For one of my BEd courses, we were asked to create ‘hooks’ that would hook the interest of our future students on topics we may teach during our practicum or our teaching careers. For this topic, I chose to use a video to play at the beginning of class which depicts global human migration throughout history. I plan to play this video on a loop without context while students arrive to class and once students are settled ask them to inform me what they think they are viewing. Allowing them time to inquire I would then introduce the topic of human migration which would in this context be a unit that would be covered in a Geography 12 course or an upper-level Social Studies (10-12).

Once the video is watched I would start another short inquiry period in which I would ask students reasons for which historic humans migrated and if they think the reasons are similar to modern migration phases. The big ideas I am hoping to hear from their reasoning are as follows:

Why People May Migrate

  • Environmental
    • Climate
    • Natural Disasters
    • Calamities that affect the natural environment
      • nuclear
      • toxic spills
      • etc
  • Economic
    • Career paths
    • To find work
  • Cultural
    • Social causes/safety
      • LGBTQ+
      • Religion
      • Politics
        • War
        • Elections
    • Education
      • better education opportunities allow for better career opportunities

Once a decent-sized list is created we will then flow into the new unit in which will cover the three big ideas.