Kolanda's Social Studies Classes

This activity is used as a collaboration, critical thinking, get-to-know-you, and/or problem solving activity. For the activity students are deserted on an island left only with the given list of items. The students must follow the listed perimeters and use only the listed items (and their byproducts) to survive and escape using reasonable means. Your students will impress you with their critical thinking skills and ability to find a way to survive under purposefully complex and difficult ci

Students will select a U.S. President and complete this research packet. They will look up his elections/campaigns, accomplishments, etc... After the students complete the research, I have them create a visual aid that includes all of their info. This usually comes in the form of a poster or "tri-fold" board. But I do allow students to create a website, Prezi, or any other visual project that depicts all of the info. Usually a big hit and the students always surprise me with their creativity

Students will watch clips of various pop culture moments of the 2000's and reflect on their cultural impact. All topics include a link to a YouTube clip and a quick summary. Topics/events include: iPhone Debut, Lady Gaga's meat dress, NSYNC, The Office, etc.

This activity gets students up and moving and experience the difficult process of lawmaking firsthand. The teacher will print the 20 pages/steps and spread them around a classroom or in a hallway. Students will need a die or device to use a digital die. They will review the steps of how a bill becomes a law and then roll their die and follow the pass/move odds/process for each step. The steps include various odds based on the difficulty in real life. Also, there are multiple steps that have stu

This is a guide to accompany the film The Lorax that asks students to identify some possible symbolism/connections in the film to environmental concerns and capitalistism. This guide has a brief into at the top and a chart that identifies key characters in the film. This is a great tool to use to keep students engaged with the film and thinking abstractly and critically. Also, this can serve as a great conversation piece after the film.

Students will access the linked YouTube videos to review and consider the cultural impact of various events over this era. Events include: Miracle on Ice, Challenger Disaster, Y2K, Mac Computers, Boy Bands, etc.

Students will create a book that details the journey, of a character of their choice, through the Judicial Branch. This sheet details the instructions for the assignment and is a list of words for them to include in their story. For the book, I have students take pieces of paper, fold them in half (hamburg fold) and then staple along the "spine". They students should use all of these terms in a creative nature but also a way that shows that they understand each of them.

This activity takes students on a visual journey through 1980's hair bands, metal, and rock. Students will then hear the perspective of Tipper Gore, PTOs, and even members of Congress in regard to Censorship of music. Students will: - Watch music videos that embody the times, learn about hair bands in the 80s - Hear the arguments for censorship - Review the "Filthy Fifteen" - Read/hear counter arguments against censorship from artists - Reflect on the impact of rock and censorship on the cultu

This activity will provide students with an overview of the US Constitution. Students will use the provided questions to explore the document from Preamble, to the 7 Articles, through the Bill of Rights. This is a great introductory activity relating to the US Constitution and/or The US Government as a whole. Students can do this individually, but it is also an excellent partner or group assignment.

Students will be listening to songs (embedded links to YouTube) from the Vietnam War era and analyzing the song's lyrics, symbolism, and meaning related to the times. Students will listen to songs from the following genres: British Invasion/Rock & Roll, RnB/Funk/Soul, Disco, and Punk.

Students will be asked to explore the impact and changes that Rock n Roll had on the 1950's, especially the youth. Students will explore an online article and answer questions based on the impact of Rock n Roll. Then students will listen to an analyze 3 popular songs from the era. The second half of the assignment students will dig into the impact of Elvis Presley and watch a clip of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show and connect what they saw during the clip to what they learned about from the artic

Students will be watching (or reading) the Wizard of Oz and using this activity to look into the possible symbolism the characters represent. This is a great project/activity of Language Arts, Social Studies, or an variety of film study/elective types of courses. Prior to watching (or reading) the film, students will look into the Panic of 1893, The Populist Party/Movement, Free Silver Movement and the connect those topics to the conditions surrounding the US during the Great Depression (during

This is what I use as my final project for my Global Issues course. The students are tasked with selecting three connecting tasks on the tic-tac-toe board to complete on an assigned or chosen topic from the class. Some examples of projects include the creation of a: presentation, artistic representation(s), essay, and/or video. This activity allows students to select a set of mini-projects that fits their interests and strengths while having them express their understanding of the topic. Ive had

Students will explore online resources that will help them understand some statistics on current immigration trends and data from the Pew Research Center. Students will also look into the process by which migrants must undergo to become a citizen. Note: I have added a quiz in my Schoology for student to complete as a sample of the citizenship test that must be passed by potential citizens. I would recommend adding this to your LMS to give students the whole experience, but there is no way for m

Students will be creating a poster that embodies the anti-war/dove movement during the Vietnam War. This document includes the directions and also a rubric for the project.

Using online resources, students will explore where, what, and why poverty has stricken portions of America. Students will also be linked to an online poverty simulator and reflect on that experience. The conclusion of the assignment has students working on a creative writing assignment.

This activity is an introduction into a foundational piece of American Government and Civics: the filibuster. Students will watch a brief clip (link provided) on the history of filibusters and then answer questions based on the provided information about filibusters. This is a great one day activity for high school or even middle school students studying US government and civics. After this activity, I typically show my students Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I have video guide for that availab

Students will explore the size of today's nuclear weapons and the possible effects of a global nuclear. They then will be asked to connect current nuclear-armed nations to current conflicts they face. Lastly, students will use a nuclear simulator that shows the effects of nuclear weapons on likely targets.

This group project has students composing a profile of the educational systems in a variety of nations and then sharing their findings with their peers. This could be done by individual students rather than groups. Each group will have a different nation provided by the directions, but will be given the same student with the same set of characteristics in order to compare apples to apples by chronicallying "Roxanne". The students will be digging into how the countries manage things like learnin

Students are asked to create a "six degrees of separation" type of project based around a pop culture symbol of their choice. This document is the detailed set of directions and a rubric for the assignment. There is also a follow-up written portion included that you can use or forego. This is used as a final project for my pop culture class, but could be used as a separate assignment/project for any course covering pop culture.