Civil War Think-Puzzle-Explore
Beginning a unit of study about something well-known, like the US Civil War, can be challenging for students. Many may feel very knowledgable about the topic and it can be somewhat intimidating for those that don't know a lot to keep up, at least at first. I began our Civil War unit today hoping to bridge the gap between these two groups of students by having them complete a group "Think-Puzzle-Explore" activity. Students generated lists of facts they think they know about the war, puzzles or questions they have about it (hypothetical questions are accepted) and then ways that they would want to explore the topic. Student "Think" answers reaffirmed the range of knowledge and the "Explore" section illustrated the need for us to delve into primary sources, which we will. The "Puzzle" portion was where deep questioning of the topic occurred and this curiosity is a great starting point to take our lesson tomorrow.