American Imperialism: World Leader or Bully?

This downloadable worksheet combines several layers of Bloom's Taxonomy, including comprehension, analysis, and critical thinking as students review 10 US actions during the Age of Imperialism.

Included are the US purchase of Alaska, Spanish-American War, building of the Panama Canal, the annexation of Hawaii, and more. For each event, students must determine whether they feel the US was acting like a "world leader" promoting good or a "bully" acting in its own self-interest.

Whatever their decision, they must provide evidence to back up their claim. After completing the chart, students then determine whether America overall acted more like a World Leader or a World Bully and compose a short persuasive essay on their choice.

I did not include an answer key because each aspect of this is opinion-based and arguments could be made for either. However, if you would like a completed student sample, please let me know and I will supply one!

Click here to download this lesson for your student to use today!

Civil War Wanted Poster & Plaque

My classes are currently starting the Civil War and some students have had a difficult time seeing two "different Americas" and understanding point of view. To help this and cover some of the many abolitionists, generals, and politicians of the day we just completed this project. 

Students read about and analyzed various Civil War-era figures as either criminals or heroes based on how they are viewed by the North or South. The famous abolitionist John Brown for instance was said to possess a “transcendent moral greatness” by Henry David Thoreau. Senator Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, however, called him “nothing more than a murderer, a robber, a thief, and a traitor.” Many of my students like people from history to be simplified as either "good guys" or "bad guys", but it's important for students to understand why someone can be seen as both. 

One one side of this worksheet, students create a commemorative plague to honor the great accomplishments of one of the assigned figures. They must name their award, come up with 3 reasons why he/she is being awarded, an appropriate date, and write down who is presenting the award. Here is one sample:

On the opposite side of their worksheet is a template for a wanted poster to capture him or her as a known criminal. This side must include a picture, last known location, reward, who the person is wanted by, and 3 crimes/reasons why they are wanted. Here are a completed versions on Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant:

  

On the students' list of possible choices, I included Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, J.E.B Stuart, Robert E. Lee, Robert Gould Shaw, William T. Sherman, Harriet Tubman, John Brown, Ulysses S. Grant. However, you could certainly add any number of Confederate or Union figures depending on your curriculum.

All of the resources needed for this project can be downloaded here: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Civil-War-Wanted-Poster-Plaque.

Thanks & good luck!

Animated Battle of Antietam Map

The Civil War Preservation trust has a lot of incredible resources for helping teachers cover the Civil War. This includes iPad, iPhone, and Android apps for each major battle, an entire curriculum for elementary, middle, and high school, and a ton of other resources for teachers.

To me however, the best resource they have created is this animated map and video of Antietam. Created in honor of the battle's 150th anniversary, it does an amazing job of showing how the death toll mounted so quickly and terribly. The flash video mixes in reenactments and video footage with the animated troop movements on computer-generated maps for a truly amazing multimedia experience. This is exactly the type of media that Students of History supports - it uses technology effectively to support learning, makes the content relevant and engaging, and is effective for all learners.

Definitely recommend you check this out when you cover the Battle of Antietam in your classes!

American History Vocabulary Football League

One of the most important parts of teaching history is helping students to learn vocabulary. However, many of my students traditionally struggled in their history classes due to difficulty with content and academic vocabulary. I wanted a way to make learning essential vocab more engaging for them and hit upon the idea of combining it with their love for football and competition.

The resulting Vocabulary Football League (VFL) has completely revolutionized my teaching. An otherwise dreary activity becomes much more fun and I have students actually LOOKING FORWARD TO QUIZZES now! This entire year-long package can be downloaded here.

How it works is each week students are placed in groups of 4 and assigned a real NFL team. Each week they are given a set of 12-15 words like the one below:

Over the course of that week, we cover that material and students are responsible for looking up and defining those words in the notebook like so:

At the end of the week, students take a 10 question vocab quiz on those words. To differentiate for learners in my classes, I allow some classes to take the quiz open notebook, others to use a word bank, and my upper level students are not allowed any resources. Allowing students to take quizzes open notebook encourages them to complete the definitions for homework on their own time and I've found helps vocabulary comprehension. Here is a sample vocab quiz on the Revolutionary War:

I have students write their answers on the opposite side to ease grading and prevent cheating. Included in this download are all 16 sets of VFL vocabulary terms from US History that cover the early colonies through World War II and 32 corresponding quizzes. Since my students sit in groups at tables, I created 2 different versions of each quiz (hence 32 quizzes for 16 sets of words). .As a bonus, I included 2 "playoff" quizzes and a "Super Bowl" that use terms from throughout the year. 

I have been doing this with my classes for 6 years now and they all LOVE it! The kids get so into the competition that it turns quiz day into an exciting event! Inside the zipped folder you will find a directions sheet with all 32 teams to use, your 16 lists of vocabulary ready to print, and all 19 quizzes ready to go. This can last you all year long!!

Hope you find this project as powerful as I have!!

World War II Service Plaques for Navajo Code Talkers, Tuskegee Airmen, Rosie the Riveter, & Nisei Soldiers

This downloadable creative, fun activity for World and American History classes has students reading short, one page stories of minority groups that helped during World War II. These include one page each on:

1. The Navajo Code Talkers
2. The Tuskegee Airmen
3. Rosie the Riveter
4. The American Nisei Soldiers

Here are some sample images of what the readings look like:

Each page is simple and engaging for middle and high school age students, and is based on state and Common Core Standards for history. Students then use the information they read to create commemorative plaques that honor that group for their service.

To differentiate for your classes, higher level students can read and complete all four. Lower-level readers can be placed in groups of 4, with each student reading a different story, completing a plaque, and then sharing his/her plaque with the others. English language learners or special education students can be placed in groups with all the same story to create a plaque together, and then present theirs to the rest of the class.

Here are some sample, completed plaques from a student:

 

As a final activity or for homework, there are 10 review questions in which students identify characteristics of each of the four minority groups.

This is a fun activity for students to learn about some of the groups whose amazing bravery and contributions helped American through World War II. Click here to download this activity for your classes and let us know what you think!

Dinner Party Lesson Plans

One of the most difficult things about planning a wedding was the seating arrangements. My wedding had tables of 8 and we struggled to put together groups with things in common who would enjoy each other's company.

This process got me thinking that this would make for a great lesson plan! Students have to think critically about various figures in history to seat them at a table with things they have in common. It makes for a great review after presenting information on a lot of people. Here are 2 I've used in World History that you can download and 1 from US History:

Age of Enlightenment Salon Party

One of the most difficult units for my World History II students is the Enlightenment. There are a lot of very similar people they need to know, all with difficult names. This Enlightenment Salon Party is a fantastic way for students to process their learning. I first present the important figures of the Enlightenment in this powerpoint you can download for free here. Here are some sample images from the powerpoint:

     

French Revolution Dinner Party

This next lesson on the French Revolution has students place 8 key figures like Robespierre and Louis XVI in a way that keeps the dinner from turning into a "reign of terror".  Besides just identifying people as Jacobins or monarchists, students must make connections between various ideas and philosophies. The lesson includes 8 short biographies students can read in groups and discuss. Here are some sample images from this lesson:

      

 

Gilded Age Dinner Party

Lastly, for American History, I created this lesson for a Gilded Age Dinner Party that includes both Robber Barons and Progressives. Like in the French Revolution lesson, students read biographies of 8 people and must think critically to seat them next to others and justify their seating arrangements.

Louis XVI "Harry Potter Magic Portrait

Want to really get your students attention during a typical powerpoint presentation? How about if the old portraits look around the room, smile, laugh, wink, and sneeze! I got bored adding the same old portraits to my slides and tried to think of a way to make them more engaging.

I thought back to the magic portraits in the Harry Potter movies and then found a way to make them! The program CrazyTalk allows you to edit any portrait into a moving "magic" video. It takes a lot of work to make them perfect, but I started on a few and got addicted.

A free sample of an animated King Louis XVI embedded into a powerpoint slide is available for download here.

You can see the complete French Revolution powerpoint with many of these moving magic powerpoints in this video: