Surviving Social Studies

Looking for a great bell ringer activity to start class each day?Full Year of Writing/Discussion Prompts - 180 Bell RingersUsed in over 3,500 classrooms and now available using Google Slides, too! I've always tried finding ways of having fewer verbal interruptions in class. One day, while standing in a deli, I realized that the other customers and I knew exactly when our turn was because of the "ding!" of the bell and the number that was displayed on the monitor. That's when it hit me! That

FOR THE BEST DEAL ON THREE PAINTING ANALYSIS RESOURCES:Painting Analysis Bundle John Gast's "American Progress" is one of the most recognized images in American history. Your students will analyze Gast's portrayal of Manifest Destiny on their own, and then you will walk them through the various portions of the scene in a PowerPoint to show what he was trying to get the viewer to see in this incredible work of art. The PowerPoint is made up of 27 slides that are in .jpg format, meaning they c

Looking for a great bell ringer activity to start class each day?Full Year of Writing/Discussion Prompts - 180 Bell RingersUsed in over 700 classrooms! When I first started teaching I remember thinking, “How am I going to get kids excited about economics?” Then it hit me – make it about them! Included in this bundle are five activities I’ve done with my middle school students that are a hit every time. I hope you find the same to be true with your students too. Included in this Bundle:The

[Save with this BUNDLE of primary sources!]Used in over 1,200 classrooms, this resource will help your students understand America's first attempt at a formal set of rules without them drifting off into daydream land. Provided is a summarized story about the Articles of Confederation that I use with my 8th grade U.S. History students which explains why the Articles of Confederation came about, the powers delegated to the state and national governments, and the strengths and weaknesses of the d

Grab this as an interactive bulletin board, too! Thinking of fun way to teach or review latitude and longitude with your elementary or middle school students? Here is a great way to have fun with geography in a social studies class or graphing in a math class while giving students an opportunity to reinforce their latitude and longitude skills at the same time. Included in this activity are the coordinates and names of 25 towns in the United States with funny names, but truly are real towns

Looking for a great bell ringer activity to start class each day?Full Year of Writing/Discussion Prompts - 180 Bell RingersGet ready for the 2024 election with your students!! Used in over 2,500 classrooms, this is the most fun your students will have learning about the Electoral College! I have used this Electoral College activity over and over throughout my two decades in the classroom, and it has always been a hit; especially on an election year! [For the Google Drive version click here].

UPDATE: Both of these resources are now available as digital files as well as the paper versions!For Just the Digital Versions:American History Timeline Matching Activity Museum WalkAs a middle school history teacher, I know that on the first day of school most students get bombarded with rules and expectations for most of their first day. How about doing something different? Get them out of their seats and give yourself a chance to observe the kids you're going to be with all year. Here ar

Revolutionary War. Looking for a fun addition to your American Revolution or Revolutionary War unit? How about having your students create a Revolutionary War caricature by tracing over different features already created in this packet so they can have fun, share some laughs, and stay engaged as your Revolutionary War unit, or your school year, comes to a close. Each one of these original features can be combined to make a variety of characters! The sillier the better! Included in this produ

Start every class with confidence using this full-year set of 180 daily writing prompts—the perfect middle school bell ringers for both ELA and Social Studies. Each prompt is designed to spark critical thinking, encourage concise writing, and engage students from the moment they walk in the door. With this ready-to-use resource, your students will respond to thought-provoking topics while you take attendance, prep your lesson, or check in with parents. Every prompt comes in a Google Docs templat

Latitude and Longitude Worksheet - Halloween. Thinking of a way to keep students focused on Halloween? Here is a great way to keep the theme of Halloween going while giving students an opportunity to reinforce their latitude and longitude skills at the same time. Included in this activity are the coordinates and names of 25 towns in the United States with Halloween themed names. Students plot the coordinates on the map provided by drawing a little quarter moon and then identify which state

--SAVE MONEY AND GET THIS IN A BUNDLE BY CLICKING HERE-- Social Studies Bulletin Board. This is my favorite bulletin board I put up all year! From pop music to political leaders to world record holders -- this bulletin board covers a broad array of 40 people in history with their photo, what they were known for, and their actual height in feet and inches. I love hearing students say, "I'm as tall as the Queen of England!" Or maybe, "I didn't know we had a president who was only 5'4" tall!"

Geography Bell Ringers Bundle! This resource combines all three of my Where’s the Buried Treasure? activities into one convenient bundle: Where's the Buried Treasure 1?Where's the Buried Treasure 2?Where's the Buried Treasure 3? That's 30 ready-to-use treasure hunt activities that make practicing latitude and longitude fun, interactive, and meaningful. Each treasure hunt gives students a set of latitude and longitude coordinates. Using an atlas or Google Earth, students locate each country,

Geography Bell Ringers! This resource is Part 1 of my Where’s the Buried Treasure? activities: Where's the Buried Treasure 1?Where's the Buried Treasure 2?Where's the Buried Treasure 3? Get them ALL in a Bundle!These 10 ready-to-use treasure hunt activities make practicing latitude and longitude fun, interactive, and meaningful. Each treasure hunt gives students a set of latitude and longitude coordinates. Using an atlas or Google Earth, students locate each country, record the country name

Grab this in a digital version!Football, USALooking for a fun latitude and longitude worksheet as a way to have students practice their latitude and longitude skills...especially when the Super Bowl is approaching? This activity has students plot the locations of where the 32 professional football teams play in the USA (as of 2023). Included in this activity are the coordinates, team names, and the names of each city of the 32 professional teams that play football on Sundays every fall. Stu

UPDATE: This resource is now available in both .pdf and digital versions to help with distance learning.For Just the Digital Version:American History Time Line Matching Activity If you teach U.S. History and are looking for a way to get your students active in the beginning of the year then this might be just what you're looking for! This digital time line activity uses Google Slides and will allow you to have this available for students you are teaching in-person or virtually. What I enjoy a

Are you looking for a fun first day of school activity? Well, here's one that all you have to do is give a copy to each student and tell them, "I'm starting out this year with a test for you to see how well you can follow instructions. All you have to do is follow what the steps tell you to do. You've got five minutes starting...NOW!" Table of Contents:Page 1: Cover Page 2: Five-Minute Timed Test The first step says, "Read everything before doing anything." If they do that, they'll get to St

I've used both of these activities every year and they have always been a hit - especially on an election year! The two products in this bundle are tried and true with 7th and 8th grade students. What is the Electoral College - PowerPoint and Partner ActivityI have used this Electoral College activity over and over throughout my two decades in the classroom, and it has always been a hit; especially on an election year! You are provided with a fully-editable, and detailed, 46-slide PowerPoint

Preamble - U.S. Constitution. This Preamble assignment will have students take the "old language" found in the Preamble and use a dictionary, thesaurus, or online source to figure out what message was trying to be explained when it was written. What I've always liked about this assignment is hearing students talking to each other and trying to figure out which words we use today mean the same thing as the words used back in 1787. This assignment, as well as the included quiz, are in both pap

This Africa latitude and longitude worksheet is going to give your students a more enjoyable experience while practicing coordinate mapping. The Africa coordinate puzzle you see is a set of 40 latitude and longitude coordinates that will eventually form the shape of Africa. This is a great task for students learning latitude and longitude or as a practice for those who already know latitude and longitude. Check out my Africa Flash Cards and bundle of Africa Flash Cards and Africa Latitude & Lo

As a middle school history teacher, I know that on the first day of school most students get bombarded with rules and expectations for most of their first day. How about doing something different? Get them out of their seats and give yourself a chance to observe the kids you're going to be with all year. UPDATE - AUGUST 2020Realizing that many of you will be starting out this year with distance learning or using a hybrid model, I made this resource available to be used digitally in Google Sl