Crash Course Channel

Crash Course: World History Channel

If you are a Social Studies teacher and you haven’t heard of John Green’s Crash Course World History Channel stop what you’re doing and head over to YouTube. You will thank me later!

As a history teacher its hard to make past events exciting. Most of us don’t have the time or expertise to create exciting videos for our students. Much less make it chalk-full of important content. And make it funny. Enter Crash Course!

I’ve been using Crash Course for the past 7 years with my students. I especially like their World History channel as it is much easier for my students to follow and most closely aligns with my state’s standards. Basically the channel covers content from Paleolithic Era to Age of Exploration.

The videos are usually 10-15 minutes long and let me tell you they pack A TON of content in that short time. Most of all I love that it gives students another voice, John Green’s humor keeps them entertained and the graphics are amazing! The content is solid information as well.

The only caveat I will add about the videos is that they are intended for high school students. And as such there are some sections that I have skipped. Since I teach 6th graders, I don’t want to spend time explaining what “skoodilypooping” is. There is never anything overtly egregious in the videos, just use your teacher wisdom and knowledge of your student’s maturity level.

Here is the first video that I usually introduce to my students about the Agricultural Revolution!

Let me know if you’ve seen this channel and which video is your favorite!