As educators, it is our responsibility to make history come alive for our students. By employing a variety of teaching strategies and resources, we can help them develop a deep understanding and appreciation for the past. In this blog post, I will share my experience teaching the Civil War to my students, highlighting the activities and projects that proved most effective in engaging them and fostering their learning.
Monday –Assessment (I can’t share the EMC2Learning templates – sorry)
To assess my students’ understanding of the Civil War and the events leading up to it, I provided them with three assessment options on Monday: a Story Dice template, a Video Game template, and a Sketch and Tell-o Connect activity. These diverse assessment methods allowed students to demonstrate their knowledge in creative and engaging ways, catering to different learning styles and preferences.
The Story Dice template required students to select nine images that represented or symbolized the events and factors contributing to the growing tensions over slavery. They then wrote a paragraph explaining how these events and factors led to the Civil War, incorporating the selected images.
The Video Game template challenged students to create a game proposal that included at least four of the events or factors studied. They had to explain how each event or factor was represented in the game and discuss the educational value of their proposed game.
Lastly, the Sketch and Tell-o Connect activity asked students to create six sketches representing the events leading up to the Civil War. They then made connections by creating a claim, evidence, and reasoning for the question, “What series of disagreements and deals made between the Northern and Southern states finally caused the Civil War?”
Tuesday
Following the summative assessment, I utilized a combination of resources and activities to introduce the Civil War. On Tuesday, I had my students complete a Frayer Model activity, where they collected information about the Union and Confederate armies, including the states involved, colors worn, and other characteristics. This activity helped them organize their knowledge and understand the opposing forces.
I also had my students watch an EdPuzzle video on the start of the Civil War. The video provided a concise yet informative overview of the key events, battles, and leaders, allowing students to visualize the important aspects of the war. The EdPuzzle platform enabled me to embed questions throughout the video, ensuring active engagement and comprehension.
Thursday
On Thursday, I embarked on an exciting project that connected our classroom learning with local history. Near our school grounds lies the Watkins Hill Cemetery, which houses the graves of several Civil War veterans. I instructed my students to research and document the names of these veterans, along with the companies and regiments in which they served.
To make the most of this opportunity, I took my students on a field trip to the cemetery. They had the chance to explore, locate the graves, and gain firsthand knowledge about the individuals who played a significant role in our nation’s history. This hands-on experience brought history to life and fostered a deep connection with the past.
Building upon this experience, I introduced my students to Fold3, a comprehensive military veteran database. Using a Google Slidedeck containing EduProtocols, students organized their research findings and delved deeper into the stories of the Civil War veterans. They analyzed numerical data points, researched specific battles, and pieced together the historical context in which their chosen veterans lived.
Conclusion
By employing a multifaceted approach to teaching the Civil War, I was able to engage my students and help them develop a profound understanding of this pivotal moment in history. The combination of creative summative assessments, introductory activities, and hands-on exploration of local history created a comprehensive and meaningful learning experience.
I encourage fellow educators to explore opportunities within their communities to connect history with local landmarks. By immersing students in the stories of the past, we can ignite their curiosity, foster a love for learning, and help them appreciate the sacrifices made by those who came before us.
This week was our last testing week, so we had two shortened class periods. I was continuing the causes of the Civil War and my essential question, “Which conflicts over slavery led to the Civil War?”
Last week, our focus was on compromises such as the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and the Fugitive Slave Act. This week we focused on finishing up the Kansas Nebraska Act, learning about Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Dred Scott, and the Election of 1860. I have never really focused on the Election of 1860, so I wrapped some EduProtocols around a lesson from the Retro Report.
On Monday, I began class with a Sketch and Tell-o that had students thinking about analogies. I wanted them to review what they learned last week (Missouri Compromise, Fugitive Slave Act, Kansas Nebraska Act) by creating similes. For example, they would sketch and object for the simile connection and then write how the Missouri Compromise is like that object. We did this for 25 minutes and then moved onto the start of a new lesson.
To introduce Uncle Tom’s Cabin, I used an Archetype Foursquare. In the middle of the archetype template, I linked an article about the background, plot, and impact of the novel. Students read through the information and decided which archetype they would apply to the novel and use supporting evidence. At the conclusion, I had students discuss why they chose a certain archetype to describe Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
We ended class with a Fast and Curious EduProtocol. I added some questions to the Gimkit about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. The class averages were down a bit because I added three new questions.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, we dove into a lesson on Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I adapted this lesson from from a textbook that my co-author, Dr. Scott Petri, contributed to – a resource written for schools in Texas that incorporates background information and primary sources to help students learn history.
Monday we had explored the background and significance of Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Tuesday, we focused on three chapters: Chapter 7 – A Mother’s Struggle, Chapter 30 – A Slave Warehouse, and Chapter 33 – Cassy. Students selected a chapter and designed a slide that featured a quote that would anger abolitionists. We then analyzed the quote together and considered how it reflected the harsh realities of slavery.
I was pleased with how engaged and motivated the students were throughout the lesson. By focusing on storytelling techniques and emotional language, Harriet Beecher Stowe created empathy and awareness about the devastating impact of slavery. I added an Annotate and Tell to the lesson with three excerpts from the ending of the book. On the slide, I had students focus on the arguments Stowe put forth against slavery, the audience she was appealing to, and why she would appeal to mothers.
Wednesday and Thursday
On Wednesday, we began learning about the Dred Scott case. I also use this as an opportunity to tie in some local history about Henry Poindexter who had a similar case in Ohio. As an educator, I always strive to connect historical events to the local context, making them more relatable and meaningful for my students. In this particular lesson, we discovered a remarkable similarity between the Dred Scott case of 1857 and a case involving Henry Poindexter in 1856.
Henry Poindexter signed a promissory note committing to pay $1,000 for his freedom. When his enslaver allowed him to cross the river into Ohio, specifically in New Richmond and Cincinnati, Henry decided not to honor the agreement, arguing that he was now in the free state of Ohio. Subsequently, his enslaver sued him, leading to a legal battle that reached the Ohio Supreme Court. Ultimately, the court ruled in Henry’s favor, declaring him free. This local connection offered a unique opportunity to understand the complexities of the time through a relatable lens.
To deepen our understanding, we engaged in a Cybersandwich activity, comparing the Dred Scott case with Henry Poindexter’s legal battle. Students filled out a Venn diagram, identifying similarities and differences between the two cases. This exercise encouraged critical thinking, analysis, and reflection on the legal implications and consequences of each situation.
Following the Venn diagram, students composed a compare/contrast text structure to summarize their findings. This exercise not only reinforced their understanding of the cases but also developed their writing skills and ability to articulate complex ideas effectively.
To further our exploration, we connected the Dred Scott case to the 13th and 14th Amendments, which had profound implications for civil rights and the overturning of the infamous decision. Employing a Sketch and Tell activity, students utilized Google Shapes to create visual representations of the 13th and 14th Amendments.
Accompanied by their sketches, students “told” the story of the amendments in their own words, explaining how each amendment played a significant role in nullifying the Dred Scott case decision. This exercise fostered creativity, critical thinking, and a deeper comprehension of the amendments’ impact on the course of history.
Thursday’s lesson was a cool exploration of local history intertwined with national events. By connecting the Dred Scott case to the story of Henry Poindexter, we provided students with a personal connection to a pivotal moment in our nation’s past. Moreover, examining the 13th and 14th Amendments enabled students to comprehend how the legal landscape evolved and how these amendments transformed the rights of individuals.
Friday
Friday I wasn’t at school and had a decision to make – do I post a summative assessment for my unit on the causes of the Civil War? Or, do I add one more lesson on the Election of 1860? The Election of 1860 lesson would be easy to put together and cause less problems – I went with this idea.
For this lesson, I adapted it from Retro Report. I started with this question, “How did the results of the 1860 presidential election show that the United States was becoming more and more divided?”
At the end of the lesson, I wanted students to write from the POV of 3 candidates from the Election of 1860. So, I created a 3xPOV template for this lesson. At the beginning of the lesson, I put together a Map and Tell and jhad students analyze a ,ap from the Election of 1860. Next, they watched a video from Retro Report on the election. The they analyzed the platforms of the Northern Democrats, Southern Democrats, and Republicans regarding their stance on slavery. Finally, students ended with the 3xPOV. This was meant to be a one day and they did an awesome job considering I wasn’t present.
This week was another testing week with the Ohio AIR math test. At the end of the week, our assistant principal sent out a weekly updated and asked the question, “What does AIR stand for in Ohio AIR Test?” I responded with, “AIR – Academically Inconvenient Requirement.” I don’t think I won the trivia contest.
This week we continued our unit on the causes of the Civil War. I asked the question, “What conflicts over slavery led to the Civil War?” This week we focused on the Missouri Compromise, Compromise of 1850, and the Kansas and Nebraska Act.
This semester I”ve been trying to build in more opportunities to have students empathize from multiple perspectives. I have been using some 2xPOV, empathy maps, and perspective summary writing at the end of different lessons.
On Monday, we began with the Missouri Compromise. I asked the question, “How did the Missouri Compromise attempt to balance free states and slave states between North and South?” I began the lesson with a Gimkit with 3 or 4 questions about the Missouri Compromise. I ran the Gimkit for 3 minutes, and then ran it again for 2 minutes.
Next in line, we switched Frayer model with the word, Compromise, in the center. Around the word Compromise, I had students create definition, use it in a sentence, share examples, and nonexamples. For the examples of Compromise, I urged everyone to think of examples we have learned about in class. They came up with, “3/5ths Compromise, the Treaty of Ghent, the Treaty of Paris 1783.” I thought these were great connections.
Following the Frayer, we switched to an EMC2learning penny pedagogy called Upside Down Learning. Students read a textbook section about the Missouri Compromise. On the top of the line with Upside Down Learning, students tell the true story of the Missouri Compromise. I had them think about the compromise, and retelling of the compromise in sequential order. Underneath of the true story, the students come up with alternate reality. They keep some of the details, but they twist them a bit.
Next, I had students complete an empathy map with two primary sources. Students read a debate between two congressmen named Arthur Livermore and Philip Barbour over the Tallmadge Amendment and Missouri Compromise. Upon reading, students completed an empathy map. To end class, we ran one more Gimkit for 2 to 3 minutes and increased our class averages to over 90% across all classes.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, we switched over to the Compromise of 1850 and I asked the question, “What was the Compromise of 1850 and why did it make northerners angry?” I asked this question kowing we would focus on the Fugitive Slave Act. Before the lesson began, I wrote on the board, “Fugitive Slave – Freedom Seeker, Slave – Enslaved Person/People, Master – Enslaver.”
This lesson we began with a Number Mania and here were my instructions: “The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a harsh and ineffective law that deepened the divide between the North and the South, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861.”
Prove this quote true with 4 numbers and facts from the reading.
If you use my secret number, I’ve got a Jolly Rancher for you.
Add icons/images for all facts
Add a title.
In the speaker notes, explain why you selected these numbers.
I added the Secret Number to create some intrigue – it’s the end of the year! My secret number ended up being 11 – the Civil War began 11 years after the Compromise of 1850. I had these dates underlined and said to everyone, “I gave you a subtle hint.” Only a handful of student solved the secret number throughout the day.
The reading I paired with the Number Mania had a ton of numbers. I wanted to see if students could pick out the important numbers related to the quote.
Following the Number Mania, students filled out an empathy map from a northerners perspective about the Fugitive Slave Act. I also related the Fugitive Slave Act to our community because Enslaved Person Trackers terrorized the abolitionists of New Richmond due to the Fugitive Slave Act. Students filled out an Empathy Map showing what a northerner might think, say, hear, and do about the Fugitive Slave Act. I encouraged them to use details from the Number Mania, which is essentially details from their reading.
At the end of class, I added a few more questions to the Gimkit about the Compromise of 1850. I ran the Gimkit for 3 to 4 minutes.
Wednesday
Wednesday was a shortened class period (30 minutes) due to math testing. I wanted students to reflect on their Number Mania from Tuesday. I put together a Google Form with success criteria at the top. The success criteria contained the numbers students could have used on their infographics. I asked the students these reflection questions:
How many numbers from the provided list did you include in your infographic to support the quote “The Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 was a harsh and ineffective law that deepened the divide between the North and the South, ultimately contributing to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861”?
How well do you think the numbers you included in your infographic support the given quote?
What did you learn about the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 and its impact on the United States while creating your infographic?
If you could improve one aspect of your infographic, what would it be and why?
If you graded yourself on the infographic, what score would you give yourself out of 4 points?
This was a day to finish the Number Mania and empathy maps. A pretty easy, light day.
Thursday
On Thursday we switched to the Kansas and Nebraska Act. I asked the question, “What did voting on slavery and the Kansas and nebraska act reveal about Sectionalism in the United States?” I knew the students would have trouble with the parts of this question – Kansas Nebraska Act and Sectionalism. I didn’t want to throw too much at the students, so we focused on sectionalism for the shortened class period.
One thing I’ve been trying to do more often is using a relevant preview Activity before learning something new. I took this idea from Gene Tavernetti’s book, Teach FAST. This book focuses on how to optimize learning through designing lessons around how students learn best.
A preview activity is a quick activity where students reflect, discuss, or write out something they have experienced and eventually relate it the new content they will learn. In this case, I had students reflect, and create a Sketch and Tell, on a conflict they had with someone – a parent, sibling, teacher, or friend. They sketched about the two differing beliefs, or interests. Then they discussed the conflict with a partner. Finally, they wrote about it on the tell side.
Following the preview activity, I had students complete another Sketch and Tell. This one was about sectionalism. I had AI generate a 2 paragraph explanation of sectionalism. In my prompt, I asked AI to include Civil War and slavery context. Students created an image to represent sectionalism, they discussed their creation with a partner, and then they wrote about sectionalism. To end class, we ran another rep of the Gimmit. I added some more questions to the Gimkit about the Kansas Nebraska Act.
Friday
On Friday we addressed the second part to my question – the Kansas and Nebraska Act. I ran a CyberSandwich with this lesson. I had students read for 10 minutes about the Kansas and Nebraska Act. Their goal was to pull out 5 or more important facts that would help them answer the question, “What did voting on slavery and the Kansas and nebraska act reveal about Sectionalism in the United States?”
After 10 minutes, students discussed and compared their notes with a partner. Following this, students fixed a very vague northerner perspective on the Kansas Nebraska act.
I created another Google Form with reflection questions. I added success criteria at the top:
Explain what “popular sovereignty” means and how it applied to the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Describe the violence that took place in Kansas between pro-slavery and anti-slavery settlers, known as “Bleeding Kansas”.
Mention how the Kansas-Nebraska Act angered many in the North because it allowed the potential spread of slavery into new territories.
Explain that the Act’s repeal of the Missouri Compromise was seen as wrong by those in the North.
Note that the Republican Party was formed in response to the Kansas-Nebraska Act, with the goal of preventing the expansion of slavery.
Conclude that the events surrounding Kansas revealed the deep divisions (sectionalism) between the North and South over the issue of slavery.
I also added these reflection questions:
How many of the these details do you have?
What score would you give yourself?
Why would you give yourself that score?
To end class, I ran the Gimkit one more time – every class, except for one, got a 90% or higher class average.
This week we started state testing. We always begin with the ELA test. As a result, our schedule was a bit weird. Also, I don’t really do anything on class on ELA testing days. Staring at screen, reading, and writing for 2 1/2 hours is daunting. I’m not going to have students come into social studies only to do it all again.
This week we focused on social studies for Monday, Tuesday, and Friday. We began the week by finishing our lesson on abolitionists. Students could choose between 3 options to show their learning about abolitionists – Dinner Party (Amanda Sandoval template), Sketch and Tell, or an Instastory (Amanda Sandoval template).
Then we wrapped up our unit on Revolution and Reform with a Summative Assessment of creating a virtual museum exhibit sharing the things they learned. I gave students one class period to complete this museum exhibit.
To end the week, we began a new unit on the Civil War. I began with a Geography Challenge from TCI. WE have spent the last two weeks learning about slavery and abolitionism and this served as a nice transition to the cause of the Civil War – slavery. The geography challenge served as a nice transitioning piece from abolitionism to showing how the Union struggled over the issues of slavery and statehood.
Last Thursday we began a lesson on abolitionism. I like this lesson because I can incorporate lots of local history with abolitionists like: James G. Birney, John Rankin, and Harriet Beecher Stowe. It helps students see how their community played an important role in the ending of slavery. Here is the layout of the lesson:
Students choose an abolitionist and create a Thick Slide about their methods and motivations.
Students share their Thick Slide through a Google Form. The Google Form collects the slide links into a Google Sheet. I share the sheet.
Students choose 4 other abolitionists, read through the slides, and collect notes about them using a Frayer Model.
Students use their information to create something – Dinner Party, Sketch and Tell, or Instastory.
Students like having the choice of to show what they know about abolitionism. I tried to pick choices that varied in complexity. To me the Dinner Party was the most complex because students had to think about where toplace the abolitionists at a dinner party and think about their conversations. It’s very outside of the box thinking.
The sketch and tell is an option that students are familiar with. I selected this because I wanted students to apply a visual to the methods and motivations for abolitionists.
The Instastory template is familiar to students because it looks like an Instagram posting. Even though I haven’t used this template all year, I wanted to throw it out there and see what would happen. Here are some student samples:
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I wanted to wrap up my unit on Revolution and Reform. I wanted students to be able to answer two questions:
How was life different in the North from life in the South?
What motivated abolitionists to risk their lives to end slavery?
I needed an assessment to tie those things together. Te perfect option was a virtual museum exhibit. A few years ago, I created a template for a virtual museum, but I have never used it……until now.
When I put together the assessment, I wanted students to create an exhibits showing differences between North and South, an exhibit on slavery and resistance, and an exhibit on abolitionism. Because this is a summative assessment, I gave students the entire class period to get it done. It had to be turned in by the end of class. No working on it at home. A one shot deal.
I was pretty impressed with the exhibits:
Friday
On Friday, I introduced a new unit question, “What were the conflicts over slavery that led to the Civil War?” I began with a Geography Challenge from TCI because it was a simple way to begin the lesson. Plus, it wasn’t a daunting task that involved much reading or writing considering students spent the last 2 days doing that with testing.
I introduced the lesson by reminding students we have been learning about slavery and abolitionists. Now it was time to see how al, of these ideas played into arguments over statehood and sectionalism between North and South. We were building on previous knowledge to set up new knowledge.
We began the lesson by reading some background knowledge paired with the maps. Next, I had the students go through the steps to complete the Geography Challenge map.
During this lesson, I tried Class Companion – an self-contained AI tool that offers immediate feedback with student writing responses. Here is a brief summary about it:
Class Companion is an innovative educational app that integrates artificial intelligence to provide personalized feedback on writing assignments for students. In subjects like AP World History, teachers can assign writing prompts for students to practice answering repeatedly until they achieve an acceptable response.
The AI acts as a virtual teacher, offering instant critiques on what students did well and areas for improvement, allowing them to learn from mistakes at their own pace outside the classroom. Teachers can customize assignments, rubrics, and the type of feedback given, making it versatile across subjects requiring written responses like social studies, English, science, and languages.
The app includes anti-cheating features like detecting pasted text, tracking response times, and enabling teachers to override the AI’s grading if disputed. Students appreciate the rigorous practice and autonomy Class Companion provides in mastering structured essay writing for classes like AP History.
In summary, Class Companion harnesses AI to deliver tailored writing guidance, practice opportunities, and engagement for students while giving teachers powerful customization and oversight capabilities. Its unique blend of technology and pedagogy enhances the learning experience.
This week, I wanted to focus on the second part of our Revolution and Reform unit, specifically on the topic of abolitionism. With only 28 or 29 days of school left, it’s crucial that I carefully select the most important content to cover. Although I would love to delve into all aspects of reform movements, time constraints simply won’t allow for it. Therefore, I chose to concentrate on abolitionism and slavery this week, as it provides a smooth transition into exploring the causes of the Civil War. To build a solid foundation, I began by discussing the impact of the cotton gin, the lives of enslaved people, and the resistance they exhibited. Finally, we concluded the week by examining abolitionist reformers, which ties in nicely with some local New Richmond history.
On Monday, we wrapped up our lesson on the cotton gin, which we had started the previous Friday. The central question was, “What were the consequences of the cotton gin?” I utilized various activities such as “Annotate and Tell,” “Graph and Tell,” and a “2xPOV” (two points of view) activity. Initially, I had planned a “Sketch and Tell” where students would sketch different viewpoints on the consequences of the cotton gin, but I ultimately decided to switch to the “2xPOV” format to make the summative assessment clearer and more straightforward for the students. I allocated 20-25 minutes for them to complete their work on the consequences of the cotton gin. To reinforce their learning, we concluded with a “Fast and Curious” activity on Gimkit, where class averages ranged from 83% to 95%.
Tuesday
Tuesday marked the beginning of our exploration of the lives of enslaved people. To start, I explained the importance of using person-first language, such as “enslaved person,” “enslaver,” and “freedom seeker.” I then adapted a lesson from a textbook that my co-author, Dr. Scott Petri, contributed to – a resource written for schools in Texas that incorporates background information and primary sources to help students learn history. I was particularly impressed by the selection of primary sources and background information compiled for this lesson on the lives of enslaved people. The lesson included excerpts from Solomon Northup’s “12 Years a Slave,” Fanny Kemball’s diary, and a book written by Harriet Jacobs. These diverse perspectives provided valuable insights into the experiences of enslaved individuals.
For the lesson, I used an “Annotate and Tell” activity where students read the excerpts and highlighted instances of cruelty. To conclude the activity and elevate the depth of knowledge, I incorporated a “Thick Slide” with questions such as, “Imagine you are an abolitionist. Find quotes you could use to show people about the cruelties of slavery.” I explained to the students that during this time period, people primarily obtained news and information through stories and hearsay. Additionally, I included a “Number Mania” activity, asking students to select one number from the excerpts that surprised them. To further engage with primary sources, students were tasked with finding a newspaper advertisement seeking a freedom seeker. In the image caption, they had to explain what they could learn or conclude about slavery from the advertisement. Finally, students were asked to give the slide a title. We ended the class with another “Fast and Curious” activity to reinforce their learning.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, I started class by presenting a quote from George Fitzhugh: “The slaves of the South are the happiest, and in some sense, the freest people in the world. The children and the aged and infirm work not at all, and yet have all the comforts and necessaries of life provided for them. They enjoy liberty, because they are oppressed neither by care or labor. The women do little hard work, and are protected from the despotism of their husbands by their masters.” The students were understandably confused by this quote, especially considering the previous day’s lesson on the harsh realities of enslaved life. They expressed their puzzlement and disagreed with the sentiment expressed in the quote, which I validated. However, I pointed out that this was how information was disseminated and often believed during that era, given the absence of modern media like TV, radio, and social media. I instructed the students to keep this quote in mind throughout our lesson on resistance to slavery, as we would revisit it at the end of the lesson.
For the resistance to slavery lesson, I adapted materials from the Zinn Education Project. The lesson categorized resistance into different forms, such as maintaining family, running away, revolting, or expressing resistance through culture, religion, and music. I cut out various stories of resistance and placed them in seven envelopes around the room, each representing a different category. Students were given a series of questions and had to move around the room, find the appropriate resistance category, and write down an example. This interactive portion of the lesson took approximately 25 minutes.
At the end of class, we revisited Fitzhugh’s quote for a “Thin Slide” activity, which I conducted using Padlet instead of Google Slides. On the Padlet, I displayed the original quote and asked students to share a form of resistance that contradicted the quote’s assertion. I encouraged them to do this from memory, without consulting their notes, and to include a relevant image with their example. One feature I appreciate about Padlet is the “I can’t draw” option, which uses an AI image generator to create images based on a prompt. The students did an excellent job with this portion of the lesson.
The assessment for the Resistance lesson was a Bento Box template created by Amanda Sandoval. Or the students could create blackout poetry using a biography about Harriet Jacobs I created with AI.
Thursday
Thursday marked the beginning of our lesson on abolitionism, which ties in nicely with local New Richmond history. New Richmond, Ohio, is a town situated along the Ohio River, directly across from Kentucky. The river served as a dividing line between free states and slave states. New Richmond has a rich history of abolitionism and involvement in the Underground Railroad. Having built up the context of slavery throughout the week and discussed the cruelties endured by enslaved people, I wanted students to examine abolitionists and consider the methods and motivations behind their efforts to end slavery.
For this lesson, students chose an abolitionist to research, such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Beecher Stowe, William Lloyd Garrison, Sarah Grimké, or local figures like John Rankin and James G. Birney. They read a one-page summary about their selected abolitionist and designed a “Thick Slide” detailing the methods, motivations, and conflicts faced by that individual. Students then shared their “Thick Slide” with all of my classes through a Google Form. Next, I had students use a Frayer Model to read and take notes on four other abolitionists, focusing on their methods, motivations, and conflicts.
To assess their understanding, students had a choice between three options:
A “Dinner Party” activity, designed by Amanda Sandoval, where they arranged the abolitionists at a table and discussed the potential conversations they might have.
Creating sketches depicting the abolitionists’ methods and motivations for wanting to end slavery.
Designing an “Instastory Abolitionist” post. This lesson spanned two days, extending into Friday.
Friday
On Friday, most of my classes were working on the Frayer Model and taking notes on four different abolitionists. However, one class was ahead, so I used AI to create a tailored lesson. In our abolitionist lesson, we learned about James G. Birney, a local abolitionist who published an anti-slavery newspaper called “The Philanthropist.” I found a front page of that newspaper from December 18, 1838, and took a screenshot of a portion of it. I then input the image into the Claude AI and asked it to rewrite the article for me.
The AI-generated article discussed a community called Sardinia, Ohio, which most of the students were familiar with. It described an incident where a reverend was taken by slave catchers into Kentucky and put on trial for helping enslaved people. Using the AI, I generated a prompt: “What can we learn about the abolitionists from ‘The Philanthropist’ newspaper?” I turned this into a “Cybersandwich” lesson, with the following prompt for the notes section: “Read the article ‘Citizens of Sardinia’ carefully and identify at least three specific details or events that provide insight into the tensions and conflicts surrounding the issue of slavery in this community in 1838.”
The students were highly engaged with this lesson, as it incorporated local history that they could relate to and tied in with our study of abolitionism. This experience reinforced my appreciation for AI, as it enables me to bring more local history into the classroom using newspapers that might otherwise be challenging for students to read due to the print quality or archaic language.
This was our first week back from spring break, and just before spring break began, we finished up our unit on Westward expansion. I usually follow up Westward Expansion with some Industrial Revolution and reform movements. However, I am running out of days and just need to focus on what is important with these final days of school. So, I decided to cover the Industrial Revolution with some differences between north and south and how they developed differently in terms of geography, their economies, and transportation. The essential question was: How was life different in the North from life in the South? This blog post will be very short and to the point as we covered the differences between North and South for much of the week.
Monday
On Monday, our first day back from spring break, I began class with a Fast and Curious on Gimkit. I had 12 questions related to differences between North and South. The class averages ranged from 42% all the way to 52%. After the Gimkit and some feedback, I then switched gears to the Repuzzler EduProtocol. I used some vocabulary words such as agrarian, Industrial revolution, cotton gin, and etc. I gave students 2 minutes to share the Repuzzler with each other and 12 minutes to complete all of the slides together as a group.
Next, we moved on to the Sketch and Tell-O where students read about differences between North and South in terms of geography. Recently, I have been reading Gene Tavernetti’s book called Teach FAST. In this book, he discusses using preview activities to help students use things they already know and relate them to what they are getting ready to learn. I really like the examples he used in the book and it gave me some ideas to use in my current unit. For example, with the students getting ready to read and learn about the differences of geography in terms of northern and southern United States, I had them think about the geography in their community of New Richmond, Ohio. This way, when they got ready to read about northern and southern United States geography, they would have an idea of the importance of geography and how it impacts the way of life. I had students read and as they read, I had them complete a Sketch and Tell-O on paper. I really like this because they act as sketch notes. Students had until the end of class to read and complete their Sketch and Tell-O and explanations of their sketches.
Tuesday – Wednesday
Tuesday through Wednesday was a rinse and repeat type of lesson. I began class with a Gimkit Fast and Curious, we followed that up with a Repuzzler, and then students thought about the economy of New Richmond and then read about the different economies between North and South. They completed a Sketch and Tell-O. Then on Wednesday, it was the same style of lesson: the Fast and Curious, the Repuzzler, and then reading about transportation of north and south and completing a Sketch and Tell-O. Everything that I have students complete in my class I want it to serve a purpose. In this case, I wanted the students to be able to use their Sketch and Tell-O drawings to help them complete a map. On the map, I wanted students to cut out their Sketch and Tell-O circles, organize them in terms of North and South, add some labels, and then answer a few questions.
Thursday
On Thursday, I got to school and printed off 11×17 papers with blank outlines of the United States in the middle of each paper. On the back, I copied instructions for making an annotated map. Students were to cut out their Sketch and Tell-O circles and organize them on a map into North and South. I didn’t want them to label the circles, and then I had them answer three questions on the map which were:
What is the purpose of this map?
What similarities and differences do you see?
Create a claim about why the North and South developed differently, and provide at least two pieces of evidence from the map to support your claim.
Students really had to think about organizing and planning as they cut out circles. They had to think about organizing the circles on their map to make them fit and where they should go. Some students just started gluing stuff down and then realized that they ran out of room and didn’t glue things correctly. Some students cut out circles and forgot which ones went with North and South. I’m only 50 total minutes over two classes. We also did a Fast and Curious, and this time the class averages all ranged from 83% to 95%.
Friday
Finally, on Friday, some students still needed to finish their map so I gave them 20 minutes to finish up. Then, we began a new lesson on the cotton gin which will then get us into a lesson on slavery, abolitionism, and resistance to slavery. I put together a lesson on the cotton gin and I asked the students: What were the consequences of the cotton gin? I put together a mini lesson where students started off thinking about an invention that had unintended consequences. Next, they read about Eli Whitney and background information on him and the cotton gin and completed an ArchType for Square. Then, I had students read two primary sources about Eli Whitney and the cotton gin and do an Annotate and Tell. Afterwards, I had the students do a Graph and Tell as they looked at statistics about slavery. Finally, we wrapped up with a Sketch and Tell where they retold the consequences of the cotton gin from two points of view. We only began this lesson in class and didn’t get all the way through it.
This was the last week before Spring Break and I needed to finish the westward expansion unit. The main focus of this unit was having students understand how we acquired territories, the implications of manifest destiny, and the motivations and legacies of groups that went west. A short and simple 3 week unit.
Last Friday I left a lesson about the Trail of Tears while I was making my way to Madison, Wisconsin. The engagement level among all my classes was 85% – to me, this means 85% of students at least opened the assignment and attempted something with it. This does not mean they finished, and I didn’t expect them to finish everything.
As a result, Monday was used to finish the Number Mania about the Trail of Tears. For this activity, I provided a quote to students, “…the sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a trail of death,” and students had to find 4 numbers from the article to prove that quote true. I love using Number Mania numbers and facts as textual evidence as it gives the students a purpose for the numbers they share.
On Monday, I used a Dr. Scott Petri trick and asked the students to analyze their Number Mania infographics. I extracted all the numbers that could prove the quote true and had the students share the amount of numbers they had correct. I also asked the students to reflect, “How do your chosen statistics and information work together to paint a picture of the suffering endured by Native Americans during this period? Is the overall impact of your infographic powerful and thought-provoking?” I didn’t want this Number Mania to be a one and done activity. I love this extension that Scott does with his students. Overall, the reflections were okay. Considering I’ve only done this a few times this year, I need to make reflecting a regular aspect of my class for the future.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I asked the question, “What inspired people to go west?” This is a lesson that I took from TCI and wrapped some Eduprotocols around it for more engagement. The materials for the lesson worked perfectly with a Frayer, 3xCER, and a Sketch and Tell comic or Netflix template.
This particular lesson has a combination of secondary source background information paired with primary sources. The sources include:
Thomas Jefferson letter to Lewis and Clark to explore the Louisiana territory.
Excerpts from Josiah Strong’s book, Our Country: Its Future and Its Present Crisis.
An explanation of the Homestead Act and the song, I Will Go West, by JP Barrett.
I like the Thomas Jefferson source because it refers back to the Louisiana Purchase which we have discussed from the perspective of Federalists and Democratic Republicans. We also looked at it from the perspective of Lewis and Clark exploring from the Mr. Roughton Culture Shock lesson.
To begin this lesson, I had students Frayer the Homestead Act. I linked a brief reading that AI created and they had 4 minutes to define it, list 3 characteristics, use it in a sentence, and include a picture.
The next part of the lesson was the 3xCER. At first students struggled with pulling a claim from the Jefferson article and letter to Lewis and Clark. They struggles with this because it wasn’t directly stated – they had to process it themselves and figure it out. After noticing the struggles, we read the article and letter together and I mentioned that 4 possible claims could be pulled from the reading. We discussed as a class and this seemed to help with the other two readings.
The last piece of the lesson was creating a Netflix show description based on an inspiration or creating a Sketch and Tell comic using a Justin Unruh template. For the Sketch and Tell comic students could identify 4 inspirations or create a story about what inspired someone to go west. This was an awesome one day lesson.
Wednesday
Wednesday we built off of Tuesday’s lesson and focused on the groups that went west:
Explorers because it mentioned Lewis and Clark.
Pioneer Women because I like to include women’s history whenever I can.
49er’s because most students understand gold and people trying to strike it rich.
Mormons because it’s a fascinating story.
Missionaries – because it ties to the idea of manifest destiny and expanding religion and forcing natives to convert to christianity.
Students chose one group to read about and they used a Brianna Davis template for an Iron Chef – Archetype smash. Students had to list out the motivations, hardships, and legacies left by their chosen group. They had 20 minutes to read and make their slide – BUT there was a catch. I rolled 4 dice and that’s how many words they could use for their motivations, hardships, and legacies. I like this because it’s fun and the students end up paraphrasing the information. Some classes could use 24 words whereas other classes could only use 8 or 10.
After 20 minutes, students shared their slides through a Google Form. The next phase of the lesson was having the students read about the four other groups they didn’t make their slide about. The different word amounts ended up being a good thing because I mentioned to them, “When you are going through everyone’s slides, you need to be the judge and determine what’s good information versus not. A slide with 8 to 10 words might not be good so find a better source.” The different word amounts created this source analysis piece that I like.
Thursday
On Thursday, after the students read about the different groups, we finished up the lesson with an activity I saw on Twitter from Mr. Cline – Dividing the Pie. Lucas George did this activity for his westward expansion lesson as well.
Students had a pie chart and had to divide the pie chart up into sections based on the different motivations and inspirations for what drove people west. The options were: gold, adventure, new opportunity, spreading christianity, and escaping religious persecution. Based on their percentages, students then had to justify why they divided up the pie for the different motivations. I timed this 25 minutes and collected it after the timer ended.
After the timer ended, it was time to wrap up the unit. I like to do two-part assessments. I asked students if they wanted to begin part one (Quizizz) or part two (Bento Box) of the end of unit assessment. They chose the Quizizz – 28 questions and the same quiz they have been doing off and on for the last three weeks. All class averages combined were 92%.
Friday
Heading into Spring Break I thought an Amanda Sandoval creation, the Bento Box, would be a great way to finish the unit. With the Bento Box students find pictures of icons, artifacts, images, etc and relate the symbolism to things they learned in the unit. It’s like a mini museum curation of items with explanations. I thought this would be great because it would allow the students to share multiple artifacts and open ended enough for students to share anything they learned from our westward expansion unit. I gave the students the entire class period to finish the Bento Box and submit. These turned out awesome…
I’m currently writing this from the O’Hare Airport in Chicago as I make my way to Madison, Wisconsin for the WCSS Conference. I’m looking forward to this conference as I will meet up with my friend, and co-author, Dr. Scott Petri. We are doing multiple sessions on EduProtocols and I’m doing an extra session on utilizing AI within the classroom. I was lucky enough to meet up with Jon Corippo in O’Hare! (Thanks for the popcorn, Jon!!)
This week we continued our unit on Westward Expansion. We began the week with having the students finish their Annotated maps from the previous week. I always underestimate how long it take to complete an annotated map. Then we followed up the maps with Manifest Destiny. I looked at last year’s lesson on this topic and I didn’t like it. I revamped my Manifest Destiny lesson to something I did 10 years ago when I first began teaching social studies.
Following the lesson on Manifest Destiny, I left a mini lesson on the Trail of Tears. I assigned this lesson because some of the readings about Manifest Destiny included references to the Trail of Tears. I assigned this lesson last year and really liked the outcomes of the lesson.
For Monday’s class I noticed many students needed to finish their annotated maps on westward expansion. Some needed 10 minutes while others needed 20 to 30 minutes. In times like this, I always have some supplemental things ready to go.
The best way to include supplemental activities when students finish at different times involve Quizizz, Gimkit, EMC2Learning Penny Pedagogies, EduProtocols, or utilizing AI. In this case, I had a Quizizz ready to go with questions from the previous week’s lesson. I also had a Mad Lib I created with AI.
For the Mad Lib, I got on Claude AI and asked it to, “Write a one paragraph Mad Lib that blends westward expansion with the concept of manifest destiny.” It was a decent paragraph that I copied and pasted to a Sketch and Tell. The students that were able to do the Mad Lib seemed to enjoy it as it was something different. A nice mix up and change of pace. For those of you thinking, “How did they do with the noun, adjectives, and verbs??” The students did great with this because we have been practicing these skills recently with some 8pArts.
By the end of class, 90% of students completed their annotated map, some completed the Quizizz, and some completed the Mad Lib. Below are some examples.
Tuesday
On Tuesday we began the concept of Manifest Destiny. I looked at last year’s lesson and wanted to do something different. I began to think about a lesson I did with manifest destiny about 10 years ago…Below is my sequence…
Wicked Hydra
My lesson started off with a Wicked Hydra. In the middle of a Google Slide I typed a headline that read, “Gap’s ‘manifest destiny’ T-shirt was a historic mistake,” and placed this with a picture of the shirt. I had students working together asking questions about this headline. They have no background on manifest destiny or the Gap. Students were asking questions such as, “Why was it a mistake? What is the Gap? Why were people mad? What is manifest Destiny?” I wanted to see these types of questions. The Wicked Hydra immediately creates interest.
Thin Slide
Next in the lesson was a Thin Slide. I linked a short section of the textbook to thin slide and asked two questions, “According to the textbook what is Manifest Destiny? and If this is all people knew about Manifest Destiny, would they still be mad about the shirt?” Students read the textbook section to quickly gain some background information on manifest destiny. I set this lesson up to visit the textbook section again.
8pArts
For the 8pArts I had students analyze the American Progress painting by John Gast. Students looked through image finding nouns, adjectives, guessing the time period, and the purpose. At the end of it all they wrote a brief summary of the image. We debriefed with a short discussion of the symbolism within the painting. I told the students, “If Manifest Destiny was an image, this is it.” Slowly I was building this idea of manifest destiny in their minds.
Wednesday
On Wednesday we continued our lesson on Manifest Destiny. I was hoping the Thick Slide would have been done on Tuesday, but we didn’t get that far.
Thick Slide
On the Thick Slide I shared a link to an article about manifest destiny. On the slide I included a table that asked students to list 3 reasons people might be offended by the Gap shirt. Students also had to share a quote from the article and explain its connection to manifest destiny. They had to include a picture that related to manifest destiny and they had to redefine manifest destiny from the Thin Slide. The article I included with Thick Slide was a combination of primary source quotes and analysis of Manifest Destiny.
Gap News Article and Compare
Next I had the students read the news article I grabbed the headline from. I paired this with a comparison slide from a CyberSandwich. Students read and compared the news article with the information from their Thick Slide.
Textbook Section
The last part of the lesson I had the students revisit the textbook section from the Thin Slide. I put this on a Sketch and Tell because I was out of town on Wednesday and wanted something to look familiar. I asked the students, “What else could you add to this textbook section to better inform people about Manifest Destiny? Highlight anything new you added.” They did an awesome job adding in more details. By the end of the lesson they had a better understanding of why the Gap t-shirt was offensive.
Thursday
Thursday’s class I began with giving the students an option – finish adding to the textbook section from Wednesday or take the Quizizz I had posted. At the end of 10 minutes we played a game from EMC2Learning called Dublin Details.
In this game I gave the students a topic and they had 2 minutes to write an 8 word sentence about that topic. No more, no less. When the timer went off, they found a partner. In the second round, they had two minutes and combined ideas with a partner to make a new 16 word sentence. For the final round, students created groups of four and had five minutes to combine their ideas into a 32 word mini-paragraph. At the end of of round 3, I had each group submit their mini-paragraph through Socrative. I chose the winning paragraph, explained why, and gave feedback.
This is my new favorite thing from EMC2Learning. We did a round on a random topic. Then we did a round on Manifest Destiny. This was truly an engaging activity.
Friday
On Friday I wasn’t at school as I flew out to Madison, Wisconsin for the WCSS Conference. Again, I wanted to leave a familiar lesson – this is why EduProtocols rock!! The articles from manifest destiny mentioned the Trail of Tears and Indian Removal. So, I left a lesson on the Trail of Tears.
I adapted a lesson from TCI called, The Trail Where They Cried. I copied and pasted the article to a Google Doc and linked it to the lesson. I also provided a differentiated copy of the reading. Plus, I recorded myself reading the article and linked the recording to the Google Doc.
The first part of the lesson I had the students read and put the events from the reading into a sequential order. The second part of lesson students fill out thought bubble from John Ross and Andrew jackson. What were the Cherokees and the American government trying to achieve.
The familiar part of the lesson is a Number Mania. I like to set up Number Mania’s with a quote. I then have the students prove the quote true with number and facts from the article. For this particular lesson, students had to prove true this quote, “…the sufferings of the Cherokees were awful. The trail of the exiles was a trail of death.” This helps focus the students and the information. The students did an awesome job with their Number Manias and this lesson!
This week, we started a new unit on Westward Expansion. Last year at this time, I was ahead of schedule and created a new unit on Andrew Jackson, but I decided not to do that unit this year because I am now three weeks behind schedule compared to where I was last year. To begin this new unit, I took the question directly from our textbook: “How justifiable was westward expansion?” I also added another question: “What role did Manifest Destiny play in westward expansion?” In Ohio, our standard suggests that students need to understand and be able to describe how the United States acquired territories such as Louisiana, Oregon, Florida, the Mexican Cession, and the Gadsden Purchase. My end goal with this unit was to have students continue to work on writing with claims, evidence, and reasoning, as well as be able to summarize and describe how we acquired different territories around the United States.
On Monday, I started off with a Quizizz featuring questions related to the entire unit we are going to study on Westward Expansion. This included topics such as the territories and the people that went out west. The quiz served as a pre-assessment to see where we were and what we knew and didn’t know. The average score across all classes was around 42%. Next, I took the geography challenge from TCI and used some AI to generate additional questions. The geography challenge was a nice way to introduce the students to Westward Expansion, allowing them to see a map and become familiar with the time and space in the context of the unit.
I took the questions from TCI, put them into a Google Doc, and then had AI generate two new questions, resulting in three different levels of the geography challenge for the multiple levels of students within my class. I was really impressed with AI and the questions it came up with for the geography challenge. I had it provide several different quotes from somebody who took a trail out west, and the students had to read the description and mark an X on the map where they thought the person was located. I thought this type of question was creative and pretty awesome. Here was one of the questions: “Read this quote and place a green X on your map at the location where you think it took place: ‘We followed the Oregon Trail along the Platte River for many miles. The landscape was flat and dusty, with few trees as far as the eye could see. The river guided us on, but provided little relief from the harsh prairie winds that parched our lips.'”
After 30 minutes, I collected the geography challenge. While the students were working on the geography challenge, I set up a Great American Race by writing different people, events, and topics on index cards and numbering them. At the end of the 30 minutes, I passed out an index card to each student and had them design a slide with three clues and a picture to set up the Great American Race for Tuesday’s class. This took less than 10 minutes.
Tuesday
On Tuesday, I handed back the geography challenge and told the students we were going to use these maps, so they had to hold on to them and be responsible for them. I also printed off all of the slides they designed for the Great American Race, stapled them together, and had the students get into groups of two to three people. I handed each group a packet of the slides they created, had them get out a piece of paper, and number it from one to 20.
This was a great way to introduce some of the events, people, and content associated with Westward Expansion that the students were getting ready to learn about. It was also a nice extension after the geography challenge. I gave the students 25 minutes to look up and find the answers for the 20 slides they created. Most groups got this done, but some groups did not. It’s always funny to me how they always assume this is easy because they feel like all they have to do is just type something into Google and they’ll get the answer; however, this is not the case. They have to know exactly the important words to type in to find the answer for what they want.
After the Great American Race, I looked at the results of the quizzes from the previous day and noticed that students were having trouble coming up with the answer for the Great American Race slides for annexation and cession. I anticipated this and had Sketch and Tell slides ready to go for these two words. We ended class with a Sketch and Tell on annexation and cession.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, now that we had the geography challenge and the Great American Race complete, it was time to dive a little deeper into the territories associated with Westward Expansion. I reminded the students of our essential question: “How justifiable was westward expansion?” To begin class, we looked up and completed a Frayer model for the word “justifiable.” I gave students three to four minutes to look it up, write a definition, find examples and non-examples, and use it in a sentence.
Next, I used an idea that I saw on the EduProtocols+ Hot Shot Show with Drew Skeeler. I used a geography template that I applied to a Frayer model. I had the students pick a territory from Westward Expansion, and they had to describe its relative location, use a compass to identify what was north, south, east, and west of the territory, find a geographical feature, and list a state that was created from the territory. I had the students use their geography challenge maps to help them with some of this, and I told them we were going to use that map again. This was a great way to help the students become familiar with their territory in a geographical context.
I then stated that the territory they chose was the territory they were going to create a Thick Slide about and share with the class. I had AI generate readings for all six territories and asked AI to provide context and details on how we got these territories and the consequences of each. I also mentioned our essential question in my prompt so AI could generate the readings to help students answer the question of how justifiable Westward Expansion was.
Students read about their territory and created a Thick Slide using the “Somebody Wanted But So Then” framework to retell how we got that territory. They provided two pictures and used some claim, evidence, and reasoning to answer the essential question. Reading and creating the slide took about 20 minutes. Once students were done, they shared a link to their slide through a Google Form, and I compiled all the slide links from the form into a Google Sheet and shared it with all of the classes. The last thing I had students do was take their territory and create a title and show description related to their claim, evidence, and reasoning from their Thick Slide. This was a simple way to end class for the last 10 to 15 minutes and a great way to incorporate some Depth of Knowledge Level 3 with the learning.
Thursday and Friday
On Thursday and Friday, I began class with a Quizizz because I ran out of time from the previous day. We were then going to start an annotated map, which I like to do with this unit because it fits with the standard and learning expectation of being able to summarize and describe how we got the territories during Westward Expansion. With an annotated map, you can either have the students hand draw a map or use a pre-made map and label it and cut it out. In this case, I had the students get out their map from the geography challenge, and I had them finish labeling the map with all six territories. Then, I had them glue the map to the center of a big piece of paper, and around the map, they were going to have to summarize and describe how we got the territories along with the consequences of it. Also, at the top, I had them write, “How justifiable was westward expansion?”
The idea of the annotated map is that you begin with the essential question in mind, work through the lesson, and then circle back to the original question at the very end, using evidence from all of your summaries to answer the essential question. To get their information, the students were going to use the slides that their classmates shared. I like doing this activity as it connects all my classes, and we are learning from each other. Plus, I like this lesson as I tell the students they must evaluate the sources that their classmates have created for them and ask themselves, “Is this a reliable, valid source which is going to give me the information that I need?” If not, then they should move on and find another source that they think is better.
I was hoping the annotated map would take two days, but we’re going to have to use a little bit of class time on Monday to finish them up. On these two days, we also did a little Fast and Curious with Quizizz, and the scores of the classes were really good. Based on the scores that I have seen, I really like this sequence of the geography challenge and EduProtocols for student learning.
This week we continued with the War of 1812. I used a great lesson from Mr. Roughton called “Weigh the Evidence.” I thought this would be a great follow-up from Friday’s lesson about the War of 1812 and how James Madison responded to British impressment. I like this particular lesson because it was a refresher of the War of 1812 and it had students practicing writing a claim, using evidence, and reasoning.
We followed up this lesson with a lesson on the Monroe Doctrine. However, I had to leave town and needed to leave a self-sufficient lesson. I was also out of town Wednesday and needed to leave a familiar lesson. The goal was to end this unit this week so I can move on to something new. Since I was out, I left some hexagonal learning. This is something we have done at least 5 times this year. Each time my focus is getting the students to add more, be more descriptive rather than just restating the concepts in the hexagons. We also finished up the lesson with a Quizizz.
On Friday we wrapped up with a game. I didn’t feel like starting a new unit and then immediately go into the weekend.
On Monday I wanted to keep the War of 1812 lesson going and I found a lesson from Mr Roughton’s website called “Weigh the Evidence.” In this particular lesson, there was a series of slides where I presented six artifacts related to the War of 1812 to the students. I then asked the question “Should the War of 1812 be considered a positive event for America?” I then went through the artifacts with the students and they had to determine which was a reliable source, which was useful, and which was not. They then rated each artifact on a scale from -2 to +2, with 0 meaning the evidence was not useful at all. This was a great lesson to work on analyzing primary sources, secondary sources, and thinking about what was decent evidence versus not.
We began by looking at the Treaty of Ghent, a Wikipedia page, an engraving showing the burning of Washington, statistics from a textbook on casualties, a parody movie trailer, and the song “The Battle of New Orleans” written by Johnny Horton. Students gave each artifact a rating and explained why they rated it that way. At the end, they added up their ratings. If they had a negative number they saw the War of 1812 as a negative event. If they had a positive number they saw it as a positive event. And if they ended up with zero, they had a decision to make.
I really like the structure of this lesson and the numerical rating system really helped students make an informed decision before writing their paragraph using claims, evidence, and reasoning. When it was time to write, I had the students type their paragraphs into a Google form to submit. I then downloaded the paragraphs, put them into Claude AI, and gave whole-class feedback. We discovered that our claims were pretty good as they were definitive. The use of evidence was also really good but our reasoning needed some work – it was often not developed enough or too basic. This was great feedback to give the students the next day.
Tuesday
On Tuesday I was only at school for half the day before I had to leave to catch a plane to New York. The last president we covered was James Monroe. With Monroe, we simply learned about the Monroe Doctrine – my goal is for students to understand its purpose before high school. In this lesson, I had students analyzing political cartoons related to the Monroe Doctrine. There were five cartoons I wanted them to examine. They could walk around viewing printed copies, access them on their Chromebooks, or I stapled packets together.
One by one, students looked at the images and made a prediction about what they thought the meaning or purpose of the Monroe Doctrine was based on the cartoon. After predicting, they watched an EdPuzzle video to check their understanding. I followed this up with a “sketch and tell” activity – students had to draw their own political cartoon showing the meaning of the Monroe Doctrine and explain it. We ended with a Thin Slide: “One thing you learned, one image, one word” to wrap up the remaining 8 minutes.
Wednesday and Thursday
On Wednesday and Thursday, I wanted to wrap up the unit with a familiar activity since I was out on Wednesday attending an AI conference. When I’m gone, I’ve learned students engage better with familiar tasks rather than introducing something brand new. As a result, I left instructions for hexagonal learning. We have done this five times already this year. I like hexagons because the activity is flexible enough to be an assessment allowing students to demonstrate their learning in creative ways. With so many recent absences due to illness, it also works for students at multiple levels – I can tailor it as needed by removing or adding hexagons.
Some students I just asked to connect hexagons, others I asked to connect and share five things they learned. When I returned Thursday, students checked their work against a success criteria checklist I provided. Some criteria included: 3 connections explaining Federalist views, 2 connections showing how a president responded to foreign threats, 2 connections about strengthening national government. I also had a simpler checklist for struggling students: make 5 connections about anything learned.
We also discussed adding more descriptive detail, using transition words like “because” instead of just turning the hexagon text into a sentence. To wrap up, students completed a Quizizz mastery check. They had 10 minutes to earn at least 90% to demonstrate their knowledge.
Friday
On Friday, I found a review game on EMC2Learning rather than start something new before the weekend. The game was like Scattergories. I put up a topic like George Washington, Declaration of Independence, or Bill of Rights. A video scrolled through the alphabet and I stopped it on a random letter. Students had 2 minutes to brainstorm related words starting with that letter. We shared words in groups, some students had to explain connections back to content. It was fun, made them think creatively, and worked on listening skills as groups crossed off duplicate words.
Moler's Musings 