Category: History
Where did Christmas Come From?
Watch this video and come away educated:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbUVKXdu4lQ&w=560&h=315]Share this:
2 Martin Luther King Day Lesson Plans
I have two lesson plans, both aligned with Common Core, to help you plan Martin Luther King Day.
4th grade
Students interpret the words of Dr Martin Luther King in their own words in a visual organizer. Great project that gets students thinking about the impact of words on history. Common Core aligned. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.
5th grade
Students research events leading up to Dr. Martin Luther King’s impact on American history and share them with an Event Chain organized visually, including pictures and thought bubbles. Aligned with Common Core. 7-page booklet includes a sample, step-by-step projects, a rubric for assessment, and additional resources to enrich teaching.
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Where’d Christmas Come From?
Watch this video and come away educated:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbUVKXdu4lQ&w=560&h=315]Share this:
Hour of Code: Build Websites
As a tech teacher, I see a lot of student websites. I’m always impressed with the effort, the tenacity, and often the skill, but most require ‘some additional work’ to be published.
And then I got an email from Stephen Byrne. In his quest to better learn history, he blended it with his love of of programming and built a website. It’s called History for Kids. It is exceptional, not only for its clean, intuitive presentation, but it’s age-appropriate language. If your students struggle finding research websites that use words at their grade level, suggest they build their own site like Stephen did:
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31 Sites on American History
This is for both younger and older students so check these out–pick the ones that work for you:
- America’s Story
- America–Colonies
- American Indians
- Civil War I video
- Civil War II video
- Civil War—reconstruction—video
- Colonial America–life
- Growth of the USA
- Historic speeches
- Jamestown Adventure Game
- Mt. Vernon
- Native American Conflicts
- Oregon Trail—all about
- Oregon Trail—virtual tour
- Patriot Spy–Deliver a covert message to Paul Revere
- Picturing America
- RR—inventing
- Timelines
- Transcontinental Railroad video
- Underground Railroad
- US History Map Game
- USA Games
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#54: Sponge Activities in History
Six edutainment websites to be visited in spare time in the classroom (as with all sponges). Each deals with history and can be enjoyed with only a few minutes of time
–from 55 Technology Projects for the Digital Classroom. (more…)
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#53: Colonization Trifold Brochure in Publisher
Create a trifold brochure in Publisher to go along with colonization or another unit of inquiry in the classroom. This project focuses on research and is more involved than #51 History Trifold. Students add lots of detail and lots of research on different colonization topics. Besides Publisher, students learn to research on the internet and copy-paste pictures from the internet
Lesson Plan
Use each panel in the trifold (there are six) to cover a different topic you’re discussing in class.
Click on each page of lesson plan.
You can also use a template in Google Docs, Google Presentations, or MS Word if you don’t have Publisher:
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#52: Indigenous Cultures Magazine in Publisher
Create a magazine on any topic you’re covering in class using text, pictures, diagrams, charts. Add a cover and a table of contents.
Click on each page of lesson plan.
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#51: History Trifold in Publisher–Grades 4-7
This lesson is a crowd pleaser. Students create a timeline showing what was happening around the world while they lived their lives. I’ve found this generates lots of discussion between students and their parents as they try to understand what the world events were.
Click on each page of lesson plan. (more…)
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#49: California Missions Project
Millions of third graders study California missions. Here’s a great project that brings it to life with some writing, lots of pictures and a dash of creativity that will excite every student.
If the lesson plans are blurry, click on them for a full size alternative.