A Simulated Journey
By Lisa Yoder

By recreating transactions that took place on the trade route of the Silk Road, students got a "real" understanding of this point in history.

As my students return to the classroom following lunch, several kids excitedly report that some classmates have been sent to the Responsible Thinking Classroom, the district's discipline system, for no good reason. I dismiss the subject, citing the important lesson we're beginning. However, the afternoon begins to unfold in an extraordinary way – adults from all over the school report problems with various students and ask permission to remove them from the room. When the principal stops by and pulls out even more students, the few remaining in class are only a little less shaken than those who have been taken away! Has the entire group gotten itself into trouble during a single lunch period? For some time, that's what students are left to believe.

Believe it...or not. After a while, I track down the missing students, earnestly promising the adult in charge that they will return and work through the problem at recess. The reunified class then begins defining words like "authority," "power" and "due process." After students work independently, I elaborate on the terms with the group. Discussion of follow-up questions such as, "If a student is punished when no rules were broken, has the adult misused his or her authority?" help the kids begin to apply these abstract ideas to more concrete situations. I guide the dialogue along until finally it dawns on a student. "Hey, that's what just happened to me! My rights to due process were ignored! The adults used power that went beyond their authority when they..." A chorus of complaint rapidly swells from the class, enumerating the abuses of power students just suffered. Soon, I can no longer contain my glee. "You're exactly right," I agree, going on to reveal that the whole scenario has been an elaborate hoax.

Heartfelt responses. For this enactment, Cecille Bowen, who also teaches fifth grade, and I wove the latest social studies standards into existing curriculum. We noted three of the new civics standards connected closely to themes in Poppy by Avi (Scholastic, 1995), which we were currently reading in class. Working from that well-honed unit, we incorporated the terms and ideas of the benchmarks.

The resulting simulation helped my students relate to characters who live under an authoritarian regime that exercises unlimited power. This experience became a much-cited point of reference for discussions of events ranging from colonial discontent prior to the American Revolution, to Nazi atrocities during the Holocaust. Heartfelt responses during debriefing and further study proved that students gained a deeply personal appreciation for the need to limit the power of those who hold positions of authority.

Starting with the standards. The standards can also be the starting point from which an activity develops. In the following case, I found that planning forward from identified economics standards enlivened this lesson as students re-created transactions along the Silk Road in the 1200s.

To build vocabulary and knowledge prior to the activity, I had my students bargain with me to establish the amount of work required on an introductory reading assignment about the Silk Road.

On the Silk Road. The following day, I began class with exotic music playing in the background, displayed pictures of locations on the Silk Road and provided fabric for sale in the "silk shop." One student assumed the role of a silk-maker in China and another scholar became a merchant who arranged to purchase the product. The merchant then traveled to a different location in the room, which represented a journey taken on part of the trade route. When he or she arrived at the destination, a different student bargained to obtain the fabric and continued on toward Europe. With each subsequent change of hands along the route, the profit sought by each trader inevitably increased the value of the silk. The class followed the journey on maps and recorded the rising cost of the silk after each transaction. By the end of its passage through this network and its arrival in the hands of a wealthy European, the exact same piece of fabric cost many times more than what the producer originally charged.

To clarify the point that many people taking a profit from the importation of one product increases its price, I assigned a single student to make the journey on the Silk Road alone. He or she was able to import the silk at a comparatively lower price and still make a profit. This connection is strengthened by the follow-up study of Columbus's wish to find a sea route to Asia, thereby cutting out the "middlemen" on the Silk Road and gaining direct access to great riches.

General guidelines. As you know, students learn best when they interact with new information on a personal level. It's a challenge to tightly align student experiences with the standards assessed on high-stakes tests. To achieve this goal in social studies, I have turned increasingly to simulations. Students find such activities engaging, and their flexibility allows the connection of history standards with those in geography, civics and economics more easily than using textbook passages alone.

Building on knowledge. As I continue to devise simulations that bring social studies benchmarks to life, I keep several guidelines in mind. Having the standards in front of me at all times helps focus each activity. Realizing that some students will occasionally need to take on the role of spectators, depending on the demands of the enactment, frees me to simplify those that could overreach their effectiveness. Debriefing through direct teaching, discussion and assignments is necessary so that my students process what they have experienced.

I've found that referring to the simulation throughout the year allows students to apply what they've learned in a meaningful way and shows them that knowledge builds upon itself.

Lisa Yoder has been a teacher for nine years. She teaches fifth grade at Ithaca North Elementary in Ithaca, MI.

October 2006, Vol.37, No.2