Top 5 Back to School “Must Do” Activities

July 19, 2019 by Wise Guys 3 Comments

Afraid you're going to mess up when it's time to go back to school? Here's our top five activities that we feel everyone should do when back to school rolls around again! They'll set you up for a successful new school year!

Another school year is upon us, and like many, we have been thinking a lot about school over the summer. As veteran teachers, the beginning of the school year still feels like our first year of teaching: the frantic back to school shopping for classroom supplies, the set up and organization of our classrooms, time spent preparing our first week’s lessons, and the meeting of the students on the first day.

As we head back to school in late August, we thought it would be helpful to post our Top 5 Back to School “Must Do” activities. We know that most have your own routines, but we hope that we can help get you in “teacher mode” for the school year!

#1. Establish Respect

Starting day one, the students need to respect you as the teacher. Notice we say “teacher” not “dictator” or “disciplinarian.” We use simple techniques right away the first day of class. When the students come in, we use a hand in the air gesture, and take a stopwatch and time how long it takes them to be quiet. No matter how long it took, we always tell them the time, and that they beat the classroom from last year. Starting off with a successful experience helps to build a rapport with the students. We also use a verbal signal if they are talking in groups and need to stop for directions. A simple repetitive clap works well for this. Besides the verbal and non-verbal calls for attention, you also will want to model your expectations for the class as well. The sooner the students learn the expectations, the better as far as classroom management.

#2. Create Class Beliefs

One of the most important parts of our first week of school is creating classroom beliefs with our students. We want the students to take ownership as contributing members of the class. In order to do this, we have discussions the first few days about what rules that they have at home and what rules we should have at school. We then take those “rules” and turn them into positive statements. The end result is a class belief’s statement such as: “We will be kind, respectful, responsible and safe. We will have fun and work hard.” When we have our belief statement, we have students create and sign a belief poster and display it in the classroom. Our class beliefs become the foundation for learning in our classroom.

#3. Discuss Class Procedures

You can not take for granted that your students know how to line up, when to sharpen a pencil, or even how to be respectful in the hallways. We have created “Back to School Procedures” that we use with our classes the first few weeks of school. We created a simple teacher page that guides you through the procedure. There also is a poster that you can print in color, laminate and use year after year. We have included all of our 11 procedures into a super bundle that you can find here.

Back to School Rules and Procedures Now Editable!

#4. Establish a Classroom Community

It is extremely important to make every student feel a part of the class and to feel accepted. We purposely do a lot of fun activities at the beginning of the year to have students get up out of their seats and talk with other classmates. When students get to know each other, they realize that they have much more in common than what they thought. This helps to build strong relationships that will last the entire school year. Below is a picture of our classroom bingo game that has the students getting out of their seats and meeting others in the class in order to get a bingo. You can access it by clicking here.

#5. Connect with Your Class

One of the biggest challenges we tackle each school year is getting to know our students. Starting the first week of school we do many activities that allow us to learn more about the class. For example, we often have the students fill out a student interest survey that you can download here for FREE here. It helps you to better understand your students and connect with them.

FREE Back to School Interest Inventory for Grades 3-5

We would love to hear from other educators about what you feel is necessary to do the first few weeks of school. Please feel free to leave comments on our blog!

If you would like to be a part of our newsletter that will be full of tips, hints, strategies, and free resources to use in your classroom click here.

Top 5 Back to School Tips for Balancing Schedules and Routines

July 18, 2019 by Wise Guys 4 Comments

The beginning of the school year is fast approaching. For first year, and even veteran teachers, working on schedules and routines can be a stumbling block. But we have 5 tips that should help you start the year off great.

1. Make connections with colleagues

In order to make your schedule work, you have to know the extent of how many different educators you may be working with during the school year. There is the special education teacher, the gifted and talented teacher, a Title 1 teacher, the Speech teacher, an ELL (English Language Learners) teacher, and possibly more professionals that you will be sharing students with. Be thankful that there are so many educators that are there to help your children succeed. Make sure to meet with them before the first day so you can figure out what times these educators will be either taking students out of your room, or working with them in the classroom.

2. Required Minutes

Most states have mandated minutes that you have to teach the core subjects. Your best resource for a sample daily teaching schedule would be a teaching partner at the same grade level, or your principal. If you have a teaching partner, it would be a good idea to look at how the schedule is organized and see if you both agree that you like the way it is set up. If you make changes, make sure to include all the educators that may be affected such as: special education, title 1, ELL, Speech, etc…

3. Reading Rotations

If you teach guided reading, you know what kind of a headache it can be to fit in all of your groups. We have found that three-twenty minute rotations works best for us. We do not like to have groups bigger than 6 students. So where does that leave the other students that can’t meet during three rotations? We use Daily 3 at the 5th grade level where students have choices between read to self, word work, and work on writing. Here is a blog post we wrote about the Daily 3. We meet with our two lowest groups every day and rotate in the higher groups every other day. It works extremely well!

4. Interventions

Using the RtI (Response to Intervention) framework, it is important to meet the needs of all of your learners. We have a designated 30 minute block of time each day set aside for this to occur. During this time, any classroom teachers at the same grade level as us, along with any resource teachers (special education, Title 1, ELL) will take small groups of students and work on specific standards. This focused time allows us to work closely with those students and really target what they need.

5. Morning Routines

If you want to success to happen right off the bat, you need to have morning routines in place. Nothing is worse than chaos to start the day. Make sure the students know what they are expected to do as they enter the classroom. We wrote a blog post about soft start mornings that has been very popular with educators.

If you liked this blog post,, you will want to check out The First Year Teacher eBook with 29 pages of helpful tips for beginning teachers.

You will also want to check out our companion guide: The First Year Teacher Resources which contains 40 different items you can use your first year of teaching!

Thanks and here is to a successful year of teaching!

If you would like to be a part of our newsletter that will be full of tips, hints, strategies, and free resources to use in your classroom click here.

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Top 5 Classroom Décor Ideas for First Year Teachers

July 16, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

The first year of teaching is a challenge. One of the biggest obstacles you will face is finding ways to create an inviting classroom on a fixed budget. Eric and I hope to offer you some tips that will save you both time and money.

1. Back to School Sales

Many teachers hate to see fliers and advertisements out already in June for Back to School sales. But this is a prime opportunity for you to find amazing bargains. Stores such as Target, Wal-Mart, Dollar Stores and others will have items on sale that you can use to help decorate your classroom. Take advantage of these sales.

Also, online retailers such as Amazon will have deals going as well. Don’t forget to shop online for some great bargains.

2. Tablecloths

Yes, you heard us right, tablecloths. These inexpensive household items are great for bulletin boards. They are sturdy, colorful, and last longer than the cheap bulletin board paper. You can use them year after year.

3. Pick a Theme

Depending on your grade level and your interests, you will want to pick a theme for your classroom. We have seen themes range from sports, to jungles, to oceans, to even animals. Whatever theme you pick, you may be able to find discounted items at the above-mentioned stores or even garage sales. Believe it or not, garage sales can offer some great deals for teachers.

4. Name Tags

Many teachers spend money every year on desk name tags, only to have them peel off at least once during the school year. We have found that oil-based pens are a great way to write your students’ names on their desks. They come off easily with a expo marker and magic eraser too!

5. Friends

The best time saver we can recommend for you is your friends. When you are set to start decorating your classroom, enlist the help of your friends. Not only will it save you precious time (that you will need to learn curriculum, lesson plan, read cumulative files…), but it will also be more fun for you as well. Rely on people around you!

If you liked this blog post on our inexpensive ideas for classroom decor, you will want to check out The First Year Teacher eBook with 29 pages of helpful tips for beginning teachers.

You will also want to check out our companion guide: The First Year Teacher Resources which contains 40 different items you can use your first year of teaching!

Thanks and here is to a successful first year of teaching!
Brian and Eric
Wise Guys

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Image credits: Flickr CC

How to Give Encouragement for the New Teacher

July 15, 2019 by Wise Guys 40 Comments

Encouragement for New Teachers

As many of you know, being a new teacher is extremely difficult. The National Education Association (NEA) states in this article that 50% of teachers leave the profession in the first five to seven years. And a National Public Radio (NPR) Education article discusses how the loss of new teachers is costing school districts billions of dollars with teacher turnover. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Eric and I have over 50 years of combined teaching experience at the elementary and middle school levels. We have seen new teachers in our district and surrounding districts struggle and sometimes leave the profession. It is up to veteran teachers to step up and help new teachers through their first few years.

We have witnessed first year teachers struggle to the point of wanting to quit within the first few months. There was one teacher who would be crying during lunch and at the end of the day. Eric and I would constantly offer her advice and pointers, but she continued to struggle with the demands of being a new teacher. We took it upon ourselves to be mentors to her and share our ideas and resources, what has worked for us in regard to classroom management, how to deal with parents, and the constant day to day operations of a classroom. The teacher responded well to this, and we feel that we helped her to be a successful teacher in our school district.

What Can Veteran Teachers Do?

How can we, as educators, administrators, and even parents support new teachers as they enter the profession? We have asked some educators to share one of the biggest lessons that they learned as a new teacher. It should be a lesson from their first or second year of teaching. We are hoping that the advice from these amazing educators will help first year teachers stay in the profession.

Click the following links to read their advice& hop along our Book Tour!
Primary Flourish

4mulaFun

The Teacher’s Studio

Smart Chick Teacher

Along with these veteran teachers’ personal reflections we’re offering a free mini ebook, “Ten Things to Accomplish Before Back to School.” All you need to do is simply subscribe to our newsletter. It is our hope that this resource provides you with a great starting point for a new teacher.

There is no other profession that has such an impact on the future of children. Let’s do our best to make sure that the adults in front of these children are equipped with the skills and confidence they need to succeed.

First Year Teacher Ebook

Make sure to check out our First Year Teacher eBook filled with pages of ideas, tips, hints, and advice for beginning teachers. This is a “must have” for any new educator. Some of the chapters included in the book focus on the time before the school year starts, a week before the students arrive, the first few weeks, conferences, testing, teacher evaluation, and the end of the school year.

Also, you will not want to miss our First Year Teacher Resource Guide that is loaded with 40 resources ready to use in the classroom. We have included activities for back to school, testing, and the end of the school year. First year teachers will love it!

Remember, you were once a first year teacher. What can you do to ensure the success of new teachers in your district?

If you would like to be a part of our newsletter that will be full of tips, hints, strategies, and free resources to use in your classroom click here.

Back to School Tips for Social Studies Teachers

July 14, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

The school year is about to start for many teachers across the United States. As bulletin boards go up, desks are arranged, and materials are gathered, teachers are preparing for another year with their students. Social studies teachers are looking at curriculum and tweaking lessons. But there are some key ideas and concepts that social studies teachers have to be thinking about as well.

We have come up with our top 5 back to school tips for social studies teachers.

1. Be Social

An integral part of any social studies classroom is to have a teacher who truly gets the word “social” in social studies. This subject area lends itself for open dialogue and respect for each other. In order to do this, you have to get students talking starting day one. What better way to do this then through a fun game of ball toss. Get out a koosh ball, beach ball, or any other soft ball and have students toss it to a classmate. The student who receives the ball needs to share his/her name and then one thing about him/herself. Then it continues until everyone has had a chance to respond. This is a quick and easy way to get the students talking.

Another great way to get students involved right away is through the “Fact or Fiction” game. For the game, students are to share two facts about themselves and one thing that is not true. It is the class’ job to figure out which of the three is fiction. You will be surprised at the facts you will learn about your students that you may go back to throughout the year! When learning about history there are often misconceptions, myths, and fictional reports as well. So this would be something you could share once a week with your class, or even have them look for myths or misconceptions too.

2. Be a Community

In order to build a strong classroom community, you should develop rules/beliefs with your students. Empower them to create an environment where learning can take place. You will have less behavior issues to manage and students will hold each other accountable as well.

Shared decision-making and cooperative learning are important parts of building a classroom community. When you have group projects assigned, it is important to have well-defined roles for each student, and allow them to determine who is responsible for each part. You may have to model what this looks like and sounds like and have students practice to demonstrate their understanding of true cooperative learning. You can also have students come up with cooperative learning contracts that they all must sign. This would tie in well with any lessons on treaties or signed agreements in history.

3. Be Innovative

When we were in school, Social Studies was primarily taught from a textbook. It wasn’t until we were in college classes, that we realized that the textbook is not the “Bible.” It should not be the only source of information for your students. Students need access to both primary and secondary sources. The National Archives is a great website for primary sources spanning from 1754 to the present.

With the advancements in technology just over the past ten years, it is also important to involve technology where appropriate. In our classrooms, we visit Google Earth to look at ancient ruins in Mexico, the topography of the land for early American settlements, and monuments that have been built to honor past historical events. We also to like to use QR codes for students with electronic devices to find answers to questions instead of paging through a textbook. One example of this would be our Aztec, Inca, Maya QR Code activity. Our students are able to find out many facts about these three Early American civilizations.

4. Be an Investigator

As a social studies teacher, you need to stay up to date on current events. There are numerous ways to do this: reading the newspaper, checking news websites, and watching local and national news to name a few. Then, it is up to you on how you want to integrate that into your teaching.

One way to address current events with your students is through CNN Student News. If you have a projection system in your classroom, or if students have access to computers/devices, you can watch the daily news show that keeps your students up to date with current events. It is only 10 minutes so is a great way to either start or end class. You can also have your students report out on current events as well by making it a part of your daily/weekly instruction.

Another way to be an investigator is to look for new developments in past history. You probably remember being taught that Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, and how Paul Revere rode alone to warn the people of Lexington and Concord that the British army was coming. But today we know these both to be not true. When new discoveries of what took place surface with evidence, use it as a teachable moment with your students.

A final way is to let your students be the investigators on their own. Our Declaration of Independence and Constitution Detectives units are sure to be a hit with your students.

5. Be Prepared

Don’t assume anything with your incoming group of students. Do they know the 8 Strands of Social Studies? Do they know the 5 Themes of Geography? Do they know how to use a social studies textbook? Are they able to cite evidence from a text? These are just some of the basic concepts and skills that students need to succeed in a social studies classroom. We have created a Back To School Social Studies Skills unit that includes the following resources:
-8 Strands of Social Studies PowerPoint
-8 Strands of Social Studies activity
-Five Themes of Geography PowerPoint
-Textbook Detectives activity
-Understanding Text Features PowerPoint
-Using Text Features to Predict PowerPoint
-Making Inferences in Nonfiction PowerPoint
-How to Cite Evidence
-4 Geography Vocabulary Activities
-Football Geography Activity
-Create Your Own Country Activity
-Childhood Neighborhood Map Activity
-Nonfiction Reading Activity
-and more!

You can find this resource by clicking here.

Please share any tips that you have to being your year in social studies in the comment section below!

If you would like to be a part of our newsletter that will be full of tips, hints, strategies, and free resources to use in your classroom click here.

Title Image Credit.

How to Spark Engagement with Genius Hour Math!

May 28, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

You hear it every year from some students. “I hate math!” Well, it doesn’t have to be this way. With Genius Hour Math implemented in your classroom, watch the negativity disappear with highly-engaging passion projects that students get to select on their own.

Genius Hour is a time set aside for students to work on a project they are passionate about. This typically has been used for any type of concept that students show a deep interest, but we have found Genius Hour Math to be that extra spark that so many struggling math students need.

How Does it Work?

You can decide when to implement Genius Hour Math. Whether it be the first week of school, after winter or spring break, or even at the end of the year when the class, and yourself, is running on empty, the choice is up to you! In our Genius Hour Math resource we have included detailed teacher tips that will walk you through the entire process. No need to guess on how to use the great resources included. We do the dirty work for you!

Why is it so powerful?

The power is in choice. We all know that students learn better when they take part in their learning. That is exactly what Genius Hour Math provides. Students get to pick their project. Whether is be learning about statistics in baseball, creating a city out of geometric shapes, or designing a tree house, students get to decide on the project that interests them!

What results can you expect?

Number one, students will be more excited about math class, and will beg you to work on their Genius Hour project. Second, your class will be more engaged in your normal lessons because they are now looking forward to math class. Third, you should see test scores rise on your everyday curriculum as students begin to develop more confidence in their math abilities.

Is it right for me?

Yes. Plain and simple this will be the best thing you will ever implement into your math instruction. If you want to see student engagement and excitement increase in your classroom, then this resource is right for you.

Start Genius Hour Math now with your class. You won’t regret it!

The Ultimate Editable Teacher Calendar and Planner

April 11, 2019 by Wise Guys 1 Comment

As educators every year we scour local stores to find the perfect teacher calendar and planner. But every year we come home disappointed because there is nothing out there in stores that is geared for teachers. So what do we end up doing? We buy the plain white and black planners and calendars and come to the realization that we have to be satisfied with that.

Well, not anymore! After spending months researching and evaluating what teachers want in their calendars and planners, we have designed our own! No more do we just have to go out and buy something that doesn’t fit our needs. We now have a teacher calendar and planner set that will meet our needs in the classroom.

Here are 5 things we know teachers will love about our teacher calendars.

1. They are editable!

No more dealing with teacher calendars or planners that can’t be changed. We offer editable versions where you can change the calendars to fit your needs. They are editable in both PDF and Microsoft Word so you have both options available to you. We know how teacher plans can change from day to day. Well, now you have the calendar perfect for those situations!

2. They come in different formats.

Each educator is different and so are our planners! You can choose a calendar layout, a two-page weekly binder layout, or a two-page monthly planner layout. We want you to be able to choose what format works best for you. This resource is filled with choices, exactly what educators love!

3. They come in black and white or color.

Not all educators have access to color printers so wanted to offer both options. No need to spend your hard earned money on color ink at home. But if you are one of those lucky educators that has a color printer at home, go ahead and print away. You can make them as eye-catching as you want with our variety of covers to choose from.

4. They contain trivia, facts, inspirational quotes and unique celebrations.

We didn’t want our teacher calendars to be boring. Instead we have included some fun little tidbits that would be great for you or even your students if you choose to hand them out to your class. Make each day fun with including a unique celebration or inspirational quote!

5. Once purchased, there are FREE yearly updates!

Yes, you heard us right. You only need to purchase our teacher calendars once! We will update the calendars each year! All that you have to do is go in and re-download the newest version for free. Not many businesses will offer a free planner every year. But we know how hard teachers work. We also know how you can stretch a dollar more than most consumers. So purchase it once and enjoy it for a lifetime!

We are excited to be offering you a teacher calendar that is meant for you. To see the quality of our work, we have created our 2019 August Calendar for free. You can download it here to see what will be included.

Then, check out our 2019-2020 Editable Teacher Calendar here. You will not be disappointed!

The Power of Persuasive Writing

March 30, 2019 by Wise Guys 2 Comments

Not one teacher will doubt the power of persuasive writing. The question is are you doing it the right way?

As educators with over 50+ years of combined teaching experience, we have seen the teaching of writing evolve into a dynamic interactive process with full student engagement and that is the key. We want our students to be active participants and change agents when it comes to persuasive writing.

The art of persuasion is used every day by people around the world. Whether it be convincing someone to try a new food, or to close a multi-million dollar deal, persuasion is a fundamental cornerstone of initiating change in society.

At the end of this blog post, we will be offering you a free resource that will help your students navigate the art of persuasion and allow them to become effective persuasive writers.

Persuasive writing can be defined as a piece of writing in which the writer uses words to convince the reader that the writer’s opinion is correct with regard to an issue.

Effective persuasive writing requires the writer to clearly make his/her claim and support it with reasons and examples. This takes work and cannot be simply someone’s opinions with out facts and evidence to back it up.

What is the role of the teacher in this process? Teachers have to model and guide students through the process of becoming effective persuasive writers. It is not just requiring all students to write about the same topic, but letting their passions drive what they want to write about. This requires a lot of brainstorming about topics that really matter to them.

We have developed a nine step process to help your students become expert persuasive writers. These steps are easy to follow and will effectively help your class write effective essays. We have briefly outlined the steps below.

Brainstorm: With the help of the teacher, students brainstorm topics that are important to them.
Audience: This is where students think about who their audience is. Would it be fellow classmates, the teacher, the principal, a parent, an opinion piece in the local newspaper so more people can be impacted?
Purpose: Is the purpose to call people to action, to inform the public, to have someone change his or her ways? This is an important step to help students solidify why they are writing their essays.
Main Claim: This is the student’s thesis statement. It has to be clear, specific and well-stated.
Support: A student cannot have an effective essay without support. This step often involves research and the teacher can provide the necessary tools and support for this step.
Objections: Every effective persuasive essay has to include the objections that people may have to a student’s topic. The next step will explain why.
Response to Objections: When considering opposing views, a student must disprove the objections with reasons and examples. This step is necessary to add more credibility to their essay.
Final Plea: This is where the student makes a convincing argument of why his/her topic is so important. It often restates the main claim with reasons.
Effective Lead: The lead sets the stage for the rest of the essay. Depending on the audience, the lead will vary. But it is the first step in making a connection with the reader.

We have a free resource that includes these nine steps and is ready to use in your classroom right now. You can download it for free here or click on the picture below.

We are excited to hear about how using this resource will make your students effective persuasive writers! Find our free resource here.

If you would like to be a part of our newsletter that will be full of tips, hints, strategies, and free resources to use in your classroom click here.

Top 5 Transition Time Ideas

March 10, 2019 by Wise Guys Leave a Comment

Transition time in classrooms has always been a struggle. How do we get our students ready for the next class in a timely manner? So much time can be wasted with students not having their materials ready in a timely manner. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

We have 5 sure fire ways to make transition time go smoothly in your classroom.

Set an Alarm

This is our go to method for transition time. We have an digital timer that we set for a specific amount of time and display it on the document camera so students can see. They look at this as a challenge and are always trying to beat the timer. It is by far our best way to get students ready for the next subject.
Play a Song

There are many songs that you can find on youtube or out of your personal collection that only run for a certain amount of time. The Jeopardy theme song or the Mission Impossible theme are class favorites of ours. Find songs that fit you and your classroom and let them know that they have to be ready once the song is done.
Show a video

You can also show a favorite video clip to the students that is a specific amount of time. It can be a science, reading, math or even an approved engaging video clip that you can use in your classroom. The goal would be for the students to be ready by the time the video is done. If they are ready early, they can enjoy the rest of the video.
Use an Online Timer

This is similar to #1 above, but it is an online timer that you can use. You can use the one here of if you type in a Google search for “online timer” Google has one too. This is easy to display on the projection system in your room so students have a visual to see as the time clicks down.
Go Noodle

A fun way to get your students to transition quickly is to play a Go Noodle video. Students will quickly get their materials out and then will want to participate in the video.

We would love to hear ideas you use in your classroom for transitions!

Please subscribe to our newsletter for monthly tips, strategies, and free resources to help boost teacher morale! We want to make a difference!

How to Make Teaching US History Engaging for Students

March 4, 2019 by Wise Guys 2 Comments

When we were kids social studies was taught directly from a textbook. We would read a lesson, do the questions at the end of the lesson and then repeat until the chapter was done. At the end of the chapter, we would take the test from the book. This went on for most of our elementary and middle school lives, the same boring routine, the same boring textbooks.

It wasn’t until we took the social studies methods class in college that we realized that there was so much more to the teaching of social studies. Our past teachers had made the subject so drab that we couldn’t possibly think that social studies could be exciting, engaging, and fun to teach. That thinking was about to change for us and was about to change for the students we were going to teach. It was time to make history engaging.

The Textbook is Not the Bible

First, our college professor told us that the textbook should not be “The Bible” of a social studies curriculum. It should be one of the many resources that you can use to share knowledge. It should not be the only source that students are exposed to in social studies.

Incorporate Primary and Secondary Sources

Second, teachers should incorporate both primary and secondary sources into the lessons. What better way for students to learn then through the primary source documents of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Gettysburg Address and so many other sources crucial to US history. History comes alive when students can access actual documents that are part of the United State’s past.

Include the 8 Strands of Social Studies

Third, involve all 8 strands of social studies into your units. The strands are: citizenship, culture, economics, geography, government, history, science/technology/society, and social studies skills. There is so much more to social studies than just history. All the strands are intertwined together and help to tell a bigger picture of what happened in US history.

Use an Inquiry Approach

Fourth, use an inquiry approach to pique students interest. Many states have now gone to inquiry based learning for social studies. According to the Wisconsin State Standards for Social Studies, “Advances in human knowledge come about not because people can memorize factoids or were great at filling out worksheets in school; rather they come about when people ask questions and pursue those questions in critical ways.” We must allow our students to ask questions about the past, formulate questions, and then seek out answers using multiple sources.

Put the “Social” Back in Social Studies

As kids, we never worked with a partner or in groups. It was always by ourselves with our textbook. In the modern workforce, most jobs require the ability to work with others. As educators we have to help teach our students how to work cooperatively in groups, how to compromise, and how to come to a consensus. These life skills are crucial to success later in life. Social studies lends itself to partner projects, group work and whole class debates. This is the perfect time during the school day to let your students work together to analyze documents, critically think about historical events, and to collaborate together.

Bring Social Studies to Life

Being social studies teachers for the past 20+ years, we have been able to develop some engaging and creative social studies units based around United States history. Below are a few examples of how the teaching of social studies can be engaging, creative, and meaningful for students.

Oregon Trail Simulation

Give your students the Oregon Trail experience. We’ve built a simulation activity that will engage your students from Independence, Missouri, to the Northwestern part of Oregon!

This resource provides an interactive experience that engages students to become pioneers and make decisions vital to the survival and success of their caravan wagon. As wagon members, each student will have a specific job to do in their journey to the Oregon territory that keeps everyone involved until they reach their destination, or a tragic end!

Watch your students have a blast while participating in the Oregon Trail simulation and leave them with an advanced understanding of the period, along with critical thinking skills. You can find it by clicking here.

Declaration of Independence Detectives

The purpose of this Declaration of Independence activity is to engage your students by having them become detectives and learn about the Declaration of Independence in a fun and engaging way. Students will become Declaration Detectives and will have to dig into the famous document to find out why it was so important to the Patriots and how it changed history forever. You can find the resource by clicking here.

Revolutionary War Escape Room

The purpose of this activity is to engage your students in an American Revolution Escape Room activity. Many of the American colonists have been suffering from fatigue and extreme forgetfulness. It is up to the students to solve the mystery quote and the person who said the quote. Students will learn more about the American Revolution as they work through five different clues (activities) to help them escape (or return) back to the 21st century. Find the Escape Room activity by clicking here.

Constitution Detectives

The Constitution contains phrasing that can make it difficult to grasp all the concepts. But in this activity, students will be able to break down the terminology in terms they can understand. Make it easier for your students to be Constitution Detectives, not harder. Click here to read more!

Free Resources

You will also want to try out our free resources below. They will give you a taste of some of ways we cover material in class.

Free Oregon Trail Introductory Handout

This is a great activity to get your students ready for the Oregon Trail Simulation. Included in this free resource is: an introductory letter from a pioneer, two pages of questions to answer about prior knowledge of the Oregon Trail, key vocabulary related to the journey westward, and a United States map to locate important places along the trail. This intro activity will get your students excited about learning more about Westward Expansion. Find the free resource here.

Free Civil War Citing Evidence Activity

In this activity students will have to use evidence to support their answers about the Civil War. Included are 10 questions, a response sheet, and a hints page to help students to cite evidence. This is an important skill that all students should learn. You can find this by clicking here.

Make history engaging for your students.

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#1. Establish Respect

#2. Create Class Beliefs

#3. Discuss Class Procedures

#4. Establish a Classroom Community

#5. Connect with Your Class

1. Make connections with colleagues

2. Required Minutes

3. Reading Rotations

4. Interventions

5. Morning Routines

1. Back to School Sales

2. Tablecloths

3. Pick a Theme

4. Name Tags

5. Friends

Encouragement for New Teachers

What Can Veteran Teachers Do?

First Year Teacher Ebook

1. Be Social

2. Be a Community

3. Be Innovative

4. Be an Investigator

5. Be Prepared

How Does it Work?

Why is it so powerful?

What results can you expect?

Is it right for me?

1. They are editable!

2. They come in different formats.

3. They come in black and white or color.

4. They contain trivia, facts, inspirational quotes and unique celebrations.

5. Once purchased, there are FREE yearly updates!

Set an Alarm

Play a Song

Show a video

Use an Online Timer

Go Noodle

The Textbook is Not the Bible

Incorporate Primary and Secondary Sources

Include the 8 Strands of Social Studies

Use an Inquiry Approach

Put the “Social” Back in Social Studies

Bring Social Studies to Life

Free Resources