This is my classroom on Tuesday.
On Monday night, the last evening of our three-day weekend, I realized that I still hadn't figured out what I was going to do in class on Tuesday. Crap! So I started brainstorming in my head as I sat on the couch surrounded by Candyland, a princess puzzle, and a 3-year-old chef who was bringing me "pancakes" she baked in her "kitchen."
Ah ha!...thanks for the idea little one! Food is always a good option.
I really would have liked to do Cutthroat History again, they LOVE that!
Or History Chef another good one, that I usually do with this topic of Indian Removal.
But they have to finish up something from last week at the start of class and I haven't gathered any supplies or materials in order to be even remotely prepared for either of those activities. I need something where I don't have to get anything ready, that will make them work together and answer the essential question for the day.
Here's what I decided on.
"Cooking up a Response"
At the end of the game, the teams would get their final score (usually 10,000-5,000 points). I then awarded each team 100 Weber Bucks for every 1000 points.
I explained my inspiration for "Cooking up a Response," went over the rules, and reviewed our "Big Question"
What was the reasoning behind the Indian Removal Act and how did the people try to fight it?
And then I showed them the "price list." **Cue the moaning and groaning about how expensive various objects were, while I smiled deviously** I gave them one minute to come up with a plan of action and a shopping list.
Shop was "open for business" for the first 10 minutes of the work time. After that business was closed and they had to make due with whatever they purchased. Each class ended up with about 20-25 minutes.
When time was up, the presentations began. A quick explanation of how they spent their "Bucks" and then how they decided to present the answer to our question.
Reflection: What went well.
- Students loved it...even though I was worried they wouldn't be as "into it" as they have been with Cutthroat History and History Chef, but they still loved the challenge of limited items and having to make a plan based on the amount of money they earned.
- I loved seeing the variety of ways students would answer the question. I had written essays, skits, posters, Google Slides presentations, Spark videos, and debates.
- For the most part all students were engaged in the content and participating with their teams.
- I had the students create a # to describe the day...some of my favorites
- #cookinguphistory
- #presentingfacts
- #lit
- #WeberBucks
- #notenoughmoney
- #IndianRemoval
- #SSROCKZ
Reflections: Stuff to fix.
- I didn't do as great of a job teaching the content prior to this. There were some presentations that included wrong information that I believe was due to lack of instruction. I really needed a couple more days to make this topic more clear.
- This technically ended our discussion on Andrew Jackson and the Indian Removal Act because I have a student teacher taking over. I would love for this to be practice for an assessment of some sort so I can see how each student understood the material.
- At the start of the day I thought it would be fun to require a specific type of presentation, but in the end I actually liked seeing the variety and allowing the teams to create their own.
- Next time I do this, I will have the teams discuss a possible presentation BEFORE awarding them their money and giving the price list. This would make the students have to adjust on the fly based on the amount of money they ended up with.
All-in-all it was a great day!
