Happy Sunday, friends! I hope you’ve had a relaxing weekend and are ready to tackle the week ahead. For the first time in what seems like months, we didn’t leave town for a soccer or volleyball game, which meant we had time at HOME! Needless to say, I feel much more rested at the end of this weekend than I have in quite some time! One of my favorite features of my flipped classroom is that my students have more time in class to CREATE representations of what they learned AND have choices in how they do so. Here are two recent examples from my classes!
Federalist v Anti-Federalist
Understanding the arguments of Federalists and Anti-Federalists is essential to the study of early American politics surrounding the Constitution. However, learning the differences and applying that knowledge can be tricky, and … let’s face it … a bit boring! Instead of giving my students a traditional worksheet or quiz, I provided them with two very different options for showing what they learned: a table or a conversation. Students who prefer the organization or simplicity of a table can take advantage of the table provided in this template, while students who love to share what they know through more creative avenues can do so – all within the same template!
I created this template for our lesson on Federalists and Anti-Federalists, but it can easily be adapted for other compare/contrast topics.
Conversations with a King
I LOVE this activity! When we analyze the Declaration of Independence, students can feel disconnected due to the challenges of reading a primary source. Students choose 5 of the grievances made against the king from the List of Grievances and, working with their peers, discuss why these complaints are impactful or meaningful. Then, working with their group (this could be an individual assignment/extension opportunity as well) students choose from one of the following templates (ALL of these + tons more can be found in Create: Illuminate Student Voice Through Student Choice!) to create a conversation with King George III. They can choose to be any number of people from the founding era, such as Thomas Jefferson, Patrick Henry, Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, or any other person who may have lived during that period. Then, using the grievances they chose, they pick a social media template to use as they create a representation of what they learned. They share the grievances in “21st-century language” which demonstrates what they have learned – AND they’re having fun doing it!
I created this activity to help my students analyze the Declaration of Independence, but it could easily be adapted for other content areas/lessons!
How do you encourage your students to create?
Thanks for reading 🙂
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