Finding Creative Ways To Present Civil War Lesson Plans

It was the first day of 7th grade, and I faced a classroom full of kids with desks lined up in neat little rows in front of me. I'm a history teacher, and it's my job to get kids interested in a subject that bores most of them to tears. They came into the classroom knowing that they were about to face a subject that makes their eyes glaze over, and I walked into the classroom knowing that I had to come up with civil war lesson plans, social studies lesson plans, and world history lesson plans that would keep their oh-so-short attention spans stimulated. Wyatt sat there thoughtfully picking his nose, Danielle was writing a note to her new BFF, and even sweet Francesca was preoccupied with the manufacturing of spitballs. I ended up spending the entire period trying to rouse an interest in history, only to learn more about the ingenious ways that kids stave off boredom. I sat there, thinking that if they applied even half of that creativity to learning, I'd have a classroom full of Einsteins. Then it occurred to me that it was up to me to get creative and engage them, to be the Einstein by example. I went home and got on the computer, and looked up world history lesson plans, civil war lesson plans, social studies lesson plans, and anything else that could help me find a new way to stimulate their easily bored minds. The fact that I hadn't done this before was a matter of pride, but I really I wish I'd done it sooner. There they were - social studies lesson plans for the latest generation of students and teachers alike. It was like nothing I'd ever seen, and I immediately brought these new tools into the classroom. They included PowerPoint presentations, videos, interactive games, crossword puzzles, cartoons, and artwork. Speeches from presidents and other famous historical figures came to life on the screen in front of them, and as everyone knows, most kids would rather stare at a T.V. than open a history book. Seeing the speeches performed by actors made the kids feel like they were actually witnessing history, and they got the benefit of visual as well as auditory stimulation, which an ordinary old textbook could never provide. I divided the kids into teams and gave rewards to the team that could complete the crossword puzzle of the day first. The friendly competition excited them and also encouraged teamwork. Boredom and ennui vanished, to be replaced by laughter and learning. Suddenly, they were having a great time, and so was I. One day, I had each team take turns giving a famous speech, which they learned from the videos they watched, and their imitations of the various presidents had me laughing to tears. For whatever reason, Lincoln has a very deep voice, while Washington's is high-pitched. These days, Francesca no longer makes spitballs, and Danielle is too busy to write notes to her BFF. Wyatt still picks his nose on occasion, but some things never change, and at least he's pondering a speech while he does it. Best of all, I'm no longer intimidated by world history lesson plans, social studies plans, and civil war lesson plans, and the kids are no longer intimidated by learning them. Instead, we are all having a great time.


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About the Author:
Written by Kelly Sparks. MultiMedia Learning LLC provides social studies lesson plans, world history lesson plans and civil war lesson plans through their unique PowerPoint® Presentation software. Students learn history through classroom social studies games and engaging technology. Learn more at http://www.multimedialearning.org .