5 YouTube Channels that Rock!
I randomly came up with this idea during the last week of school. One of my reading groups had finished their book and project before any of the other groups had finished. Instead of giving them a new book (there was only one week left), I quickly created this template and told them to pick an event in history and research it. I had one boy choose the Vikings, someone else chose the atomic bomb, a girl wanted the great depression, and another student picked the Korean war. I loved that everyone had such diverse topics. After they got started, I saw some great learning take place in my classroom! Because it's an inquiry-based activity, they generated their own questions. And because they got to choose their own topic, they were excited and felt ownership over the project. I plan on using this next year as a fun fast finisher activity. This list is something I quickly generated. {I know it is not all inclusive - if I left something off that you really want me to add on, please leave me a comment.} This would be fun to hang up somewhere in the back of the classroom so fast finishers can work on a project whenever they want. CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD HISTORY DETECTIVES! * * * * * Want to hear some GREAT news? I am leaving next week on an 8 day history trip to Virginia where I get to study at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute! I also get to visit Jamestown and Yorktown. I'm so excited! I plan on posting lots of the things I learn, including pictures!
Learn About the 7 Continents! Exploring the 7 Continents has never been more exciting! It’s a Small World Continent Study is filled with over 35 activities to help your students gain a greater understanding of the seven continents. This 130+ page unit is filled with great resources, posters, printables, activities, and projects that will open […]
Learn how to use social studies stations in the Middle & High School classroom to increase student engagement. Includes link for a free station activity!
Kids will have fun while learning where do I Live with this printable activity perfect for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten students.
I've read about choice menus forever, but never tried it until just recently. I decided to created a menu to use during social studies review when students finish with stations early or we have a few extra minutes in class. I introduced the menu a week ago and you would've thought I'd given my students gold! They were thrilled!! I asked if they'd seen a menu before and we talked about a fast food restaurant menu. Then I asked what they would buy if I told them they had $5 to spend at the fast food restaurant. We played around with that a few minutes and then, with great drama, I introduced the social studies menu. I told them they had 50 points to "spend" and they were beside themselves - some even wanted to know if they could "spend" more! As we were going over the points values for different items one students even said, "All the fun stuff costs more points, but the boring stuff doesn't cost as much." I really had to pinch myself! How did this happen?!?! We've had a week to work on the menus and they have really been successful so far. I've been amazed at the creativity my students have shown. It's also been really interesting seeing which people and time periods they choose to work with. I think this is a strategy I will try to use again. Maybe next time I'll try something with reading - after a class novel or maybe even for their self-selected texts. You can click on the picture to download a copy of the menu. It is specific to 4th Grade Virginia Studies, but it might be a good place to start for a menu specific to your social studies standards. I'm linking up with Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper for another great Tried it Tuesday linky.
How I wish I could just talk about word study and reading all day, but the economic unit I am working on is calling my name. Community help...
This download is a map book for kindergarten students that helps them understand their place in the world. The book starts out with a map of Earth and ends with a map of their room. Included in this download are three additional map worksheets. Fonts & Images by DJInkers License # 0912173162...
Our favorite hands on world history for middle school is Project Passport. Travel to different time periods in world history with exquisite paper projects!
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Interpreting history can seem like a daunting task for students, but with a few creative tools and ideas, teachers can bring historical events and people to life. I love providing students with an interconnection to the people who shaped our country. Our history is on-going and by studying our past, we can hopefully learn
The first week of school, before you even begin to teach history, is more important than most teachers realize. It can make or break your year. Unfortunately, it is the week most beginning teachers have
If you're planning to homeschool middle school history, use these 10 tips to add fun and variety to your curriculum!
History has always been a favorite subject to do with my children as there are so many fun ways to make it come alive. We love finding extra resources and printables to use with what we are studying. It seems to help solidify what we are learning and help them to understand and remember it. ...
Here are great activities that teach about the Wright Brothers and celebrate the history of flight. Filled with fascinating facts about flight, an engaging passage about Orville and Wilbur Wright, and a variety of fun activities.
There's something about 3 day weekends. I always feel like I truly get things accomplished, and this weekend is no different....not muc...
Resources and Ideas for teaching an Ancient Greece Interactive Notebook unit, Strategies and teaching tips for social studies or history.
Do your students' eyes start to glaze over when you're teaching them about the US Constitution, almost like they're about to doze off? Try switching things up a little bit with some hands-on activities that
Engage your students right when they walk in the door with bell ringer questions that prompt them to analyze quotes from notable people in American history! This resource includes a 40 page PowerPoint (non-editable) containing 40 quotes from notable people in American history, a writing prompt on each page and two versions of a response sheet that students can use when answering the prompts. A version for Google Slides is included as well, for the slides - not writing prompts at this time. Weekly Writing Prompt: What does this quote mean? Do you agree or disagree? How does this quote relate to an event in history or in your own life? This resource is designed to be used once a week in your classroom. There are 40 slides – enough for each week of the school year! Quotes from notable people cover the following areas of early U.S. History: 1. Age of Exploration 2. Colonial America 3. Causes of the Revolutionary War 4. Revolutionary War 5. Constitution 6. Federalist Era 7. Jefferson Era 8. Westward Expansion 9. Jackson Era 10. Industrial Revolution 11. Causes of the Civil War 12. The Civil War Take a peek at the preview for a better look at what is included in this resource. Happy Teaching! :) Let's Connect! The Teacher's Prep Blog The Teacher's Prep on Facebook The Teacher's Prep on Pinterest The Teacher's Prep on Instagram
Make history come alive with these fun, hands-on history lessons for kids! These kids history lessons include activities, worksheets, & more!
Pinay Homeschooler is a blog that shares homeschool and afterschool activity of kids from babies to elementary level.
I love spending the final weeks of school working on projects with my students! While we complete a variety of projects throughout the year, my students become project-making machines after testing!! And we love every minute of it!! At this point in the year, the stress of fitting in curriculum has vanished, students have…
So I gave myself a goal this year. I want to add as many hands on, experiential activities into my class as possible. So far, they have been an amazing success! I blogged about this activity last month. This week my kiddos got to experience what it felt like to be a hominid. They looooooved it and beg for more labs!!! Homo Erectus building their tower. Neanderthal and Cro Magnon Homo Habilis very proud of their horrible tower and their lack of fine motor skills. Click here and check it out! Posted with Blogsy
You will love these creative classroom decor ideas for social studies teachers or history teachers! Check out this list of 10 different ideas for...
We are in the middle of our All About America unit and things are really getting going! For the past couple of weeks we have been focused on American symbols. This is one of those topics that he kids just get! Which makes teaching it so much fun. I read through a ton of books on the symbols, monuments, documents etc... (thanks Donors Choose!) and we learned all we could. I put this symbol page together for us to do after we had be discussing for a few days (click the pic to download!) We made directed art liberty bells... the plan was to also do a white house, bald eagle and statue of liberty but time is flying! Then we did our big group projects! This is by far my favorite activity of the entire year... I love seeing them working in small groups independently, figuring out how to function... it's great! They each received a "Top Secret" envelope that included books, pictures, articles about their symbol. Then in their groups they had to go through the information, work together to complete a worksheet and a poster and then work with me to create a presentation (at least one sentence per group member about their symbol). So dang cute! Here are pictures that document our two day group project excursion... I have a ton more pictures so share, but I'll spare you all! Seriously, aren't those posters cute as can be! And bonus... I had kiddos ask to do more symbol investigation and give presentations! LOVE IT! The next couple of weeks will be dedicated to heroes! And we will begin our hero projects... I can't wait! Hope you all have a wonderful week! Oh and... Miss Amberleigh please send me your email address so that I can send you the Dinosaurs in the Dark!
A two page set of Social Studies assignment sheets that can be used for ANY chapter of any Social Studies textbook! I copy these onto 11 x 17 paper, so they are like a placemat. Students complete one or two per week as we read the text. The groups then meet to share and then I collect them. This...
You can find all of these resources to create your own Marco Polo Unit Study HERE.
Hello Everyone! One wonderful perk about the 15 hour drive home? I was able to put the finishing touches on my Landforms unit. This unit i...
Integrating language arts skills into social studies can be tricky. There is already a lot of subject matter to cover without having to teach reading and writing skills as well! If a social studies teacher did not receive much language arts training within his or her certification program, integrating these skills can be even more […]
So this comes from a request about how I do warm ups in my classroom. Our team does Warm Up packets per grading period. We plan for them for three days a week-- the other days we warm up by reviewing our memory chants/tricks or the students recite their memorization piece for the six weeks. Our warm ups generally work in TWO parts: There is one STAAR Formatted Question and one knowledge based question. The STAAR Formatted Question: This usually it comes from a Released STAAR Test. Students are required to show strategies on this question. We have a school strategy that we use and we require students demonstrate knowledge on these question beyond circling and underlining. Knowledge Based Question: The knowledge based question is formatted in multiple ways, lists, visuals, etc. It is usually something they can easily find in their notes or recall quickly from memory. Examples: List four things you can remember about the Louisiana Purchase. What are the five weaknesses of the Articles of Confederation? Write your document chant. I generally do this because it helps build kids confidence at the beginning of class and allows them to practice skills they will need on their tests/quizzes. I hope this was helpful! Happy Teaching!
Welcome to Notebooking Across the USA, a series of unit studies covering each state in the U.S. in order of admission to the union. You can find the landing page for this series with links to each states unit study as they are published, along with tips, suggestions, and recommended resources for this series here: Notebooking Across the USA. These unit studies are written with homeschool [...]
This was created to be used as an assessment for the end of a unit on Columbus. Check out my TPT store for activities to use in leading up to this assessment. ...
Yikes! Time is getting away from me. School is right around the corner and there is much I have not accomplished. I feel the need to...
