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Ms. Saelens' Classroom Edit display name

  • Risdon Middle School
  • Newcastle, WA
  • More than a third of students from low‑income households Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more

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The graphic novel "Dead Reckon #1: Zombie-Based Learning" by David Hunter is used as a story-telling mechanism to introduce social studies concepts. Zombie-Based Learning is an award-winning curriculum designed specifically for the middle school classroom. This Project-Based Learning curriculum promotes the teaching of geography skills through the simulation of a zombie outbreak, all while meeting national geography standards. A former teacher from Bellevue, Washington, Hunter designed Zombie-Based Learning. The use of zombies as a topic and the format of a graphic novel helps students that might not usually be interested in social studies get excited about geography. The narrative of the curriculum is age appropriate and the intrigue comes from applying useful skills to an engaging and popular topic. On Hunter’s website, he assures teachers and parents that these novels do not induce interest through shock and gore, but rather through “a rich story, complex scenario, and interactive adventure.” These books will help my students to be able to use social studies skills such as mapping, analyzing spatial relationships, geographic planning, and understanding demographics and human-environmental impacts. The dynamic story line introduces ideas that are designed to be built upon through project-based and collaborative learning, lending well to stimulating classroom discussion and student-lead learning.

About my class

The graphic novel "Dead Reckon #1: Zombie-Based Learning" by David Hunter is used as a story-telling mechanism to introduce social studies concepts. Zombie-Based Learning is an award-winning curriculum designed specifically for the middle school classroom. This Project-Based Learning curriculum promotes the teaching of geography skills through the simulation of a zombie outbreak, all while meeting national geography standards. A former teacher from Bellevue, Washington, Hunter designed Zombie-Based Learning. The use of zombies as a topic and the format of a graphic novel helps students that might not usually be interested in social studies get excited about geography. The narrative of the curriculum is age appropriate and the intrigue comes from applying useful skills to an engaging and popular topic. On Hunter’s website, he assures teachers and parents that these novels do not induce interest through shock and gore, but rather through “a rich story, complex scenario, and interactive adventure.” These books will help my students to be able to use social studies skills such as mapping, analyzing spatial relationships, geographic planning, and understanding demographics and human-environmental impacts. The dynamic story line introduces ideas that are designed to be built upon through project-based and collaborative learning, lending well to stimulating classroom discussion and student-lead learning.

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