Resources for Teachers
Here are resources for using The Jericho River in middle school and high school classes. They include lesson plans, a curriculum alignment, maps, a fun quiz, and more! (Some appear in the book’s back-pages too.)
Secrets of Hominea includes lesson plans and questions for discussion too, for middle school and younger classes — all in the book’s back-pages!
THE JERICHO RIVER HISTORY GAME/QUIZ
This is just plain fun — for teachers and students. Take a colorful, interactive journey through world history. This quiz takes about seven minutes and will be super engaging for your students!
The Jericho River‘s curriculum alignment was written by Lisa Meyer, NBCT, World History Teacher, Mukwonago High School, Mukwonago, WI
Lexile Score – 730
Appropriate for high school and middle school social studies, English classes and libraries. This novel is also a great refresher for college students to retain the basic outline of the history of Western Civilization. (Note that the content is more advanced — in terms of complexity and danger — than the Lexile/reading level of the text.)
Blog articles/posts on teaching history
My blog provides articles for teachers, about teaching, and articles for both teachers and students, about history. I also welcome guest posts by innovative educators. Click “Categories” in the sidebar to choose articles by period and by whether they’re meant for students.
Zidu the lumin and Jason — from The Jericho River
DESIGN A LUMIN LESSON PLAN: Using Myth and The Jericho River to Understand Historic Societies
This lesson plan taps into students’ creativity and imagination, as they design a mythical creature based on the beliefs, values, and artwork of a past society (an exercise to appeal to most young people). Students enjoy creating a history-based mythical creature: a “lumin,” like Zidu from The Jericho River.
THE JERICHO RIVER & HISTORY: Learning Exercises and Journal-as-You-Go — High School Version
Students journal as they read The Jericho River and then to complete four additional writing and visual arts exercises — related to the history of the ancient Middle East and Western Civilization.
Another engaging project for students! Students create a boat and a scene from a past society, in a diorama, based on the actual appearance and technology of that society.
This assignment requires an oral or written description of the diorama and its place in history. Students imagine they’re visiting the historic society, like a character in The Jericho River.
ARTICLE: Teaching History by Sailing The Jericho River
Many thanks to Ms. Rudy Edwards, an Ohio high school social studies teacher for using my book in class and sharing her work!
ART RELATED TO THE JERICHO RIVER AND SECRETS OF HOMINEA
Please use these illustrations for educational purposes, in class!
TIMELINE FROM THE JERICHO RIVER
Again, please use this for educational purposes, in class!
Teacher Reviews:
“Through historical fiction, David [Tollen] provides a valuable tool for teachers and students in their continuing quest to study the past.” — Philip Bigler, 1998 National Teacher of the Year
“Teachers tend to back away from historical novels because they usually hit only one or two objectives, since they only cover one period. … To my surprise, I [found] exactly what I was looking for. The Jericho River hits multiple objectives.” — Rudy Edwards, social studies teacher, Goshen High School, Ohio
“[N]ot only was this book wonderfully entertaining, it was also a fabulous way to interest young people to learn more about the past, present, and possibly the future.” — Merwyden Suluai, 2010 American Samoa Teacher of the Year
The book is available on Amazon and Ingram.
You are welcome to use and adapt these resources for your classroom or home-school setting. They’re all offered free (under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, for the lessons).
Join us on Facebook @TheJerichoRiver to discuss the book and share your creative teaching ideas and lesson plans or related artwork by students (or anyone). I’m also on Twitter @DavidTollen.
We will also add new teaching resources for middle and high school teachers and college educators.
Thanks.
Enjoy the book!
David Tollen
P.S. For school bundle discounts, please contact us!
