Tournament Time
This photo depicts some of our best learning so far this year. The student in the foreground of this photo is clearly deep in thought, analyzing her group's progress. The boy across from her is checking his list, preparing to talk to his group about his progress. Students are focused on learning together, practicing social norms while building confidence and learning history deeply. What is this jack-of-all-trades activity they are participating in? The Ultimate US History Tournament: American Revolution Edition. I created a March Madness-style bracket activity to culminate our years' learning a few years ago, and it was a success. I decided to utilize it again for the American Revolution this year and it's been going well. Students need to generate their own lists of the most important people, places, events, and ideas first (one list per year of the war). Students at tables of 5 compare their lists, searching for commonalities (a good way to reinforce community among stud...