Students in 6th grade in California are expected to be able to analyze early civilizations of ancient China, including topics like geography, religion, and social norms/structures. Ducksters has a well rounded section on ancient China, organized into categories like dynasties, culture, important people/figures, and a general overview.
I always thought that if I ever taught older students, I would love to have them work together to create an animatronic museum (like the Hall of Presidents at Disney World). They would pick people to research using a student-safe resource like Ducksters, write a short monologue, and organize an event for families to attend. Students would dress up as their historical figures, stand in designated spaces, and "activate" when an audience gathered to listen. At certain points, they would take turns circulating to listen to each other's monologues as well.
Accountability for learning comes the day after the event, when the class would have a debriefing discussion: how were these historical figures related? Which ones were from similar time periods, and how did they compare/contrast?
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