With the end of the school year around the corner, Social Studies teachers are using strategies and activities that "tie it all together." This month's strategy is a fun and interactive way to review important people covered during the school year, and it's called "And the Winner is..."
The procedure for preparing for this activity starts with the teacher creating brackets for different eras (i.e. Age of reform, westward expansion, etc.) Make sure there is a “big question” for each era. Examples include: Who was the best president? Or what was the most important battle?
Then, Create/print bio cards for the bracket. A set for each pair/quads. If there is an uneven number of people, then use “byes" (when you move a person to the next wrong automatically because there is no opponent).
Structured Play:
Below are several examples of brackets for different eras covered in US History (HS). Contact your TDS for support creating or implementing this activity in a lesson today!
The procedure for preparing for this activity starts with the teacher creating brackets for different eras (i.e. Age of reform, westward expansion, etc.) Make sure there is a “big question” for each era. Examples include: Who was the best president? Or what was the most important battle?
Then, Create/print bio cards for the bracket. A set for each pair/quads. If there is an uneven number of people, then use “byes" (when you move a person to the next wrong automatically because there is no opponent).
Structured Play:
- Look at the first “game” and have students read the bio cards or event cards. Read the big question. Tell students that they have X amount of minutes to determine the winner for that game.
- When time is up – tell students to move the winner on. Call on a few to explain who they chose and why.
- Go to the next game and repeat the procedure. This continues until there is a final winner.
- Have students do a quickwrite answering the big question, using evidence to support their opinion.
Below are several examples of brackets for different eras covered in US History (HS). Contact your TDS for support creating or implementing this activity in a lesson today!