dirty ethel rackham Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I am leading dd's history club tomorrow ( 7-9th graders) and we will be studying the 1980s. I was really busy this past week and it slipped my mind that it was coming up so fast. The girls will be reading reports that they have done, making collages of images from the era and working on their timelines. But I am having trouble coming up with some good discussion material or activities. Last time, we did the 1970s - we listened to some music, watched a short documentary on the Soul Train tv show (done by a local homeschooler for National History Day), and learned "The Hustle" among other things. Anyone have any ideas? I am coming up blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idnib Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Do want pop culture or historical events? New Wave/pop music (Flock of Seagulls, Depeche Mode, Michael Jackson's Thriller, etc) Cold War Look at photos of Berlin Wall coming down Blockbuster movies (ET, Raiders of the Lost Ark) Reaganomics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Belacqua Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Kevin Bacon's 80s Awareness PSA is hilarious (I can't remember whether it's 100% safe for kids...I think there's nothing objectionable, but have a look anyway). It's utterly frivolous, but it could lead to a good discussion of the Cold War. Not to mention some egregious fashion trends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 You could teach 'em how to blow dry their bangs straight up into the air and use old fashioned aerosol hairspray to make them stick. You could listen to an audio of Reagan's "Tear Down This Wall!" Speech and view some images of the wall, the graffiti on it and the celebrations and dancing upon it when it came down in '89. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasider Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 You could listen and read lyrics of some of Sting's music, he included a lot of political commentary in his tunes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Oh man, whenever I think of the 80s I think of Flashdance and The Wedding Singer . . . that doesn't help much for co-op, though, does it? Maybe you could knit legwarmers. . . . just kidding! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 When MTv actually played music videos. Parachute pants. The challenger explosion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fdrinca Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Absolutely the Challenger. I remember watching it live as a second grader. So many schoolchildren watched the launching because Christa McAuliffe was on board. It was traumatic for me for a few months afterward. My husband always says the best thing about the 1980s was the 1984 Olympics :) The 1980s are trendy now, so it might be interesting to contrast what they think the 1980s were all about with reality. Not everyone was covered head-to-toe in neon, my friends. I find it hugely fascinating to look at teenagers from the 1980s (as seen on MTV game shows, for example) and compare them to today's teens. The differences are startling. It could open up some interesting discussions regarding how appearance-based teenagers (people?) are today. You could, at a minimum, see how much more of their bodies are covered with clothes! I caught an episode of an old game show several years ago and was surprised to see very normal-looking people, including girls in baggy college sweatshirts. That's a far cry from what you'll see today. Big events that I think of: the Reagan assassination attempt, Tiananmen Square, 1989 earthquake in San Francisco, Chernobyl, Exxon Valdez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lissande Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Can I just take a minute to cry that the 1980s are coming up in a history class? :) You could also talk about some genuine 1980s artifacts such as phones with cords and cassette tapes. My oldest recently expressed her shock that in my very own lifetime people walked around without cell phones and instant internet access (why was your mommy so mean that she didn't buy you a phone, mommy?), as well as her concern about our surely broken television (we put on a black-and-white movie), and suddenly I understood how crabby my mother felt when she realized I had never seen an eight-track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Glad I'm not the only one who can't quite manage to view the 80s as history yet ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
awisha. Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 What about this famous moment in Aussie tv history... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deerforest Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I have been waiting for this to come out mostly so I can see how that era shows up in history books. http://www.prufrock.com/Exploring-America-in-the-1980s-Living-in-the-Material-World-P2088.aspx I have considered it my duty to instill the love of 80s music in DD. She has an upcoming performance and needed an 80s costume and it made my heart sing! She said that only she and the other 2 homeschool kids recognize the 80s music. That's what's wrong with public education today! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry in OH Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Play with a Rubik’s cube or Magic 8-ball Events: Mount St. Helens eruption Live Aid concerts AIDS Space shuttle program International space station Berlin Wall/end of Cold War Exxon Valdez Saving the Wild Condors Pop culture: Pac Man and spin-offs Commodore 64/Atari/Apple Macintosh – home computers Friendship pins Television: The Cosby Show, Facts of Life, Fraggle Rock Movies: E.T., Back to the Future, Footloose, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, The Outsiders … Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Dial telephone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IsabelC Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I have been waiting for this to come out mostly so I can see how that era shows up in history books. http://www.prufrock.com/Exploring-America-in-the-1980s-Living-in-the-Material-World-P2088.aspx I have considered it my duty to instill the love of 80s music in DD. She has an upcoming performance and needed an 80s costume and it made my heart sing! She said that only she and the other 2 homeschool kids recognize the 80s music. That's what's wrong with public education today! :iagree: My kids know and love their 80s music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebel Yell Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 I have been waiting for this to come out mostly so I can see how that era shows up in history books. http://www.prufrock.com/Exploring-America-in-the-1980s-Living-in-the-Material-World-P2088.aspx I have considered it my duty to instill the love of 80s music in DD. She has an upcoming performance and needed an 80s costume and it made my heart sing! She said that only she and the other 2 homeschool kids recognize the 80s music. That's what's wrong with public education today! :hurray: :iagree: 80's music is about 1/4 of Diamond's playlist. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Eek! The 1980s aren't supposed to be history yet!! My DD's cheer team does 1980s music a lot, because it gets so much crowd response from the parents. My daughter had a really hard time with the concept that DH and I both pre-date the world wide web. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MFG Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 Shoulder pads, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 Thanks for all the suggestions. You guys are cracking me up. I actually have a bright orange warm up suit from my college days that I just might have to wear for their benefit. I wonder if I can manage an 80s hairdo with this recent cut. I'll try some of those '80s smokey eyes with some purple eyeshadow! If I had more time, I would search out some old 80s games for our xbox (that we only really use as a dvd player.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 An Atari game system! Have the kids bring in pictures of their parents from the 1980's to compare. Interviews around historical events, like "where were you when Challenger exploded" or about the Berlin Wall. (I used to have a piece of it, a gift from my Army-brat college roommate). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raptor_dad Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 An Atari game system! OMG! Yes this! The Berlin Wall is great... Reagan's quote may or may not be pure propaganda... but Atari and Michael Jackson and Wall Street Bandits("Bonfire of the Vanities" or "Barbarians at the Gate" depending on your politics) capture the zeitgeist so well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 :hurray: :iagree: 80's music is about 1/4 of Diamond's playlist. Just wanted to say how well you have raised your children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted May 5, 2014 Share Posted May 5, 2014 :iagree: My kids know and love their 80s music. I have been waiting for this to come out mostly so I can see how that era shows up in history books. http://www.prufrock.com/Exploring-America-in-the-1980s-Living-in-the-Material-World-P2088.aspx I have considered it my duty to instill the love of 80s music in DD. She has an upcoming performance and needed an 80s costume and it made my heart sing! She said that only she and the other 2 homeschool kids recognize the 80s music. That's what's wrong with public education today! Both of you have an outstanding job as well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted May 5, 2014 Author Share Posted May 5, 2014 Thanks for all the ideas. I had very limited time to prepare. I had a 80's internet radio station playing in the background. After the girls shared some of the reports they had written, we had a very free-form session. We saw several video clips that I found on youtube - Reagan's speech about the Berlin Wall, people tearing down the wall - the girls noticed how it was almost all young people at the wall. We talked about the totalitarianism of the Eastern Bloc countries and how that crumbled (glasnost, perestroika, solidarnosc.) The kids brought images that represented the era and made colleges and we discussed each of the images they brought and the historical significance (Tienanmen Square, the movie Wall Street, Oprah, boom boxes, leg warmers, etc.) We watched a bit of the wedding of Charles and Dianna and the moms talked about the differences and similarities between the attention the Charles and Di had vs. William and Kate and views about monarchies. We got into Black Monday - a short lesson on the stock market and investor psychology. We watched Video Killed the Radio Star - the very first video shown on MTV - and how prophetic it was about how the medium would change the industry - after all, it killed Supertramp - they were too ugly for MTV. We finished it off by watching the Thriller video in its entirety while another mom and I did a few of the dance moves and the girls all groaned and rolled their eyes:). I am sure that there was more we could have done, but we had 90 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugs Posted May 6, 2014 Share Posted May 6, 2014 Wow, Ellen! Sounds like you did a fabulous job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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