Alamo Historical Inquiry
Historical Inquiry lessons have students view and analyze primary source documents in order to answer an overlying question. This assignment had students viewing letters and physical specifications about the Alamo and answering the overlying question of whether or not the Texans should have defended the Alamo. Students respond to William B. Travis's letter pleading for help as if they are Sam Houston.
Historical Inquiry Documents Historical Inquiry Content Frame |
US-Mexican War Fortune/Misfortune
Fortune/Misfortune is a way for students to learn about a historical event and turns taking notes into a game. The students actively participate by moving around the room and selecting letters. Each round students can possibly win or lose points depending on their decisions. After taking their notes, they read a full summary of the event and answer questions or fill in a chart with the pertinent details.
Fortune/Misfortune Slides Fortune/Misfortune Content Frame |
Civil War Visual Summary and Card Sort
Visual Summaries make summarizing interactive and more fun for students. It also allows them to analyze pictures relevant to the topic.
Card sorts are an interactive way to categorize information. Most of the card sorts in social studies have the students differentiating between events being social, economic, or political. Visual Summary Content Frame Card Sort |
Projects
Project-based learning is a fun way for students to delve deeper into topics. They are graded on a standards-based grading proficiency scale.
IMDB Civil War Project: For this project, students are given a choice for which part of the war they would like to research. They create an Internet Movie Database page (on paper template) about a movie they're "directing" on that topic. They analyze which events are most significant and answer "Director Questions". Wars and Depression Google Project: For this project, students are given a choice out of the World Wars, Great Depression, and Dust Bowl to create a Google Slides presentation about. They research and find primary source documents relating to their topic's requirements. |