From Town Hall to Brand New Law (Or Not)

 Are you ready to engage in debate in your classroom? Check out this presentation from the 2016 Georgia Council of the Social Studies Conference.

Active Citizen: Make It So!

This lesson is about how to engage students by modeling a town hall debate using current controversial topics and character roles. Debates can be used to facilitate topic learning in the classroom. Students both debate and plan strategy to bring a successful initiative to the ballot. The conclusion of the debate will require students to reflect and vote via secret ballot as to the best argument presented.

Engagement: Researching Government & the People

As part of the research process, students will evaluate sources and use evidence to craft arguments that reflect democratic principles.  Students will develop questions and plan inquiries for their debate opponents. Students will evaluate public policies in terms of outcomes and consequences to prepare position statements. To craft adequate statements, students will analyze the impact of civic virtues, democratic principles, and rights. The debate will require students to examine historical, contemporary, and emerging views of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights. At the finish of debates, students will communicate their conclusions and encourage informed action.

Debate Questions:

• What is the historical process or foundation used for/against this topic?
• What rights or responsibilities does this topic address in today’s society or evolution of the American democracy?
• How does this topic engage citizens into a larger understanding of society and/or history?
• How do citizens decide to accept or change their position on this topic?
• How can this topic allow individuals to make choices to amend or change their position?

The Great Debate

•  Each side gets a 2 minute opening statement
• One person speaks for 3 minutes and then is questioned by BOTH people from the opposing side for a total of 4 minutes.  During this time the one person who spoke is “on their own” to defend what they said while being questioned by the two who oppose them.
• Then one person from the other side speaks for 3 minutes and is questioned for 4 minutes.  This continues with the 2nd person from the first team speaking for 3 minutes and then being questioned for 4 minutes and finally the 2nd person from the final team speaking for 3 minutes and being questioned for 4 minutes.
• After each side gives their closing statement a vote is taken from the class.
• Vote via secret ballot on which side presented the best argument & answered the arguments of the opposing side.

Engagement Examples: Government and the People

• Twitter Town Hall @ THE WHITE HOUSE  Petition the White House
• Big Block of Cheese Day

A photo posted by Histocrats (@histocrats) on Jan 7, 2016 at 11:09am PST

Resources for Current Information

• The Leading Source For Pros & Cons Of Controversial Issues   
• Pew Research Center: Fact Tank, News in Numbers   
• Federal Reserve Economic Data   
• You Are Why We're Here    
• United States Census Bureau    

Electronic Debate in Class -Media Options for the Classroom

• Google Classroom (comments enabled)   
• Padlet
  Edmodo (comments enabled)    
• TodaysMeet
• Poll Everywhere    

APUSH Hand Turkeys

Are you looking for a simple review lesson as the holiday approaches? Try the APUSH Hand Turkey task. It is written for an AP US History class but could be easily modified for other grade levels.

A photo posted by @histocrats on Nov 15, 2016 at 10:55am PST

An APUSH Hand Turkey

November is time for APUSH Hand turkeys.

Task: You will create TWO Hand Turkeys that review and highlight the periods that you have studied thus far:

Period 1: 1491-1607. ...

Period 2: 1607-1754. ...

Period 3: 1754-1800. ...

Period 4: 1800-1848. ...

Turkey 1

1.   Draw a turkey on 8 ½ X 11 unlined paper of any color.

2.   Decorate each of the five digits as one of the periods above.  Be creative.  Think themes, important events, and ideas, etc.

3.   The palm is open for decorating in any subject or theme of American History up to 1877.

Turkey 2

1.   Draw a turkey on 8 ½ X 11 unlined paper of any color.

2.   Choose, in your opinion, the person in American history from 1491-1877 who is the biggest turkey in history.

3.   Find a picture of that person’s head to become the head of your turkey (thumb).

4.   Decorate the turkey to show who that person was and why he/she is the biggest turkey of the age.

In a Pickle

By Jeff Burns

Pickling is one of the oldest methods used by humans to preserve foods, dating back 4,000 years. Practically any vegetable can be pickled using vinegar and spices, and has been in one culture or another.  Pickle lovers have their own favorite vegetables and preparations, kosher, dill, bread and butter, sweet, hot, just to name a few.

One of my personal favorites stems from my own childhood memories.  Every summer, my Aunt Juanita would make her sweet pickles.  When they were ready, she would visit and bring us a jar or two or call to let us know, and I would my bike to her house to pick them up. My family frequently got together with friends and family during the year for fish frys, barbecues, oyster roasts, and the like, and Aunt Juanita’s pickles were always a great accompaniment.  My mother tried her own version from time to time, and they were good, but we all know some things that just don’t taste the same when somebody else makes them.

Aunt Juanita passed away a couple of years ago, and, for a few years before, she suffered from dementia, so it’s been quite a while since she made pickles.  However, I am very fortunate that , years before becoming ill, she wrote the recipe down for me.  It’s a simple recipe, and an old one.  My cousin told me that Aunt Juanita got it from her Appalachian in-laws years and years ago.  She always called them 7 day pickles or sweet pickles, and I’ve found similar recipes online called Amish pickles or 7 day pickles, so I’m not really sure of the origin. I make the pickles nearly every summer, and if I say so myself, they’re pretty good and extremely close to my memories of hers. The handwritten recipe is also a treasure, since I don’t have much of anything in the way of handwriting from my parents, grandparents, and other relatives.

I put the cucumbers in a big pot, and the actual process only takes a few minutes each morning. (It does require a huge amount sugar, however.) With this batch I added a couple of squash and onions as well.  I have also added jalapenos in some batches to make a sweet and hot variety too.

We’ve also pickled some beans, radishes, and zucchinis this summer.

Like pickles? Find a recipe and give it a try.  This is about more than making pickles though.  Think about the great recipes within your own family.  Seek them out and learn them now from the family members who make them, before it’s too late.

Fun Resources for Teaching about the Cold War

By Nina Kendall

Are you looking for new resources to teaching about the Cold War? Are you excited about the chance to delve into the rich foreign policy of the 20th century? Here are a few fun resources you can use to teach about the Cold War.

Atomic Bulletin and Doomsday Clock

The Atomic Bulletin was first published in 1945 after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaski. It was founded by a group of former Manhattan Project physicists. The Doomsday Clock is the symbolic clock whose time reflect how close humans are to final destruction. This group maintains and updates the Doomsday Clock. This website has a great timeline that correlates the changes in the Doomsday Clock to historic events.

Historic Film Clips
On School TV, Historian Ben Walsh uses archival footage to explore the hysteria of McCarthyism and the challenges of the Cuban Missile Crisis. From the testimony of the accused to interviews with Senator McCarthy,  this footage supports the exploration of this hysteria.

Songs for the Classroom
Songs from the Atomic Platter are also great  for exploring the social side of the Cold War. In Agnes the Teenage Russian Spy, the challenge of Cold War  relations is shared in terms any student can relate to when the teen experiences betrayal by a spy.  In Advice to Joe, Roy Acuff captures the national debate with pithy words. Mr. Betts produces songs to use with students in the classroom. His video America's Foreign Policy Review is a great review that students will enjoy. The History Tunes song The Cold War has a succinct set of lyrics you can use in a variety of ways.

Great Cartoons
The Opper Project is a great source for 20th Century cartoons. There collections of cartoons are useful both online and offline.  This collection is really well suited for online activities as many of the cartoons are displayed with zoom options making online viewing easier.

Fun Activities
The Dot Game is a fun way to engage students in conversations about the hysteria of McCarthyism. Check out this blog for more about the Dot Game.

Why I am Okay with Games in the Classroom

By Nina Kendall

I am not a true gamer. Do I like games? Yes. Do I play games? Yes.  However there are times when both board games and computer games are more frustrating than fun for me.  Despite this frustration I support the use of games in the classroom. Games have great features that promote student learning.

-Games offer feedback and practice.
Students learn very quickly in a game if they have made the wrong or right move. This feedback gives students a chance ti to reflect and correct their thinking. We know that trying again is important. We know making mistakes is part of learning. A game offers the opportunity to try, fail, and triumph.

-Games offer chances for collaboration and conversation.

If you utter the words group projects to students, you will here some groans. Yet say the word game and they are ready to work together. Even better as they work together students are having unprompted conversations about the topic. The best spontaneous conversations among students about the unit of study have come from games.

-Games provide goals.

You have a goal for each lesson you plan.  However what seems like a clear goal t o you may not be discernible to students. This issue is reduced by the possible outcomes of a game.

-Games are fun and engaging.

With loads of testing and value added observations, it is easy to forget that learning can be fun and engaging. Games help put the fun back in the classroom for students and teachers.

Take time to play a game in your classroom even if you are not a gamer. The risk is worth the reward.

Creating Classroom Games: Bingo

You can customize simple content games for the classroom to help students review and reinforce knowledge. It just takes a little creativity. Follow the steps to create your own content bingo.

Establish a list of terms (people, places, things) students need to know.

For this effort, my list includes: Samuel Gompers, Jane Addams, Theodore Roosevelt, Sitting Bull, NAACP, Jacob Riis, Upton Sinclair, Ida Tarbell, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller.

Establish a list of descriptors for your terms. You should include at least two descriptors for each term. The descriptors can apply to more than one term.

Example- “Muckraker” describes Upton Sinclair, Jacob Riis, and Ida Tarbell.

The descriptor for my set are below.

American Federation of Labor, Ghost Dance , The Jungle, Conservation, Reservations, US Steel, Hull House, Wounded Knee, Captain of Industry, National Parks, How the Other Half Lives, Vertical Integration, Progressive, Civil Rights, Standard Oil, Meat Packing, Homestead Strike, Horizontal Integration, Robber Baron, Meat Inspection Act, The History of Standard Oil

 Ensure that students have organized what they have learned about the terms. Students could use a simple chart to organize what they have studied.

People and Groups of the Gilded Age
Samuel Gompers
Jane Addams
Theodore Roosevelt
Sitting Bull
NAACP
Jacob Riis
Upton Sinclair
Ida Tarbell
Andrew Carnegie
John D. Rockefeller

Students will use the list of terms to customize their bingo boards.  I used the simple board below. Students started by writing a name of a person or group from the set above.

    Once students have customized their boards. You only have to explain the rules and begin game play.

   We played using the rules below in class.

·         The goal of the game was to get three correctly complete three boxes in a row.

·         You can make a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal row.

·         A square is complete when the term is matched with two correct descriptors.

·         The term and descriptors must match in both historical accuracy and historical interpretation.

·         Once a row is completed the player yells “bingo.”

·         The squares must be verified before a winner can be declared.

To select descriptors during game play, I used the spinner from classtools.net that can be customized with a simple typed list. The spinner was projected on the board and the chosen word simply popped up.

This was a simple way to add a game to my class. It got students talking about the topic and provided a form of review they were attentive to as they played to win.

How do you add games to your class?

Planning for National History Day 2016

By Nina Kendall

As the start of the new school year approaches, it is time to start planning for participation in National History Day again.  Here are a few suggestions to help you get excited about student research.

1) Get to know the theme. 

The theme for National History Day 2016 is Exploration, Encounter, and Exchange. This theme provides a number of options to pursue.  Read the theme essay, look over the sample topics, and start brainstorming your own ideas.  If you spend some time thinking about the theme, it will be easier to share with students.   Look for a new way to introduce the theme. How will you encourage thoughtful topic selection? This year I was inspired by the Wisconsin Historical Society to create a theme introduction with state specific examples.



2) Encourage student voice in topic choice.

Challenge students to create a list of possible topics.  This year we started by having students compare time periods and fields of history they were interested in to create brainstorming groups. Ask students to draw on their own interest.  While a topic may see risky or unappealing to you may appeal greatly to your students. Student engagement in research is vital to success.  I have had students successfully pursue topics that were unfamiliar to me. Their passion sustained them. 

 

3) Introduce a New Avenue for Research

Show students different options for research. You can introduce special online services like Google scholar or databases available locally. You can encourage site visits or interviews.  Visits to museums and historic sites are fun and enjoyable ways to further your research. Share schedules for regional research facilities with students as well. Facilities can be quite welcoming to young researchers and may have planned events. During Archives Month in 2104, research facilities open their doors for visits by National History Day participants.