the author's quick response to my questions about the simulation. My students really enjoyed the game. Keep the creative, fun, and educational simulations coming! --Greg Israel, Social Studies Teacher