Activities for History
Note Taking and Choosing Information
Submitted by: Amy
May 7th, 2010
Categories: 5th Grade | 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade | Art | Classroom Management | History | Language Arts | Math | Music | Reading & Writing | Science
Estimated Time: 10-20 minutes
Description: One of the hardest things to teach is how to take notes! Kids always want to put way too much information - especially when they're listening in teacher-led discussions. My trick? For a short activity, I provide the information in a 10 minute lecture - but the kids can only write on one side of a 4x4 Post-it®! We then post the post-its up on a giant post-it and discuss what information was important, what wasn't, and what they should be writing in a lecture!
Ask the Expert
Submitted by: Anne-Marie
May 3rd, 2010
Categories: 1st Grade | 2nd Grade | 3rd Grade | 4th Grade | 5th Grade | 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade | Art | Classroom Management | ESL | History | Language Arts | Math | Music | Reading & Writing | Science | Special Education
Estimated Time: 20-30 minutes
Description: When we are begining a new unit I write key terms, people, locations etc. for the upcoming unit on Post-it® Notes (one per note). These post it notes are placed on our classroom word wall. Each student is assigned to become the expert on one of each of the key terms, places etc. that are listed, using post-it on our word wall. They sign the corner of the post-it, do their research (in class/homework) and during the course of the unit, as we come across these key terms, etc. each student, I mean expert, teaches the class about his or her term, person, place etc. The post-it stays up and kids use them as a reference for who to ask when seeking clarification or additional information about one of the word wall terms. The kids are empowered to "be the expert" on a particular piece of the curriculum and it encourages cooperative learning and positive social skills among my students. This can be used at almost any grade level and in any subject area. This project also allows the teacher to easily differentiate instruction by allowing the student to present their knowledge of the key term in a variety of ways while maintaining the consistency of using the post-it note system to make a word wall.
Human Number Line
Submitted by: Celena
April 26th, 2010
Categories: 4th Grade | History | Math | Reading & Writing | Science
Estimated Time: 20-30 minutes
Description: Students use Post-it® Notes to create anchor numbers for teaching decimals and fractions on a number line. Then they place the post-its on their hands, where their elbow joint is and their nose. Their parnter has to decide where the other stickie numbers go based on the anchor numbers. The kids have a blast practicing and taking turns being the human number line and they don't even realize they're learning!
No More Worries!
Submitted by: Dee
April 7th, 2010
Categories: 3rd Grade | 4th Grade | 5th Grade | History | Language Arts | Math | Reading & Writing | Science
Estimated Time: 10-20 minutes
Description: The day prior to taking an important test, the students take out a Post-it® Note to write down all their worries about taking the test. We then watch a Powerpoint with the lyrics and music to the Lion King song, Hakuna Matata. Then we crumble up our Post-it notes and throw them in the trash so we don't have any more worries before taking the big test! This allows the students to be more stress free before the big test day! This could be used in any tested subjects.
Ticket Out the Door
Submitted by: Kristin
March 29th, 2010
Categories: 5th Grade | 6th Grade | 7th Grade | 8th Grade | Art | ESL | History | Language Arts | Math | Music | Reading & Writing | Science | Special Education
Description: The students are each given one Post-it® Note at the end of the class period. To be able to get "out the door", they have to write about something they have learned that day. As they leave, they must hand the Post-it note to the teacher to be able to leave.
