“Boo” tify your classroom for Halloween!

Don’t forget Halloween is time for…The Great Pumpkin Challenge!!!
Try it out on Tuesday!! Pick up some pumpkins tomorrow on your way home for favorite October lesson! See my lesson here:

The Great Pumpkin Challenge

Plus… I hope your Google Classroom is all ready for Tuesday as well! Here are some of my animated custom headers in case you haven’t “boo” tified your classroom yet from my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

Animated Boo

Animated Trick-or-Treat

October Bundle

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History Class Can Be Fun!

Here are ten ways to make your history class more engaging and more interactive!

Animate Google Classroom: Add a fun US history/ World history/ Economics banner to your Google Classroom –  https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Nofiredrills

Pop-Up Cards:   Have students create historical greeting cards.  Great for Valentine’s Day!   Pop – Up Cards

Mannequin Challenge:  Need some peace on a Friday afternoon?  Try a Mannequin Challenge. m The Mannequin Challenge – for the Classroom

Flipgrid Discussion:  Have students make a quick video to answer a prompt or give an opinion with this free tool.  ”Back to School with Flipgrid

Play – Doh Pictograms:  Great for a lesson on ancient civilizations.   Play-Doh is Power

Speed Networking:   Modern day networking with historical figures.   Speed Networking in the Classroom

Continue reading “History Class Can Be Fun!” →

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Play-Doh is Power

Working with teenagers on Friday afternoons can be difficult but I decided to spice things up this week with my lesson on the early river valley civilizations. My students jumped out of their chairs and cheered when I told them they would each receive their own “Play-Doh ” – no longer just for toddlers!  I had them create their own names and pictograms in cuneiform.

Thank you to the Penn Museum for inspiring this activity!  First I had my students go to their website: https://www.penn.museum/games/cuneiform.shtml    They were asked to write their own names down in their notebooks in cuneiform as shared by the website.
Then I gave each student an individual Play-Doh (see below) and a popstick (since reed stylus pens were not available like they were in Sumer 🙂 ).
I found an entire 33 pack of Play-Doh at my local Amazing Savings for $8.99 but you can also find them at Walmart here: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Play-Doh-Ultimate-Rainbow-Pack/24537163
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Students carved their names in cuneiform into the Play-Doh.   They were smitten!
To extend the activity I asked them to make their own pictograms in the playdough and have other students guess what the words meant (in groups of four students). We then discussed the origins of writing and what the advantages were for a civilization to use writing vs pictograms.  A great discussion on emojis emerged and how difficult it could be to use a pictogram to communicate via text message!
They walked out the classroom high fiving me and smiling.  Job well done for the week.  I plan to have my students do an abridged version next week with hieroglyphics! Play-Doh can be powerful in the classroom. Have you tried out this activity?
Here are some of the fun Play-Doh creations!
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