Happy Constitution Day!!

As History teachers are well aware, September 17 is designated as Constitution Day.  This became a day of federal observance in 2004 following passage of a clause proposed by Senator Robert Byrd to commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution. Senator Byrd envisioned this as an opportunity for all Americans to learn more about our founding document. Additionally, this clause requires all schools that receive federal funding to teach about the Constitution.

The Constitution is a regular topic within our classes. However, federal mandate dictates that we offer further instruction on this document on September 17. I have heard teachers bemoan the fact that they must take a day out of their regular instruction to teach the Constitution or complain that this is a way to indoctrinate our young to certain political beliefs. These isolated complaints aside, most teachers I know are supportive of this day and use this break from their regular instruction in a productive manner to help students better understand and recognize the significance of our founding document and resulting system of government.

This day offers teachers and their students another opportunity to explore this amazing document. I know I am preaching to the choir, but it is amazing that the Founding Fathers were able to construct a framework that was (and still is) acceptable to the diverse wants and needs of our nation. This document is exceptional for the way it pulled the early American states together, giving the people and the states a voice in the federal government, but I think it is even more astonishing that the Founders were able to craft a document that has been able to adapt to a changing world. Over the last 228 years this framework has allowed our nation to deal with expansion, division, oppression, innovation, war, crises, and much more.

Constitution Day offers us a great opportunity to expose our students to the wonder of our founding. I encourage all teachers to seize this chance to allow your students to explore the Constitution (what a great opportunity to integrate a primary source!) and to allow them to see why this document has endured through the years and become a model for the world. Below are a few of the thousands of resources available for teachers and students to use on Constitution Day:

• National Constitution Center - includes an interactive Constitution, Constitution Hall Pass videos, Constitution Day Live Blog (answering questions about the Constitution), lesson plans, Preamble kit, Which Founder are You Quiz, naturalization test, and more
• National Archives  - includes information, activities, a teaching unit, and more
• Discovery Education - includes live events, lessons, and resources
• iCivics - includes a number of great activities, lessons, and games
• TCI Lesson Plan (History Alive!)
• Civics Renewal Network - includes lessons, activities, games, and the Preamble Challenge

I’ll trade you 2 Hitlers for 1 Churchill - Creating Trading Cards of WWII Leaders

As we begin studying World War II, I like to ensure that my students are familiar with the major world leaders.  This allows them to recognize the trend toward totalitarian governments and how this was a contributing factor in the outbreak of World War II.  It also familiarizes students with names and forms of government that will come up again over the course of our study of World War II

  

Over the years I have used several different lesson ideas to allow students to investigate these world leaders.  This year I decided to have students create trading cards to illustrate key concepts related to each leader.  Students were assigned a leader to investigate and determine how they came to power, the form of government each utilized (including a brief explanation of how it worked), ways they helped their country, how they abused their power, and the role they played in World War II.

  

After students gather this information, they are ready to create their trading cards.  Over the years I have used a number of different tools for this activity.  The first time I had students create trading cards, I made a template in Microsoft Word for them to use.  Other times I have used My Trading Cards or ReadWriteThink’s Trading Card Creator.  This year I decided to use Big Huge Lab’s Trading Cards because I felt like its layout was the easiest for students to include the required information.

  

This lesson went very well.  With a little guidance, students did a nice job locating the necessary information and they seemed to enjoy the task of creating trading cards.  It allowed some freedom and creativity of expression while still achieving my goals for the lesson.  Depending on the level of the class, the amount of time available for the lesson, and access to resources, the teacher may want to provide selected readings or primary sources for students to use to investigate their assigned leaders.

  

This is an activity that is adaptable to many different topics.  At different times, I have used similar lessons to allow students to investigate the Founding Fathers, Progressive Era reformers, 1920s cultural personalities, and civil rights leaders.  This activity can be used for any lesson where the desired outcome is familiarization with individuals who played an important role in history.

  

   

   

Twit for Tat – Simulating a Twitter Debate between FDR and Hoover

  

In studying the Great Depression I strive to ensure that my students understand the causes of the depression, the debate over how the government should respond, the effects upon the American public, and the long term effects of the depression (including economic, political, and social effects).  Today I would like to describe a class activity I have utilized to help students recognize the varying views on how the government should respond to an economic crisis.

  

My goal for this activity is for students to recognize how Franklin Roosevelt’s response to the Great Depression represents a break from past policies, particularly those of Herbert Hoover.  To achieve this outcome, students must understand the basic philosophies of Hoover and Roosevelt and recognize that politicians and citizens alike have differing views as to how the government should respond to a crisis.  

  

In planning how to best achieve this outcome, I tried to think of how students could relate to a philosophical debate.  I considered conducting a traditional class debate on the topic, but I decided that students might better relate to a form of debate that involves an activity many of them engage in daily.  This led me to develop an activity where students simulate a Twitter debate between Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt.

  

I began by assigning half the class a background reading on Hoover’s philosophy for ending the Great Depression while the other half read about Roosevelt’s beliefs for ending the economic crisis.  Each student was then paired with someone who read the opposite philosophy.  Groups were instructed to simulate a Twitter debate between Franklin Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover with each person taking on the role of one of the presidents.

   

I investigated several tools for simulating Twitter.  Fake Tweet Builder seemed like a good possibility, but it was blocked by the internet filter at my school.  I then looked into Twister, but it is designed to simulate tweets from one person which did not meet my needs for a debate.  Finally I determined that a template might meet my needs better than an online simulator.  I settled on a Twitter Template for PowerPoint that allowed students to replace profile photos with images they found online and  customize the tweets allowing them to simulate a debate.

   

I feel this lesson achieved its desired outcomes.  Students demonstrated understanding of the different political philosophies concerning the government’s role in an economic crisis and engagement was very high.  Many students commented that they enjoyed this activity because it utilized a tool that is a part of their personal lives and they enjoyed the chance to customize the activity by including pictures, hashtags, and “Twitter slang.”

  

   

   

He Did It! – Wanted Posters Illustrating Who is to Blame for WWI

I believe that it is important for educators to allow opportunities for students to create.  This piques student interest by allowing them to be creative and providing some measure of choice in their learning.  Creating also requires a more thorough understanding of the significance of history than merely answering questions or completing a worksheet.  I have found that this practice works very well in conjunction with inquiry-based learning activities.  As a firm believer in inquiry-based activities, I often allow my students the opportunity to create a product to demonstrate their learning.

 

This practice can take many forms ranging from long summative assessments to brief formative checks of learning.  Last week I gave students a chance to create as a chance for me to check their understanding of the outbreak of World War I.  This followed an activity where students examined primary sources to determine the causes of war and a class discussion of the chain of events that led to the conflict becoming a world war.  As a formative check of understanding, I asked students who was to blame for the beginning of the First World War.  Rather than a simple written summary expressing their opinion, I asked students to create wanted posters to illustrate their view of who perpetrated war.  I decided that it was important for students to think beyond their initial impressions of guilt, so I required each student to create two posters to demonstrate the role of two separate individuals.  Depending on the availability of technology, students can draw their posters on paper or use one of many templates available online.

 

Students were instructed to model these posters after the wanted posters of the Old West.  Each poster needed to include the name of the person charged with the crime, a picture of the individual, a brief explanation of their guilt, and a list of allies and enemies.  Students were interested in this assignment because it allowed them a chance to be creative and  to make something fun.  This assignment also achieved instructional goals by helping me to gauge how well students understood the outbreak of World War I and the role different individuals played in the beginning of the war.

 

This activity can then be followed up with a lesson on the course of World War I, including the realities of life in the trenches 

  .

Who Am I? -- Introducing the Teacher through Primary Sources

from: http://aminecube.deviantart.com/art/who-am-i-251512536

As we begin another school year I’ve tried to rethink some of my beginning of the year activities.  I have always felt it is important to expose students to the procedures and routines that are expected within my classroom.  I also think it is essential for students to become comfortable in my classroom, get to know each other and get to know me.  This year I have tried to incorporate all of these introductory activities into a lesson that allows students to begin practicing skills that will commonly be used in the study of history while being exposed to the idea of an inquiry-based approach to learning.

 

I think it is important to introduce students to the study of history early in the year.  This means conveying to students the importance of approaching the study of history as a historian would; piecing together primary sources to try to form a complete picture of the past.  

 

This year I developed an activity to try and combine these objectives into an introductory activity.  This activity begins with a quick discussion of how we learn about history.  Students usually respond by stating that it comes from a book or from the internet.  Further prompting leads students to begin listing things such as letters, diaries, documents, etc.  This opens up a discussion to explain the difference between primary and secondary sources.  The differences between these two types of sources can be further clarified by the video “What is a Primary Source.” 

 

The next phase of this lesson allows students to practice analyzing primary sources in order to form a picture of the past and, in the process, to get to know more about me as a person.  Students are placed in cooperative learning groups of 2-3 and each group is given a few primary sources that relate to various aspects of my life.  Some examples of the types of sources I included are my high school diploma, one of my senior pictures from high school showing the sports I was involved in, ticket stubs from football games I attend, the program from my college graduation, my diploma from my master’s degree, my first teaching contract, some of my favorite books, pictures of my wife and kids, pictures of me camping and canoeing with my family, and my wife’s school ID that shows she is also a teacher.

 

Students work with their groups to analyze the primary sources, completing a chart to record a description of each source and any inferences that can be drawn from the source.   These inferences go beyond a mere summary of the document to draw conclusions based on evidence from the documents.  These conclusions will help explain something about me as a person.  This allows students practice analyzing sources and considering the significance of each source in helping to explain the past.

 

After analyzing each source, students put together all of their information and inferences to form a complete picture of me as a person.  Groups will illustrate their image of me by filling in an outline of a human body that represents me.  Students are instructed to add clothing, accessories, or anything in the background to help illustrate me as a person.

 

To promote a sense of community, each group is given a chance to share their picture of me and explain to the class how they arrived at their conclusions about me.  Students begin to feel like they know a little about me, but they are left with more questions.  After allowing students to ask additional questions about me, we discuss the benefits and shortcomings of primary sources in studying history. 

Students have now had a chance to get to know a little about me, so I transition into an activity that allows me to get to know each of them.  Each student needs to determine what is important about them as a person and brainstorm 5 primary sources that demonstrate these aspects of their life.  Students do not need to bring these sources to school, but rather just describe them in writing.  Along with the description of each source, students include an explanation of what someone could learn about them by examining the source.  Lastly, students complete a picture illustrating important things about them as a person.  Much like the picture they made of me, this will involve adding details to an outline of a human body.

 

This lesson worked very well to achieve the objectives I had for an introductory activity.  Students gained experience working with primary sources on an inquiry-based activity, they got to know a little about me as a person, they were introduced to some of their classmates as they worked together, and they were exposed to the procedures and routines I expect them to follow as we work in groups and complete in class activities.  I was also able learn a little about each of them as they explain primary sources from their lives and create a picture of themselves.

  

Picture Perfect – Creating Animoto Videos to Illustrate Life During the Great Depression

Today I came across one of the numerous lists of top 10 technology tools for teachers.  As I scrolled through the list I saw several resources I was familiar with, a few new tools, and a couple of resources that I have used in the past, but had forgotten about.  While scanning this list I began thinking about some of the web-based technologies that I have had success with.

 

One of my favorite technology tools for the classroom is Animoto.  Animoto is a web-based tool that allows users to create high quality videos that incorporate pictures, videos, and text all set to music.  One of the reasons I really enjoy Animoto is because of the simplicity of creating a professional looking video.  Students get very excited to create these videos and it does not take an extended amount of class time.  Anyone who is unfamiliar with Animoto should view the sample of videos created for educational purposes.  

 

Animoto allows users to create a free 30 second video, or teachers can apply for a free Education Account which will give you a promo code that allows you to create 50 Animoto Plus accounts. Animoto provides some helpful hints about setting up these accounts, including a method to create multiple accounts associated with the same email address.

 

As with other technology tools, it is important that Animoto is used to achieve an academic objective rather than simply being a toy to play on the computer.  To this end, Animoto’s blog includes a post discussing 6 ways to use Animoto in the classroom.  I have used Animoto for several different U.S. History projects, including an I Love the . . . project where students focus on a particular decade to create a video that highlights significant events from the era.  I think the most successful Animoto project I have utilized relates to the Great Depression.  There are so many powerful photos from this era that it helps to reinforce the suffering experienced by many Americans in the 1930s.

 

To ensure the achievement of academic goals, I begin this project by assigning students an essential question to research.  I use the following questions:

1. How did the Great Depression affect the lives of American workers?
2. What hardships did urban residents face during the Great Depression?
3. How did the Dust Bowl affect rural residents during the Great Depression?
4. How did popular culture offer an escape from the Great Depression?
5. How did the Great Depression affect family life and the attitudes of Americans?
6. How did the Roosevelt administration address the concerns of African Americans?
7. How were women affected by the Great Depression?
8. How were children affected by the Great Depression?
9. How was Franklin Roosevelt viewed by American citizens?
10. How did the New Deal affect American citizens?

After completing their research, students must submit an essay that provides an answer to their essential question.  This ensures that students understand the historical significance of their topic.
  

Upon completion of the essay, students may begin gathering images that help support their response to an essential question.  To ensure that students are gathering pictures related to their topic, I require them to write a brief explanation of how each picture helps to support their essay. 

 

Students are now ready to create their videos.  Animoto has made this an extremely simple process.  Students simply have to upload pictures and/or videos, choose their music and add text to their video.  Although text is limited to 90 characters per slide, it is possible to add more text by using PowerPoint to create an image file of the text.  This offers a method of increasing text, however, I usually encourage my students to try to limit their text to the 90 characters allowed by Animoto.  This allows them to add some explanation, but it ensures that the images are still the focus of the video.

 

I have had excellent experiences with Animoto.  Student comments on Animoto have been overwhelmingly positive.  Many students talk about showing their projects to their parents and friends.  This verifies my hopes that Animoto can be a tool that piques student interest while allowing for the achievement of academic standards.  

Below are a few examples of Animoto videos created by my students.

   
    
    

     

 
   

Who Dunnit?? -- Recreating the Kennedy Assassination for a Critical Analysis of Evidence

As I debated whether to enter the world of educational blogging (To Blog or not to Blog . . .), one of my reservations was whether I would have time to regularly update a blog.  Over the last few weeks, this concern became a reality.  Although I have not updated Adventures in History Class for a few weeks, I am not abandoning this venture and I am going to make an effort to be more consistent in my posting.

 

This week I taught about John F. Kennedy’s assassination, which is one of my favorite U.S. history lessons.  I enjoy this lesson because I am personally interested in the topic, but also due to the fact that it is one of the lessons that students come back years later to talk about.  Year after year this lesson piques student interest while forcing them to think critically about every piece of information.

 

My goal in presenting this lesson is to expose students to the controversy surrounding JFK’s assassination while forcing them to interact with historical details.  I am not trying to promote any conspiracy theories, but I do want students to recognize the reasons why as many as 80% of Americans have expressed doubts about the findings of the Warren Commission.  In the process, I am able to incorporate a review of some of the key concepts we have studied throughout our unit on the Kennedy administration.

 

I begin the lesson by showing the Zapruder Film.  Before showing the film, I warn students that it is a graphic video of a sensitive nature and they must be considerate of this during the video.  As we watch the Zapruder Film, I ask students to describe what is shown and to detail any evidence investigators could draw from the video.

 

After discussing the evidence in the video, we re-create the scene of the crime.  I display a diagram of Dealey Plaza and explain how different parts of our classroom will represent key locations within Dealey Plaza.  

 

Next I assign students to take on the role of witnesses to the assassination.  Each student is given a slip of paper including a brief summary of statements given by the witness they represent (witness statements can be gathered and summarized from many websites including: History Matters: The JFK Assassination, JFK Online, and Spartacus Educational).  Any combination of witness statements may be used; I usually use Nellie Connally, Bob Jackson, Harold Norman, Jean Hill, Abraham Zapruder, S.M. Holland, the Umbrella Man, and the Dark Complected Man.  Additionally, I have students take on the role of JFK, Jackie Kennedy, and John Connally, although these students are not given slips to indicate their recollections.  I recognize that the credibility of some accounts of the assassination have been questioned, but this spurs just the type of conversations that I want students to have.

 

The students playing each role are placed in the appropriate locations in the room to represent their vantage point in Dealey Plaza and we go around the room with each student sharing a summary of the actions and/or statements given by the person they represent.  Following each statement, students are allowed to ask questions and to speculate as to how this testimony could provide clues to an investigator.  As we discuss the various observations, I throw in additional information following each account of the assassination.  Through this process I incorporate background information on Lee Harvey Oswald, Oswald’s purported actions following the assassination, the Magic Bullet theory, Jack Ruby’s role, conflicting claims about the wounds suffered by JFK, and further information about each witness and their account of the assassination.

 

Lastly, I ask students to analyze one of the theories posed on Spartacus Educational (scroll down about two-thirds of the way to the section titled Primary Sources: Theories).  After analyzing one of these theories, students complete a writing assignment where they either support or refute the theory they chose to read.

 

Inevitability, students are completely engrossed in the conflicting evidence and various theories involving the assassination of John F. Kennedy.  This high level of engagement along with seemingly contradictory evidence and accounts results in students analyzing available data and thinking critically about all information, which is exactly what I want students to do as they study the past.