Last class we did a hands on primary source activity in which we had to categorize information. I happened upon a good strategy at a conference several years ago, and there is a similar one in the History Fair theme book this year. The one I have used is called PEGS (Political, Economic, Geographic, and Social). It takes a bit of front-loading, but once the students know the categories they are good to go.
Introduce: Define words (Political, Economic, Geographic and Social), and create web examples of things we might "sort" into that category on the white board. Use these student created examples to make posters to put up in the room to help them remember the categories.
Analyze: Give groups of students a number of newspaper headlines with which they must sort into each category. For example, they must read the heading "The Lion King heads to Columbus for a two month run" Then decide where to sort it. If they choose "Social" they must justify their choice. I usually choose a few that are arguable to be sorted into different categories to encourage discussion within the group as they consider and justify their choices.
Practice: I really liked this activity to compare cultures. Create a graphic organizer or foldable for student use. Have them gather and sort the information on your groups (ex-Maya and Inca).
Extend:You can further extend the lesson, by asking students to use the information to create Venn diagrams and/or write a compare and contrast essay etc.
Sidenote--
1. It was really cool to hear my 8th graders discussing the political, economic, geographic and social aspects of various societies.
2. It went over well with the judges at History Fair in some of the projects where it was applicable!
See you for the field trip!
C. Smart
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I just started a subscription to NIE using the Dayton Daily News. It is nice because it is all online. We have been doing weekly lessons using the newspaper. The idea you have just given me would be great to use.
ReplyDeleteThank you.