For and Against - December Post

          Ever have one of those days that you think you've completed something only to realize you didn't post it?  Well looking at my list I see that I've posted everything, but this... so now it is out of order... "Best laid plans of mice and men..."

          This month we are working on our "For and Against" projects - students were assigned a topic from the list compiled - they could also give suggestions of topics.  They had to take a survey to see what their stances were before they were assigned.  If a student chose neutral they could be switched to being "For" or "Against" based on their classmates stances and groupings.  

Here was the form for their topics:

-Abortion

-Gay Marriage

-Minimum Wage - Increase

-Raising the Debt Ceiling

-Euthanasia/Physician Assisted Suicide

-Vaccine for Kids

-Gun Control

-Medical Marijuana

-Animal Testing

-Video Games and Violence for Youth

-Death Penalty

-Drinking Age

-Cell Phones

-Illegal Immigration

-Concealed Handgun Permits

-Legalization of Marijuana

-E-Cigarettes

-Social Media in Schools

-Felons and Voting

-The Gold Standard

-Standardized Tests

-Tax Exempt Organizations

-Corporate Tax Rate

-Drones - Domestic

-Drones - International

-Electoral College

-Vocational Education

-Welfare

-Social Security

-Military Spending

-Domestic Violence

-Gambling

-Medicating Children

-Vaccinating Children

-Religion in Schools

-Police Brutality

-Discrimination/Affirmative Action

          Students had to provide a historical overview of their topic in an unbiased faction.  The main bulk of their paper is their persuasive portion where they focused on being for or against the topic and explaining why.  

         Next month, we will have them create short presentations where they introduce their main arguments to their classmates and then have open discussions about the topic.  This project is working on the research component of their standards, group communication, public speaking, and presenting information.

Review Games - January Post

          End of the Semester Review is very important because students typically don't remember what we studied in August/September.  For review games this year, I have created a few new things simply because the new Smart Board in my room does not allow you to throw things at it, like the old boards did; this issue has rendered my Bulls Eye game and Basketball game worthless because you can't score when the board doesn't pick up the ball.
          Quizizz.com - review game that allows multiple choice questions - students may go at their own pace, but can be timed (mine have 30 seconds to answer their questions), but it allows them to answer questions and then see what they got wrong.

          Flippity - Jeopardy and it does the MATH for you!!! Allows you to set up your boards, you must publish it to the web and then attach the link on the second tab.   You then can play with your students and it allows you to keep track of points just by clicking the "x" and check mark.  

           Baseball - took the terms for the final exam and broke them into singles, doubles, and triples.  Students are then asked a question at random (drawn from a bag)  
     

         
Otherwise I have kept my standard reviews of History (Bingo), Square Game, and Bazinga, but those have been talked about at some point or another so I am not going to beat a dead horse.  Review games should be interactive and keep students engaged, but also review the content.