Tug of War Thinking Routine

My Student Teacher and I are going to help students read with purpose and analyze the United States' entry into the Second War for Independence, also known as the War of 1812, by having students take part in the Tug of War Visible Thinking routine on Monday.

I am a firm believer in the benefits of Visible Thinking and I find it to be an incredible equalizer for students of all levels. Every student can achieve deep learning in their own way through routines. They are challenging and promote rich discussion.

Groups of Student Historians will be given cards with 9 topics/events on it. They will read a text section with purpose, looking to explain these topics in their own words. Students will place the cards on a continuum according to whether or not the United States should have entered the war. (The vote for war was the closest ever in American History.) 

The most interesting part of the activity will occur when two student groups will compare and contrast their continuums. The students will then practice academic discourse, disagreeing politely and defending their decisions against the ideas of other groups. We will then poll the students for their thoughts regarding our entry into the War of 1812 in Schoology.

Image result for war of 1812


Comments

  1. Team BondingMay 30, 2022 at 9:37 AM

    The tug of war team building activity is not only entertaining, but it also promotes collaboration and builds trust among coworkers. More team-building activities can be found on our website. So, go ahead and check out right now.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Historical Perspective and Peel the Fruit Thinking Routine

Image
Practicing historical perspective is an essential social studies skill. Historical perspective is being able to step into a historic situation and examine the motivations, biases, and beliefs of a person or group of people. Students have to revert to the beliefs of a group of people even if those beliefs completely contradict the views we have today. They must weigh decisions based on the situation of the time, not necessarily how situations are viewed today. The C3 Framework for Social Studies states that "Historical understanding requires recognizing this multiplicity of points of view in the past, which makes it important to seek out a range of sources on any historical question rather than simply use those that are easiest to find. It also requires recognizing that perspectives change over time, so that historical understanding requires developing a sense of empathy with people in the past whose perspectives might be very different from those of today." http://www.so
Read more

Industrial Revolution Haiku

Students have been learning about the Industrial Revolution in the mid1800s and how it changed life in New England. Today students processed their learning by creating haiku poems on the subject. They were challenged to think about and evaluate this topic within the structure of a haiku, a 3 line poem with 17 total syllables--5 in the 1st and 3rd lines and 7 in the second line. The poems have been impressive and some will be posted here soon.
Read more

Name That Executive Role!

Image
Students today learned about the many roles of the head of the Executive Branch, the President of the United States. I found several images of former Presidents in these roles--can you guess which is which? Post your answers below or email them to me. Choices: Commander-In-Chief Chief Executive Political Party Head Chief Diplomat 1.  President Eisenhower 2. President George HW Bush (on the right side of the picture) 3. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt  4. President Reagan meeting with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (this one's a bit of a giveaway!)
Read more