3 Bell Ringer Ideas That Save My Sanity

What bell ringer ideas are lifesavers for you? Let me know in the comments!

Free Weekly Lesson Guides for Ancient & American History

You have a lot on your plate each week as a teacher. You are balancing a mountain of work and finding time to create engaging lesson plans each week is a challenge - even when you love that part of your job! Between preparing activities, researching videos and resources, and ensuring your lessons align with educational standards...it can get overwhelming. But what if you could receive a comprehensive lesson guide each week, packed with exciting activities, resources, websites, video links and more - all completely free? 

As a fellow Social Studies teacher, I'm excited to share weekly lesson guides for American History and Ancient History delivered right to your inbox each week. These guides are completely free and designed to make your job easier and engage your students as you bring history to life in your classroom! Whether you're teaching about ancient civilizations or American history, these guides will help you save time and create fun learning experiences for your students.

What's Included in the Weekly Lesson Guides?

• Lesson Ideas: Find ideas and plans for engaging and interactive social studies lessons including bell ringer ideas, discussion questions, activity ideas and exit ticket prompts.

• Student-Centered Activities: Each week includes relevant resources to engage your students in the study of history. Depending on the week's topic, you may find links to interactive notebooks, graphic organizers, skits, informational text, document analysis, projects and so much more!

• Website Links: I love finding student-friendly websites! Throughout the weeks, you'll find curated links to educational websites and online resources to enrich your lessons.

• Video Links: Find recommendations to relevant YouTube videos to supplement your social studies lessons and bring topics to life in new ways!

Why Should You Sign Up for the Free Lesson Guides?

• You'll Save Time: Lighten your load! These weekly lesson guides are designed to give you back valuable time in your week. Just open your weekly email and find a treasure trove of activities, links and videos to give your lesson planning a head start.

• Engage Your Students: Keep your students excited about history with lessons that are designed to be both educational and fun. From class discussion and debate ideas to skits, projects and other interactive activities, you'll never know what you'll discover each week!

• Access to a Digital Library of Lesson Guides: You'll always have access to lesson guides from past weeks. No matter where you are in your curriculum this year, you can look back and discover valuable lesson ideas that have been added to the Digital Library!

How to Sign Up for Free Weekly Lesson Guides

Ready to get started? Signing up is easy and completely free! Choose which lesson guide you want (you can totally choose both!) and enter your name and email address below to start receiving the weekly lesson guides!

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Lesson Ideas for the 2024 Presidential Election

 An election year offers a fantastic opportunity to bring current events and civics lessons into the classroom. As teachers, it’s our job to present an unbiased look at the election process as we aim to facilitate healthy discussion, when appropriate, and guide students in becoming responsible citizens capable of making their own informed decisions. 

Whether you plan to cover the events of the 2024 election in a day or in an entire unit, these activities, videos and websites will help bring the topic to life in your classroom!

Note: Please preview all websites, videos and resources before your students use them to ensure that the content is age-appropriate and relevant to your curriculum. 

Engaging Activities

The Presidential Elections Web Quest from The Teacher's Prep 😃 is perfect for the teacher who wants to give students an overview of the election process - from the primary elections and the national conventions to the general election and the role of the Electoral College. Students will watch two brief YouTube videos and visit student-friendly websites to learn about the process of electing a President of the United States while completing the four-page web quest. It includes a printable version, Google Slides version and Easel by TPT version to fit the needs of your own classroom and students.

P.S. If you've never tried a web quest, you can download the Historical Thinking Skills Web Quest for free here! 

FREEBIE ALERT: The 2024 Electoral College Map is ready to hit your inbox today! While watching the results of the Presidential election or analyzing it afterwards, students will color in the states red (Republican) or blue (Democrat) based on which candidate wins the popular vote in each state. It's a fun and engaging way to teach students about the importance of the Electoral College to the U.S. Presidential election.

I love interactive notebooks. They’re engaging and keep students interested in the content as they organize their notes. The Voting and Elections Interactive Notebook covers voting rights, the voting process, types of elections, the Electoral College, the Presidential campaign process and campaign finance. Each time it’s used, student notes are organized and can be referred back to often during lessons on the election cycle. The kids love to get out the scissors and glue sticks and customize their notes. If you’re interested in learning more, it’s available on Teachers Pay Teachers right now. There’s even a digital version for teachers using Google Drive in their classroom. J

Exciting Videos

I love finding engaging, educational and age-appropriate videos to show students! Here are some of my favorites when teaching about Election Day! 

What Happens on Election Day? by Pursuit of History

Does Your Vote Count? by Ted Ed

Looking for more videos? Check out my Political Parties and Elections Playlist on YouTube to find relevant videos for your lessons!

Educational Websites

I’m so thankful that iCivics exists. My students love it! The site includes an Election Headquarters with short lessons on the Electoral Process, Candidate Evaluation and Voting. One of my students’ favorite parts of the site is the games section. Two games specifically reinforce concepts related to the election process: Cast Your Vote and Win the White House. These games are a fantastic resource for early finishers or as supplemental activities to your lessons on the election process.

Britannica ProCon.Org - 2024 U.S. Presidential Election    

Procon.org's site for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election offers a selection of valuable resources like the recent results from primary elections, profiles on the current presidential candidates and information about issues that are relevant to the election along with candidate viewpoints. Some of the topics may be more suited for older students.  

The Living Room Candidate   

Can’t get enough of those campaign commercials? While we might be tired of seeing candidates in our living rooms by the end of the season, the commercials offer a great learning experience for our students. The Living Room Candidate is a website that has archived commercials that date back to 1952 and recent elections! I appreciate that there are so many options available for teaching students the process of evaluating presidential campaigns.  The website also includes a selection of lessons geared towards teaching students about evaluating campaign ads.

Election Central Collection by PBS            

The Election Central Collection by PBS has a collection of helpful video resources that relate to the election process. You can search for resources related to topics like: Elections and Campaigns, the Political Party System, How Voting Works and more! 

 What resources do you use to teach about the presidential election? I'd love to hear about them so share in the comments!

Thanksgiving Holiday Lesson Ideas for Middle School Students

Welcome to the season of gratitude and giving thanks! Engaging Thanksgiving activities aren't just for elementary students anymore. Middle school students can join in on the fun! As Thanksgiving approaches, teachers have a unique opportunity to teach their students about the history of the holiday and its significance in American culture. Here are some fun and educational ideas just for you!

Idea #1: Consider teaching your students about the origins of Thanksgiving and the history surrounding the creation of the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. An easy, no-prep option is The History of Thanksgiving Web Quest.  You can print it out or assign it digitally. All your students need is access to the internet! They'll watch two brief YouTube videos and visit kid-friendly websites to learn about the story of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people and their celebration of the harvest in 1621. They'll also explore the history of Thanksgiving as a national holiday, including its declaration by President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War and the involvement of presidents like George Washington and Franklin D. Roosevelt in the establishment of the holiday. Finally, students will learn about the debate surrounding the first Thanksgiving and understand common customs and traditions associated with the holiday. At the end, you can ask your students to compare and contrast the origins of Thanksgiving with their own family traditions, if you wish!

Idea #2: Explore the cultural significance of food! Thanksgiving is a holiday that is centered around food. You can teach your students about the cultural significance of food and how different cultures celebrate with food. Encourage your students to share their own family traditions and recipes. Top it off with a fun Thanksgiving feast or party in your classroom if you have the time!

Idea #3: Create a gratitude journal. Thanksgiving is a time for gratitude and reflection. Encourage your students to create a gratitude journal where they can write down things they are thankful for. This can be a great way to help them develop a positive mindset and foster a sense of gratitude.

Idea #4: Consider incorporating a service project or community activity into your Thanksgiving lesson plans. Encourage your students to give back to their communities by volunteering at a local food bank or homeless shelter, or by collecting donations for those in need. Alternatively, you can talk to your principal and choose a volunteer activity to improve your school community! This will help your students understand the importance of gratitude and giving back, and encourage them to make a positive impact in their communities.

Thanksgiving is a great opportunity for teachers to engage their students in meaningful discussions about history, culture, and community service. Leave a comment if you tried one of these activities or have a favorite that I didn't mention! 

Easy Ideas for a Classroom Newsletter in Middle School

As teachers we are BUSY. Between teaching, lesson planning, grading, meetings, extra duty assignments...you name it...teachers do it! A vital part of teacher and student success in a classroom is something that can easily get pushed to the wayside...regular parent/guardian communication. With the use of email, communicating with families is easier than ever before.

Here are three tips to make communicating with families a breeze:

Tip #1 - Send Your Newsletter Electronically

Stay out of that copy room, my friend! Regular (weekly, bi-weekly or monthly) communication with families doesn't need to be printed out and sent home with students unless a student's family doesn't have access to the internet or email. You can simply write your message in a mass email (don't forget to BCC parent emails!) or use a template, save it as a PDF and attach it to your email. 

Speaking of templates...

Tip #2 - Use a Newsletter Template

Design your own template in Canva, Microsoft Word or Google Docs or use some templates specifically designed for Social Studies teachers teaching Ancient History or American History (check them out here!) to expedite the process of designing professional-looking newsletters. If you'd rather not take the traditional newsletter route, a simple email will be perfect!

Tip #3 - Fill the Newsletter with AWESOME

Each newsletter you send should serve a purpose...sometimes multiple purposes! A positive, uplifting and timely newsletter can promote a positive relationship between the teacher and families. Not sure what to include in your newsletter? Keep this list handy and choose a few each time!

1. Upcoming due dates

2. Recent class activities

3. Student work samples

4. Upcoming test dates

5. Study strategies

6. School-wide events

7. Donation requests

8. Student Spotlight

9. Supplemental activities

10. Helpful blog posts

Challenge yourself to send one newsletter or email update to your students' families within the next week. It is truly amazing to see the positive benefits of regular contact with families!

Happy Teaching!

A Classroom Favorite: Historical Thinking Skills Web Quest

I love creating engaging activities for students which bring history to life in my classroom. Before my middle school social studies classes dive into the study of history in depth, we always start off the year with a unit about historical thinking. Students learn about the differences between primary and secondary sources and how to analyze historical documents. These basic skills will be a significant part of our units of study throughout the year, so it's an important topic to teach at the start of the school year!

One of the activities I love to use with my students is a Historical Thinking Web Quest (click the link!) which you can download for FREE! 

What is a web quest? A web quest is a digital scavenger hunt. Students use multiple types of sources on the internet to discover answers to questions. It's a great way to introduce new concepts or review previously learned material.

In the Historical Thinking Skills Web Quest, students will visit two websites and watch a YouTube video to learn about the differences between primary and secondary sources, understand how to analyze historical documents and even practice their skills by analyzing a famous painting from American history! There's also a Check Your Knowledge section at the end that prompts students to review their new knowledge of historical thinking skills.

Oh...AND the free download includes a printable PDF and a link to a Google Slides version as well for all my techy teachers. :)

I absolutely love working alongside amazing Social Studies teachers like you and I can't wait for you to try this web quest in your own classroom! 

Happy Teaching!

The Benefits of Using a Word Wall in the Middle School Classroom

The Benefits of Using a Word Wall in the Middle School Classroom

Do you use a word wall in your classroom? A word wall is a wall (or bulletin board) where frequently used words are posted for students to see. In my middle school Social Studies classroom, my word wall is filled with vocabulary words from our current unit. The more students see and interact with the vocabulary words, the more comfortable they will be when using them in group discussions, in writing activities, when making new connections between concepts and more!

What Does a Word Wall Look Like in the Classroom?

A word wall is placed in a location where students can easily see it during class. I have a specific location in my classroom where my word wall stays all year. The words on the wall change with each unit, but the location remains the same. When teaching or reinforcing vocabulary words during a unit, you can point to the words and easily refer to them frequently throughout the year. Students also know exactly where to look to review words and definitions! Your word wall can include vocabulary words or vocabulary words and their definitions. I also love to include pictures alongside the words so that students can see the word, definition and a symbol or picture that represents the word at the same time. 

How Can I Make a Word Wall?

Making a word wall is easy! You can type the words (or words and their definitions) on the computer and print them out. You can also use index cards and write one word on each index card. If you're looking for ways to save time, I've created word walls for each Ancient History and American History unit in my TPT store! (Click here to check them out) Just print and post them on your wall and you're ready to go. You can even laminate them and save them for future years!

How Can I Use a Word Wall?

It's important to use your word wall frequently throughout the year. Point to the words when you use them in the unit and encourage students to reference the word wall during class activities and discussions. The vocabulary activities in my TPT store directly correspond to the word walls so that students are consistently engaging with the words in dedicated vocabulary activities and within the instructional activities for the unit as well. It's fun to involve students in creating the word wall, too! When a new word is introduced, allow a student to place it on the word wall. The more they interact with it, the more confident they will be in using the vocabulary during class.

A Bonus for You!

If you're on the fence about using word walls in class, I invite you to try one for free! Fill out the form below and I'll send the Introduction to Social Studies Word Wall directly to your inbox. It is a great resource to use at the beginning of the year when you are introducing foundational topics or to keep up all year long for students to see! After all, they're probably frequently using words like point of view, bias, primary source, secondary source, timeline, chronology and more all throughout the year. Fill out the form and print and post your word wall in the classroom today!

Get started with word walls today!

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