PETE&C: Civil War Experience Podcast Project

We are so excited to be presenting in the Student Showcase at PETE&C on Tuesday, February 14th!  Please check out our project packet and our podcast examples below.

Emma

Marie-Louise

Mini-Lesson: Wrap Up Ideas

Every good lesson includes a 3-5 minute wrap up activity.  Sometimes this is called closure.  The purposes of a wrap up include:

• reinforcing the major points to be learned
• providing time for processing what has been learned and students' organizing of the information
• encouraging individual and group reflection on the lesson
• giving the lesson concepts further meaning for your students by connecting to present day issues and/or past units of study
• teacher assessment of student learning (did they get it?  what questions do they still have?)

Here are some ideas for lesson wrap-ups:

• ask students to fill out a "ticket to leave" in which they write 2 things they learned in the lesson (or variation); can also use footprint shapes for students to record what lessons they are "walking away with"
• ball toss:  write questions on a beach ball ball and toss it to students. whoever catches the ball must answer one of the questions on the ball.  can also use a ball without writing and just ask the questions orally

Questions might include

I learned...
I'm beginning to wonder...
I have a question about...
I'm beginning to understand...
I want to know…
I feel…
I think…
Today, I understood…
I was surprised that…
I would still like to know more about…
I am still confused about…
This lesson was valuable because…

• circle out:  have students stand in a circle and share something (what they learned, what they liked best, what they still don't understand, what they're wondering about... a zillion ways to do this)
• whip around:  students share one word or phrase that summarizes the lesson for them (could also create a group wordle or tagxedo with the words)
• 1 minute picture:  give students 60 seconds to draw a picture of the most important thing they learned in the lesson; have them share with partners
• headlines:  students write a one sentence headline summarizing the lesson (can be combined with picture)

For more ideas, check out 40 Ways to Leave a Lesson

Mini-Lesson: Warm Up Ideas

A typical lesson plan includes a warm-up or motivating activity.  The purpose of a warm-up can include the following:

• generate students' interest in the topic
• find out what students already know about the topic
• wake them up and get them excited to learn more

Warm-ups can take many forms.  Some ideas include:

• music!  listen to a relevant song
• movies!  share a relevant movie clip
• art!  analyze photographs, posters or paintings
• stories! share a relevant story (fiction, historical fiction, oral history) that will pique students' interest
• poetry!  read a relevant poem
• vocabulary!  share important words related to the topic; perhaps using a wordle or tagxedo
• drama!  give students short scenarios and ask them to act out the scene in 30 seconds or less (want to give them props?)
• statues!  give students a scene or image and ask them to recreate it using their bodies as statues (perhaps project backgrounds for them to use)
• comics!  share a political cartoon or relevant comic
• games!  play a quick jeopardy review, hangman, tic-tac-toe (have to get question right to place an X or O), etc.
• connections! show students how the topic connects to today or a past unit of study

Here are some links for more ideas!
About.com 10 Warm-Ups for Lesson Plans

Mini-Lesson: Bibliography Reminders

The project rubric includes a section for your resources.  You must prepare a bibliography to submit along wtih your final lesson plan.  The rubric reads:

Bibliography – list of sources used includes at least 6 well-chosen sources, including the 2 or more primary sources used in the lesson, and is formatted in proper MLA style in alphabetical order; bibliography is due the day the lesson is taught