Social Studies Toolbox

As Social Studies teachers, we strive to create meaningful and engaging learning experiences for our students. One powerful documentary that has consistently resonated with both middle and high school students is "One Survivor Remembers," recounting Gerda Weissman's harrowing story of survival during the Holocaust. For years, I have utilized teaching materials provided by Learning for Justice alongside this film. Last year I incorporated a historical thinking activity into the lesson.  In this blog post, I will guide you through this activity, highlighting its effectiveness in promoting historical thinking skills. Setting Up the Activity: To begin, gather the necessary resources and materials for the activity: - Primary source documents from Learning for Justice - Holocaust Identity Cards from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum - Timeline from the Holocaust Memorial Museum - Precut Hexagonal Thinking Cards  (you can make your own cards or check out my premade ca...

From Boring to Brilliant: How History Teachers are Using Hyperslides to Spice up Their Lessons As a history teacher, I know how challenging it can be to keep students engaged and interested in the material. The traditional methods of teaching history, such as lectures and textbook readings, can often be dry and uninspiring. However, with the recent popularity of hyperslides and hyperdocs, history teachers now have an effective tool to spice up their lessons and make history come alive for their students. In this post, I will explore the benefits of hyperslides in the history classroom, provide examples of interactive hyperslides for different historical events, and offer best practices for using hyperslides in the classroom. Introduction to Hyperslides and Their Benefits in a History Classroom Hyperslides are interactive presentations that use Google Slides to create an immersive and engaging learning experience for students. Unlike traditional slide presentations, hyperslides allow te...