French Revolution – Witnessing the Guillotine

 

            I found that many of my students were very interested in the French Revolution because of all of the war that occurred during that time.  One of the specific lessons they gained interest in was the introduction of the guillotine.  Thousands of people at that time were being executed by the guillotine and my students were fascinated and disgusted with the process. 

            To get my students really involved with the unit, I had them go back in time and pretend they were a citizen of France during the revolution.  Their job was to be a witness of an execution by the guillotine and express their feelings and reactions.  This was after the letter from prison idea so I was a bit more prepared for it.  I created a criterion for students to follow that was a bit more specific.  First, students had to state three reasons why executions were taking place.  Second, they had to describe what was going on in France at that time.  Finally, they had to describe how a person living in France at that time would be feeling after watching their fellow citizens being murdered everyday.

            My students did much better with this lesson.  I feel that as a social studies teacher, the best way for a student to understand a historical event is to put themselves in the shoes of someone who lived through it.  By having students go back in time and write in the first person, students get to state the facts as well as get an idea of what it was like to be living during that time.  I strongly suggest using this idea if you ever find yourself in a position where your students are studying an important event like the French Revolution.

Imperialism Unit – A letter from jail

           One of the main events included in the Imperialism unit was the Sepoy Rebellion.  When thousands of Indians were imprisoned by European oppressors, they planned for a rebellion.  To help students learn and review what events led up to this rebellion and why it occurred, I had students put themselves in the shoes of an Indian in jail.  The students were to write a two-page letter to one of their families from their cell.  In the letter, they were to include their feelings at the time, what forced them to go to jail, and what they planned on doing when they were released from prison.

            This lesson went very well with my students.  Many students were very creative with what they wrote by expressing such strong personal feelings.  It was interesting to read how they could put themselves in such a difficult position.  One thing that I would have changed was being more specific on what the students needed to include in their letter.  Many of my students elaborated too much on their reaction and emotions at the time rather than the events that took place to put them in the position that they were in.  Ifyou are thinking about doing this lesson plan idea, I would create a criterion that gives your students specific requirements they must fall.  An example would be at least three events that caused them to go to jail, how it affected their families, what they are going to do when they get out of jail, and who will be part of the rebellion.

Industrial Revolution – students become reporters

           The Frederick County curriculum doesn’t provide very much time for the great amount of information included in the Industrial Revolution unit.  Ranging from child labor to multiple inventions, there is a lot of material for students to learn.  To make this unit fun and allow the students to cover all of the material, I had students create a newspaper.  The students were to put themselves back in the time of the Industrial Revolution and create a newspaper with at least five sections.  These sections included a main article, a secondary article, a letter to the editor, and two advertisements.  From there, students could decide what they wanted to write about for each section as long as they did not repeat any material listed in the curriculum.  Students were also required to include at least 15 vocabulary words in their newspaper. 

            This newspaper unit went over very well with my students.  We spent the first two days in the library doing research and the next three days in the computer lab.  Depending on the level of your students, you can decide how many sections and vocabulary words they need to include.  My students were a lower level merit class so it was a challenge for them to include all of the words.  One thing to keep in mind is whether or not your students have a computer available at home.  If they don’t you might want to spend most of your time in the lab so everyone has a chance to complete it.  Also, you must consider how much your students know about Microsoft Office and Publisher.  If they do not have a lot of prior knowledge on these two programs, a newspaper might not be the best idea.  Here is a website that includes tons of information about the Industrial Revolution for you and your students to use.  It includes important people, a timeline, inventions, and main events that took place during the time period.

Exploration Unit – Turn your classroom into a globe

           One of the big parts included in the Exploration Unit is the Triangle Trade system.  This is vital because it is important for students to see how and where goods were being traded around the world and what kinds of impacts trading had on countries.  Through out Africa, Europe, and North America, many different goods were being exchanged such as slaves, crops, gold, and animals. 

            To help my students understand the triangle trade system, I rearranged the desks in my classroom to represent these three continents.  From there, students wrote the name of a good on a big piece of paper.  To show where these goods moved from, students would attach long strands of yarn from one area of the world to another.  For example, you could represent a trade of slaves moving from Africa to Europe.  You could do this by stretching a piece of yarn between the two sets of desks and placing a piece of paper titled, “Slaves” in the middle of the string.  On the page, you would also have to include arrows to show where the slaves were moving.  By the end of the lesson, there were dozens of pieces of yarn starched across the room to represent the trading routes.  This representation made students realize how often trades occurred and where different goods were moving over time.

            Overall, the lesson went very well.  It is very easy to prepare because all you need is yarn, paper, and some strong cooperation from your students.  As long as your students act in a mature manner, this lesson can be very beneficial.  Just be sure to remind them to take it seriously and respect the classroom as well as their classmates.  You can even create a worksheet for them to complete by looking at their representation after all of the pieces of yarn were stretched out.

            If you are interested in using this idea, check out this site for some information on the triangle trade system.

You can never go wrong with Maps

           For social studies classes, maps are always an effective activity for students at every level.  You can hand a map out at any point of a unit and instruct students to fill it out to the best of their ability.  Similar to the exit slips, you can instruct students that they are to fill the map out from memory or use their textbooks or notes to complete it.  By using a map as a sponge activity, the students will always have a completed map to use for studying for the test you give them at the end of the unit.  Maps are also always found on the MSA and HSA tests, so that will also help students get prepared.  If you find yourself at the point where you need to use a map as a sponge activity, you can give students a minimum of how many countries or areas they must label before leaving.  These maps can be considered as in-class participation or classwork for grading purposes.

            The internet is a great resource to find maps.  Here is a site that is ideal for finding maps on any area of the world.  They are blank outline maps that students can fill in and color.  The site is very easy to use; all maps are listed by continents.

Speed up knowledge with Speed Ball

           Much like exit slips, “speed ball” is also a fun and easy form of review for students to do at the end of a period.  All you need is a soft object and active students to play this review game.  There are two ways to play; you can be the one to throw the speed ball to students or any student in the class can have the ability to throw the speed ball.  First, you throw the speed ball to someone.  Once they have caught it, you ask them a question on the material you just went over.  If he or she gets it right, it is his or her turn to throw the speed ball to someone and ask them a question.  If he or she gets it wrong, he or she has to throw it back the person and they are to find someone new to ask the question.  Students love to have the opportunity to throw the speed ball, so that makes it a great incentive for them to answer the question correctly.

            There are a couple things to remember before playing speed ball.   First, you want to find something soft to play with that can’t hurt a student, such as a stuffed animal.  Second, instruct your students that they are not to throw the speed ball too hard or fast.  Any student who does so will not be able to play again.  Finally, encourage all of your students to be active in the game.  You can do so by including their efforts as part of their participation grade.

Sponge up some time with Exit Slips

           “Exit Slips” are another form of sponging that effectively helps students review what they had just learned or worked on in class.  Exit slips are short little quizzes or review questions that students must complete before they leave your classroom at the end of the period.  For instance, if you were teaching a lesson on the start of World War II, you could tell your students, “Before you leave my class today, I want you to list and describe five events the lead to World War II”.  You could either require your students to complete the exit slip from memory or allow them to use any notes or resources they had.

            Exit Slips are a great tool to use because they are so quick and easy.  You simply find one thing you wanted your students to know when they come back the next day and create a question that requires them to review it in-depth.  From there, students can use any kind of scrap paper to complete the exit slip.  When the bell rings, students can give you there exit slip on the way out.  You can even use the exit slips to count as part of their in-class participation grade.  Sometimes I would give the students their exit slips back the next day and have them incorporate it in their warm-up.  By creating a habit of this, students began to put more effort into their answers because they knew it would benefit them to construct accurate and detailed answers to use for their warm-ups.

Get vocab going with Crosswords

          Crossword puzzles are a great form of sponging to help students remember any vocabulary terms used in a unit.  You can create a crossword before teaching the unit and hand it out at any point.  For instance, if you are in your third day of a unit and finish up a lesson plan early, you can hand out the crossword puzzle and have students try and fill in any vocabulary terms you have already taught.  From there, you can instruct your students to take out there crossword puzzles at any point of the unit.  They just need to keep track of them so that they are ready to work on them whenever they are asked to do so.  Students can also use these cross word puzzles as a study guide for tests that they may take in your classroom.  By having all of the vocabulary words and definitions on one sheet, the crossword puzzle would be a great resource for students to use when they need to prepare for an exam.  Just remember to hand the crossword puzzle back in advance so they’re available for you students to have.

          Here is a great site that allows you to easily create a crossword puzzle of your own.  It has small boxes that allow you to include a title, directions, and up to 50 words and clues.  All you need to do is insert the clues and definitions and you are ready to go!

Get your sponge on!

There is always a time in a teacher’s life where he or she finishes up a lesson and realizes that there is fifteen minutes left in the block.  It’s easy to want to lose your composure at that point, but there is always an easy way out.  Sponge Activities are small and fun activities for students to do that will fill up any time remaining in the period.  Usually, sponge activities are some form of review activity for students to reflect on what they had just learned about or worked on for that day.  Not only do they keep students from sitting around and doing nothing, but sponging also is a great way for students to retain the information they had just learned.  I have included a few sponge activities that you can use for any subject.  If you want some more ideas about sponge activities you can use in your classroom, check out this site.   Many of the ideas are for the elementary level, but they can easily spark some ideas for you to elaborate on.

Teacher Tube is changing the game…

             Students are always interested when a video is shown during class.  For teachers, it can be very difficult to find a video that includes valuable information while entertaining the students at the same time.  Teacher Tube is an amazing site that includes a countless amount of videos that can be used in the classroom.  Because it is created by teachers and used solely by teachers, you can count on the material on the site being appropriate for classroom use.  This site is much like You Tube in that it functions through a search bar.  If you are interested in finding a site on a certain topic, you simply search for what you are looking for and click on a video that you think could be beneficial.  In addition to the thousands of videos, Teacher Tube also provides groups you can join as well as a blog you can look at.  Both of these links are a great resource for finding information.  Best of all, Teacher Tube is free to use and join.  All you have to do is create a user name and password to become a member. 

            There are a couple things to remember when using Teacher Tube.  First, always preview the entire video before showing it to your class.  The last thing you want is to show a video that may contain inappropriate material that may lead to some unhappy phone calls from parents.  Also, when using a video as a resource, always give credit to the creator of the video.

            Here is an example of a video that could be used in the social studies classroom at the middle school level.  It is a cartoon video about Napoleon that discusses his life, achievements, and exile as the emperor of France.  This video is fun, contains great information, and is pretty interesting.  It would be a great resource to introduce your Napoleon unit.