Creative Internet Activities

While attending the Presidential Timeline Institute at the Nixon Library last week, I learned about several websites that can help students create fun and interesting projects to display what they know. One of these was Big Huge Labs. There are tons of games and activities, but the three that I found most useful for a high school class were the Motivator, Magazine and Movie Poster apps.

The Motivator allows students to add pictures and text to create a motivational poster. It is an easy way to assess student learning, as are all of these apps. I also plan to use it as an anticipatory set for a unit or maybe a daily warm up. Here is an example that I created.

The Magazine allows students to create a magazine cover with headlines, date and price. Here is one I created to give you an idea of how to use it.

The Movie Poster is very similar, only one is promoting a movie about a particular topic. It takes some critical thinking to decide the title, leading actors, producers, etc.

I plan on trying these in my classroom this year. I think the students will have fun with it! They can be used in any of the social sciences and even for current events. I love programs that are adaptable to a wide range of topics and subjects.

The Great American Hall of Fame

This post is in honor and memory of a friend and teacher named Darren Thomas. Darren taught AP US History. He was quite proud of his Idaho roots and so established a Mr. Potato Head project for AP students to conduct after the exam was over. Each year students chose 2 famous Americans to induct into the Great American Hall of Fame. What they did was choose Americans they thought were worthy of the honor and had debates over their merits. Once the two individuals were chosen for the year, a Mr. Potato Head was created in their likeness. They are then formally inducted into this hall of fame with a special dinner ceremony. Here are examples of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton:

Other individuals who have been inducted include Sacajawea, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton and FDR. There is even a Hall of Shame group of inductees that includes Aaron Burr.

Mr. Thomas just recently passed away and his students created a Mr. Potato Head of him and inducted him into the Hall of Fame.

Fakebook

Strategies for Summarizing

Looking for creative ways to have students summarize a reading or what they learned from a lesson? Try these to make summarizing both more interesting and meaningful.

A-Z Summary: Take post it notes or 3x5 index cards and write a letter of the alphabet in the top left corner. Students must then start the first sentence of their summary with that letter. I usually skip letters hard letters like Q and X or easy letters like T because they could just write "the." By having to think of a way to start the sentence with a certain letter, it forces them to think more about the topic and what they learned. I used this after a class discussion of the Federalists vs. Anti-Federalists and it allowed me to make sure the students who were not as vocal still understood the main arguments of each side. It is a great tool to use when you have an extra few minutes in class. It could even be modified in creative ways such as, write the second letter of your last name.

3-2-1: On a post it note, students write 3 things that they learned that day, 2 things they found surprising or interesting and 1 question they still have. This way you can check for understanding and find out what areas need more clarification for students.

# of Words Summary:  Some students often write too little or too much when summarizing. Try requiring students to write a summary that is exactly the number of words you assign, no more and no less. This forces them to decide what is most important. It is best to do this strategy in groups the first time as it can be really tough for students to do if they have not had a lot of experience with how to summarize effectively.

This is Why I Teach

Today was the last day of school for my senior economics students. During 5th period, many students gave me hugs goodbye as they left my classroom for the last time. Then I left my classroom to use the restroom as most teachers do between classes. When I returned, I sat down at my desk to take roll for 6th period. There on my desk was a note that said,

"....Thank you for emailing my parents. Thank you for never giving up on me. Thank you for actually caring. I haven't met a teacher who cared as much as you do in a long time. I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it. Not only have you given me good advice for life, but you have also taught me a lesson the hard way."

This student was not a challenge behaviorally. In fact he was a nice, fairly quiet student. He was very late in turning in many assignments and was failing and in danger of not graduating just a few weeks ago. Now he is passing my class and will graduate on Thursday night.

His note brought tears to my eyes. This is why I can continue to return to the classroom year after year despite attacks on my profession, larger and larger class sizes and cuts to my pay check. This is why I teach.

Current Events are a Must

One of the requirements for my economic class (and when I taught government) is current events on either a weekly or biweekly basis. I think it is important for students to know what is happening in the world and to provide their own commentary on events. I ask them to provide a brief summary of an article they find and then to provide comments or thoughts on the topic.

This act of commenting on events makes them more worldly, but also allows them to express their opinions about topics. I always make sure to leave a space where they can ask questions and try to clarify when possible. Since these students are seniors and many will be 18 by the November elections, it is important to expose them to the issues and get them to think about them. I tell them that it is okay to hold viewpoints, but they need to be able to back it up with why they think that, not just "my parents think that."

Students often make strong connections to what we have studied in class, taking an abstract concept and making it concrete through real world examples. This is when I know they have truly learned something. When they start throwing out terms like supply, demand, opportunity cost, scarcity, etc. in a current event write up, I get a little smile on my face knowing that I have reached them! Critical thinking is such an important skill today and I think having students do current events builds that skill!

Coffee Cup Biographies

Last night was the showcase for the Teaching American History grant in which I participated this year. One of the middle school teachers (Katherine Rand) showed off a fun project that I am going to try to incorporate into my classroom next year when we study the New Deal. Basically students create sleeves for coffee cups that tell all about the person or event. This teacher had them do biographies of the presidents. I am attaching photos that I took so that you can see the finished product.

She was able to get Starbucks to donate the coffee cups in exchange for a display and big thank you sign after the project's completion. This looks like it would really engage the students and I think would be useful for any grade level. Thanks Katherine for sharing it will all of us!