How does N.Y.C. play a role in international affairs?

MATERIALS: Smart Board, photographs, charts, trade books. MINI LESSON: Students will be given explicit instruction...N.Y.C. is considered a world capital ( Caput Mundi in Latin ). In the past other cities have ( and still do ) had this distinction: Rome, London. Today the United Nations has its headquarters in N.Y.C. Explain its significance or ask some of the students to do prior on-line research on the origins of the U.N. Introduce academic vocabulary: global, cosmopolitan, international. MODELED INSTRUCTION: Show students how to explore aspects of N.Y.C.'s relationship to world leaders. What attracts global leaders to our city? How does this relationship help our city? GUIDED/ INDEPENDENT PRACTICE: Using appropriate trade books different groups will answer the above questions. Some students will work independently, others will work with shared instruction, others will work with guided instruction. ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS: Why do you think N.Y.C. has so many restaurants offering food from all over the world? How is the U.N. important to the world? What would happen if the U.N. moved its headquarters out of N.Y.C. ? Why do you think people from all over the world want to come and live in N.Y.C. ? SHARE: Individual groups of students share their work. POSSIBLE EXTENSIONS TO THIS ACTIVITY: Students will be encouraged to research additional information on the U.N. ( interior photos, events , past and present Council Generals ). Students will be encouraged to research details of N.Y.C.'s cosmopolitan atmosphere ( names of restaurants and the type of food they serve, ethnic neighborhoods ). Trade books: New York City by David F. Marx, City Life by Diane Stango, The Cultural Institutions of N.Y.C. by Elizabeth Gloor, New York by Jim Mezzanotte.