Classroom Podcast Project: A High-Impact, Low-Prep Activity for Middle School

As educators, we all want to empower students to take control of their learning. If you're like me, you love seeing your students actively engaged in research while building creative and critical thinking skills through hands-on learning. Watching students work on collaborative projects brings you immense joy and hearing them exclaim, "Today was fun!" is music to your ears. 

To bring this vision to life, I created the Create Your Own Podcast Project - a ready to use resource that makes launching a student-led podcast simple, engaging and deeply rewarding.

What's Included?

⭐12 Resources for Teachers and Students - use all the activities or just choose the ones you wish to use as students create their own podcasts!

• An Overview of the Project - it will guide you through the activities included in the resource.

• The Teacher Checklist - use the checklist to prepare for the project in your classroom and set students up for success.

• The Rubric - graded categories included content, design, neatness, speaking style and group work. The point values are left blank so you can customize it for your classroom.

• Teacher Notes - print out a page for each group and take notes for yourself as you monitor student progress on the project. It will make grading easier in the end!

• Create Your Own Podcast Directions - basic directions for students that explains the purpose of podcasts and an outline of the steps they'll take to create their own podcast.

• The Podcast Checklist - a step-by-step checklist for students to use as they plan, create edit and revise their podcast.

• The Audience Activity - students will pair up with another student in the classroom to complete this interview-style activity. Along the way they'll learn important information about their audience which they'll use as they create their own podcasts!

• The Script - students can use these pages to write an outline for the script, take notes or even write the script itself.

• Role Cards - use these role cards to give specific jobs to students. There are 6 role cards included, and students can take on more than one role.

• Podcast Advertisement Activity and Point Sheet - task students with creating an advertisement for their podcast and hang it up in your classroom to create buzz and excitement before students present their podcasts to the class!

• Student Reflection Activity - after presenting their podcast, students can use the reflection activity to share their experiences and thoughts about the project.

⭐Create Your Own Podcast Slideshow - a 10-page slideshow (PowerPoint and Google Slides versions included) to teach students about the purpose and types of podcasts and a step-by-step guide to creating their own podcast! (Slideshows are not editable)

The Create Your Own Podcast Project is a game-changer for student engagement, collaboration and critical thinking. Whether you're fostering discussion, storytelling or research skills, this project empowers students to take ownership of their learning in an exciting, real-world format - without extra prep for teachers!

Ready to give it a try? Download the Create Your Own Podcast Project today and watch the excitement unfold in your classroom!

Engaging Activities for the Last Weeks of School

The days of summer vacation are growing ever closer! If you're like me, you are trying to finalize lesson plans for the year and create engaging, fun and educational activities for the last weeks of school in your classroom! Here are five ideas I think your students will love.

Idea #1: Trivia Competition

It's time to review some key facts your students have learned throughout the year. Hosting trivia games is easy and fun! I love using the free Trivia Game for Secondary Students activity in my classroom. All you'll have to do is create questions, print the game board and open the included Excel spreadsheet (for super easy scoring)...and voila! Your kids will love the competition while they review the information they've learned all year long.

Idea #2: Debate Day

My middle school students love to debate pretty much anything! Hosting a debate in your classroom is another fun way to review important topics from the school year or focus on issues that are important to your students. Along the way they'll be collaborating to organize their ideas, using critical thinking skills and practicing their public speaking skills, too!

Idea #3: Create a Class Documentary

Your students will have a blast creating their own documentary at the end of the school year! Plan to set aside 4-5 days for this project and watch your students collaborate in small groups and engage their creative thinking skills to write a script and create a video to show to the class. This activity is one of the most memorable ones I do all year! Everything you need to host this project in your own classroom is ready for you in the Create a Class Documentary resource on TPT.

Idea #4: Leave a Legacy Letter

Your students have grown so much over the course of the school year and are now experts on how to succeed in your classroom. At the end of the year, ask students to write a letter to a future student. Encourage them to give meaningful advice on how to be successful, share their best memory from the school year and write words of encouragement to the students who will follow in their footsteps next year. Keep the letters safe and share them with your classes at the beginning of the next school year for a fun and sweet surprise. 

Idea #5: Historical Board Game Day

Ask your students to work in groups to develop a fun board game to play in class! Students can use popular board games and develop their own questions based on the year's curriculum or design a completely original game with their own rules, game board design and questions. On Historical Board Game Day, students can take turns playing games created by their classmates as they review information they learned throughout the year!

I'd love to know if you used any of these ideas with your students! Leave a comment below and share which one your students liked best. :)

The Teacher's Prep

YouTube Videos for Teaching Geography and Map Skills

I love finding ways to utilize helpful videos during lessons in my middle school classroom. One of my earliest units in the year is Geography and Map Skills. Here are some of my favorite videos on YouTube that keep my students engaged and enrich the concepts they are learning and practicing in school!  

Pursuit of History: Types of Maps

Crash Course: What is a Map?

Pursuit of History: Map Skills

The Singing History Teachers: The Map Features Song

BrainStuff - How Stuff Works: How Do GPS Coordinates Work?

Pursuit of History: Themes of Geography

James White: Five Themes of Geography Song

Which one(s) do you plan to use in your classroom this year?

Happy Teaching!

3 Activities for Middle School Students After Spring Break

 

Ah, glorious Spring Break. It's a much needed break from the rigors of school, both for teachers and students, and gives us a taste of the freedom of summer vacation on the horizon. There's just one catch - reengaging students  in the learning process when they return from the break can be a daunting task! You could always jump right back into regular content, but you may find that students have a hard time focusing after a week away. Here are 3 easy ideas to use in the your classroom when you return from Spring Break that helps students refocus on the school year ahead:

Idea #1: Play a Review Game. This is a personal favorite because it's easy and helps students refocus themselves on the content they recently learned in class. You can easily make review games using websites like Blooket and Kahoot or host a trivia game in your classroom filled with information they learned before Spring Break. My students love trivia games and there's a free trivia game template in my TPT store which you can customize for your own students!

Idea #2: Set SMART Goals. The last quarter of the year always seems to fly by! Set aside time to help students evaluate and reflect on their progress so far this year and establish new goals for the last few weeks of the school year. Students can keep their SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound) goals in their binder or folder for easy access so they can see them frequently throughout the last quarter of the school year!

Idea #3: Host a Debate. If you teach middle school students, you'll know that they LOVE to debate anyone...anytime. Harness that passion for debate and discussion into a meaningful activity that will awaken students' minds and excite them for the last quarter of the school year. Your debate topic can be centered around recent content you've taught in class or be more general. Here are some debate topics to consider:

1. Is homework beneficial to students?

2. Should students be required to wear uniforms?

3. Should students be allowed to use cell phones in school?

4. Should the voting age be lowered to 16?

5. Is year-round school beneficial for students?

Which idea do you like the best? Whatever you choose to do, I know you've got this, my friend! 

Free Introduction to Social Studies Mini Unit

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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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5 Reasons to Love Social Studies Web Quests

There's nothing quite like the feeling of looking around your classroom and seeing students engaged in an activity that introduces them to a new concept or deepens their learning. I'm always on the hunt for activities that will keep students' interest and web quests are one of my go-to resources for that very reason.

P.S. Stick around until the end of this post to snag a web quest to use with your students - a little gift to you! 

What's a web quest? A web quest is a digital scavenger hunt. During the activity, students visit websites or watch short videos on platforms like YouTube while answering questions or completing various tasks. 

5 Reasons to Love Web Quests

Reason #1: Web Quests Engage Students

I know I said this before, but it's that important to me! I love using diverse activities in Social Studies units. Today it's a web quest, tomorrow they'll focus on guided notes, next week they'll design a creative project - you get the idea! There are certainly common activities that keep each unit "grounded" (interactive notebook notes, for example), but I also love to keep things fresh. Web quests are an easy choice for that reason! Since students are visiting multiple websites, it keeps their interest in the activity. They also have to read and "hunt" for answers in different places

Reason #2: Web Quests Use a Variety of Sources

As history teachers, we love using a variety of primary and secondary sources throughout our units, right?! Web quests take students on a journey through web sites and videos that prompt them to analyze different sources and use historical thinking skills to answer questions. In the span of one class period, students might interact with informational text from a secondary source, analyze a historical document and watch a video that features both secondary and primary sources. In the process of completing a web quest, they're activating their critical thinking skills to analyze these sources and reach conclusions.

Reason #3: Web Quests Promote Critical Thinking

When I create web quests, I love incorporating a wide variety of question types to promote critical thinking skills. A mixture of questions that prompt students to recall facts, explain concepts, and interpret documents are used in conjunction with questions that ask students to compare and contrast various sources or ideas, defend their opinion and more. I love asking students to stretch their minds and think critically and creatively about the topics they're learning in class. It's easy and fun to do through a web quest! (Click here to see some of my favorites!)

Reason #4: Web Quests Help Students Learn Research Skills

My administrator loves seeing students use technology safely and productively in class. Web quests, by nature, promote that very practice! Students are guided to various sources online to answer questions and complete tasks. They get to practice using online sources that are reputable and safe. Oftentimes, they'll return to those websites on their own when completing research projects, which is so awesome to see! I always preview every website I send my students to before assigning a web quest. Making sure the links work properly and it's a website I feel confident using with my students is super important. 

Reason #5: Web Quests Are Easy

As teachers, we're always keeping our eyes open to spot ideas and activities that will be easy to implement in the classroom. I love a good challenge, but there are some days when I want something that's effective, meets the state standards, engages my students...and is easy to implement in my classroom. Do you ever feel the same way? Web quests meet all of those goals. If I'm using a printable web quest, I'll often make the links available on my class website so students can click on each one when needed. When I use the digital version, I just assign it to my students and PRESTO! They can click on the links in the web quest themselves and off they go. 

If you want to try a web quest in your classroom, I'd love to send you one as a gift! Fill out the form below and a download will be sent to your inbox. I'll also keep you updated on exciting lesson ideas, inspiration for your classroom and welcome you to a community of teachers who share your passion in bringing history to life in our classrooms!

Download the Historical Thinking Skills Web Quest!

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