Rise of Dictators Pop Up Notes

This wonderfully creative lesson has students creating pop up figures of 5 dictators who came to power in the 1920's and 30's before World War II.

Included is a sheet with 5 people to cut out: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Francisco Franco, Benito Mussolini, and Hideki Tojo. Students then place these onto an included world map that covers 2 pages of their notebooks with spaces for notes about each person.

A powerpoint comes with this download as well that covers everything students need to know based on Common Core Standards. The powerpoint has a warm up, quotes, pictures, and all relevant information for each dictator. This lesson is amazing for your visual and kinesthetic learners as they are creating a fantastic visual representation of dictators literally rising up out of their notebooks.

A free Preview file is available as well with the pop ups, notes pages, answer key, and 1 sample powerpoint slide. The full download includes the full 14 slide powerpoint with incredible images and quotes like below:

Spanish American War Timeline Using Primary Sources

Our newest lesson covers the "splendid little war" known as the Spanish American War. Although brief, this war is essential for students to understand how America transitioned into becoming a world power.

In this lesson, students analyze 10 primary sources from the Spanish American War, including cartoons, newspapers, lithographs, maps, and pictures all related to each aspect of the war.

Students then match these documents to questions along a timeline. The documents begin with a cartoon related to America protecting Cuba and move through the explosion on the USS Maine, the Teller & Platt Amendments, Rough Riders, Yellow Journalism, Buffalo Soldiers, Philippine-American War, and more. 

Each task is of varying difficulty and caters to visual and kinesthetic learners in having them finishing sketches to reinforce concepts. An answer key is included and can be seen below. You can download this lesson for your classroom by clicking here. A free preview of all the documents in the lessons is available as well.

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!

Turning Paper Boxes into Picket Signs - Strikes & Labor Lesson Plan

In this creative cooperative learning activity, students create picket signs from old paper boxes that tell the story of some of the most famous labor clashes in American History.

Included are 7 one-page stories on each of the following: The Homestead Strike, Haymarket Affair,Pullman Strike, Ludlow Massacre, Great Railroad Strike of 1877, Flint Sit-Down Strike, and Memorial Day Massacre.

In groups, students then complete the reading and create a picket sign that tells the story of that strike and present them to the class:

  

As groups present, a Venn Diagram helps students organize similarities and differences between the different strikes:

Lastly, students complete a set of comprehension questions. A rubric for the presentation is included as well as an page describing the procedures in detail and pictures of completed examples.

This can be downloaded from this link and is a very fun activity that your student will remember and enjoy!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Major-American-Strikes-Labor-Issues-Picket-Signs-Lesson

Super Sunday Sale this Sunday!

Our site of resources is having a sale in partnership with Teachers Pay Teachers using the promo code SUPER for up to 28% off all of our amazing classroom resources. Hope you find some resources that you find helpful for your classrooms!

World War II Keynote Presentation

Although I use my school/work computer for most lessons in the classroom, sometimes I want to create a more visually dynamic presentation for my students. This is when I use my Apple Macbook's Keynote software. Keynote has a lot of great features that Powerpoint lacks and one of the best is the ability to seamlessly embed videos into your presentations and edit them to your needs.

This World War II Keynote presentation is one of these lessons I created. It covers the major battles and events of the war and includes 8 short clips to help students better understand what happened. Slides include information in simple, easy to understand language for your students:

The videos include Churchill speaking, a Japanese suicide bomber, US newsreel footage and more. Maps show students exactly where each battle took place, and the videos and pictures bring them to life. My students are always all engaged throughout this entire lesson. I know your students will do the same. You can download this Keynote presentation here and use it today!

Stetson Kennedy Vs. the KKK

I read the great book Freakonomics a few years ago and found that a lot of it would be great to use in the classroom. One of the best stories in is about how the writer and civil rights activist Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan and funneled info that he learned to the writers of the Superman radio show. They incorporated these details into the show and the result was a generation of kids growing up to see the KKK as the evil bad guys, as opposed to how many Southern whites had traditionally thought of the Klan.

I researched some more and put together this story and worksheet which is available for download here. It is a simple 1 page story that will hopefully motivate your students to think differently about how to fight against injustice.

Hope you enjoy it!

The Effects of the Industrial Revolution & Communism

Our latest interactive lesson for World History covers the lasting effects of the Industrial Revolution. I've always had an easy time teaching how it starts and the major inventions, but the effects of the revolution are what probably most important for students to learn because they changed so much about the world.

This lesson available for download features a visually striking powerpoint that covers the major effects of the Industrial Revolution. Rather than simply copying the notes, students must analyze whether each effect was positive or negative and list it in the correct category:

While some such as "improved education" are simple, others like "population increase" lead to excellent class discussions as students weigh the pros and cons. Each slide features a captivating visual representation of the category that will surely benefit your visual learners:

The second half of the powerpoint compares capitalism & communism as a response to the effects. Similarly, students place characteristics such as "redistribution of wealth" under the matching philosophy.

The lesson includes a graphic organizer on which students complete the notes as well as a culminating worksheet. The worksheet is based off of the notes and can be completes without any textbook. Both Word and PDF files of the worksheets are included for your convenience along with the powerpoint from here.

Hope you can find this lesson useful in your class!

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!!

Essential Knowledge of the Civil War

Many of my high school students have limited English proficiency and lack the background knowledge that comes with attending school in the US for your entire life. To help them grasp large topics, I created simple to read, 1 page overviews of our unites in American History.

This one (which you can download here) covers the American Civil War. Vocabulary that students need to know if defined and each aspect of the war is explained in simple terms for students so that they do not need to rely on background knowledge.

The 2nd page is a worksheet of 8 open-ended and multiple choice questions based off the reading. These questions guide students toward the essential information they need to know.

Here are some sample images of what the worksheet looks like:

   

This worksheet can be download by clicking here. Hope you can find this useful for your students.

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!

One Year of World History Warm Ups

Last week we posted a video preview of a year's worth of warm up questions from US History to help start each class period. The video below is from a World History II class that covers material from the Renaissance & World in 1500 up through the present day. Each class period begins with one of these slides and allows students to get settled in and right to work. 

The full powerpoint is available to download here. Since using these warm ups I have found my students are immediately more engaged and are demonstrating greater comprehension of the material.

Martin Luther Protestant Reformation Pop Up Notes

This visually inventive graphic organizer is like a pop-up book for students to organize essential information on Martin Luther, his 95 Theses and the  beginning of the Protestant Reformation.

To reinforce the problems within the Catholic Church, students cut open the church doors and write the problems of the church underneath the doors. So the problems are literally inside the church!

Here is a completed version from a student's notebook:

Included in the download is a simple powerpoint that guides students through the esential information. Here are some sample slides:

    

    

This is a fantastic, creative activity that works especially well with my English language learners, special education students, and visual or kinesthetic learners. You can download the entire bundled lesson plan here!

Hope you find the lesson useful!

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: