Using Historical Thinking Activities as "Bell Work"

I have a handful of resources I've created for my students that I'm especially proud of and this is one of them. Several months ago I started compiling bell-ringer activities I've used with students over the years that focus on historical thinking skills and put them together into one slide deck. Most of these activities incorporate primary sources. Honestly, these bell-ringers are often my favorite part of the class period. Often, my students and I end up spending more than just a few minutes on these bell-ringers (so technically they're no longer bell-ringers/bell work) but I find the time we spend discussing these activities to be time well-spent!

Realistically, a lot of the details middle school students learn in class will be forgotten. As a Social Studies educator, one of my primary goals is to teach kids skills they can take with them and use not only in other courses but also in their lives.  The skills kids learn when engaging in these types of activities are immeasurable. 

Primary source analysis is a regular part of my classroom routine. If you are looking for primary sources to use with your students, I recommend starting with the Library of Congress, Their website is a treasure-trove of resources; many are available for reuse at no cost! I've found so many beautiful maps, photographs, posters, cartoons, film clips, and much more for use in both my United States History class and Geography and World Cultures class. I create slides with probing questions, tasks, etc. for students to complete at the beginning of each class period. I use my smartboard to share each day's bell-ringer. I also hyperlink each day's bell-ringer in my weekly agenda I post in my Google Classroom. 

Do you incorporate primary source analysis activities into your classroom routine? I'm excited to hear from you. 

Happy teaching, 

Lea

Interested in these bell ringers? Check out my bell ringer bundle here! This is a growing bundle. Currently, it includes over 100 bell ringer activities!