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?

Maker Fair Fun in the Social Studies Classroom

By Nina Kendall

The Maker philosophy is to apply a do-it-yourself approach to learning in the modern classroom. Students are empowered to make, to tinker, and to create. This approach appeals to me as an educator and as a child of the 1980’s. Not only do I want to make things, so do kids. This is a great way to encourage creativity in the classroom.  Frequently maker spaces and activities involve 3-D printers and Lego robots.   Yet the maker movement is bigger than robots. This approach to learning can certainly be brought into the Social Studies classroom too.

Here is what I did to bring a maker event to my classroom:

·         Investigated the #maker approach with Mozilla and looked for way that this approach could be brought in to class for learners at all levels of digital experience.

·         Selected the tools for use in the activity.

·         Selected the content students could share their understanding of that day.

·         Created a PowerPoint slide for each activity that included tool, product goal, and content.

·         I saved the slides as jpeg files(photos).

·         I created a basic website that had links to web tools that students could use and a photo slide show of the activities.

·         I created a form to hand to each student that would indicate the activity they choose, the type of activity completed, and the method of electronic turn the students used. (Students could email project, turn in on ThreeRing, save to their drives, or upload to Edmodo. )

Maker Event in Class:

·         Give students each a copy of the form to report their efforts on.

·         Direct students to #maker website and let them know that what they choose to make is there choice.

·         Monitor progress  and collect sheets at the end of session.

·         Enjoy what students share!

Challenges:

·         Shifting technology infrastructure. Be aware of the limitations of your digital environment.

·         Students struggling with digital tools. They are not all digital natives. Some students are also very insecure with activities that don’t have exact responses.

·         Time. As in every activity some students needed more time than others.

Results:

We had a good day. Students were highly engaged and very creative. I liked the focus students displayed.  It was good to see them work together so positively. It was also nice to share in their efforts. In high school, the days students want to share their work with you are rare. I would certainly do this again. 

Create Your Own Traveling Teaching Trunks

Select Artifacts

By Nina Kendall

Looking for a new activity for you class? Try a traveling trunk. A “traveling trunk” is a collection of artifacts and sources that can be used to teach others about history.  Students examine artifacts and investigate collections to better understand an event or a historical period. The 'trunk” or collection comes to your classroom when you can’t make it to a museum or historic site.  Many museums or historic site have trunks they will lend for a small fee. Of course, you can make your own traveling trunk as well.

The Histocrats did. We all have and use trunks to teach. Whether we teach elementary school or high school, we use them in class. From colonial hornbooks to railroad ties, we each have a unique collection of objects to teach with in our classrooms.  Our trunks reflect similar themes but different approaches to teaching.  When you make it yourself, you can customize it to your curriculum and student population. We encourage you to pick a topic and create a trunk of your own.    

Now you might be thinking high school students don’t want to work with artifacts. You would be wrong. I have had students argue over who gets to work with various artifacts. In fact, I would make the argument that the secondary level is a great age to use artifacts. Traditional activities put activities like “show and tell’ and field trips in elementary school, when you are learning to be careful, observant, and cautious when handling materials. Yet secondary students who have mastered all these skill rarely get an opportunity to handle and examine objects or go on field trips. Traveling trunks bridge the gap by putting artifacts and other objects in the hands of those prepared to handle them.

Are you ready to try making a trunk of your own? Try these tips to help you get started.

·         Select the topic you want to build your trunk around. Think about what unit you would like to your students to participate in as more engaged learners.

·         Think about objects that would help you teach this unit and how you would use them.  Ten objects would allow for the creation of small groups in any classroom.

o   Do you want all the objects to be the same?

o   Do you want students work with several different objects?

·         Establish a budget for yourself in collecting your objects. Set aside a small part of organizing and storing your objects.

Traveling Trunk

·         Brainstorm where you might find your objects. Be creative. You may find some at home or may be free items that are recycled or found in nature.. Others objects may be found in souvenir or gift shops on your travels.

·         Organize, inventory, and label your collection. You will need a way to monitor your collection.

o   What will you story your collection in? Anything can work. We have seen people use trunks, baskets, and old suitcases.

o   How will you pass items out? A collection of small items could be stored in individual plastic bags.

You are now well on your way to creating your first traveling trunk. We hope you enjoy your trunk as much as we do our trunks. Share your success stories and pictures of your trunks @Histocrats. Happy Teaching!