Big Huge Labs

While attending the Presidential Timeline Institute at the Nixon Library last week, I learned about several websites that can help students create fun and interesting projects to display what they know. One of these was Big Huge Labs. There are tons of games and activities, but the three that I found most useful for a high school class were the Motivator, Magazine and Movie Poster apps.

The Motivator allows students to add pictures and text to create a motivational poster. It is an easy way to assess student learning, as are all of these apps. I also plan to use it as an anticipatory set for a unit or maybe a daily warm up. Here is an example that I created.

The Magazine allows students to create a magazine cover with headlines, date and price. Here is one I created to give you an idea of how to use it.

The Movie Poster is very similar, only one is promoting a movie about a particular topic. It takes some critical thinking to decide the title, leading actors, producers, etc.

I plan on trying these in my classroom this year. I think the students will have fun with it! They can be used in any of the social sciences and even for current events. I love programs that are adaptable to a wide range of topics and subjects.

Great American Hall of Fame

This post is in honor and memory of a friend and teacher named Darren Thomas. Darren taught AP US History. He was quite proud of his Idaho roots and so established a Mr. Potato Head project for AP students to conduct after the exam was over. Each year students chose 2 famous Americans to induct into the Great American Hall of Fame. What they did was choose Americans they thought were worthy of the honor and had debates over their merits. Once the two individuals were chosen for the year, a Mr. Potato Head was created in their likeness. They are then formally inducted into this hall of fame with a special dinner ceremony. Here are examples of Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton:

Other individuals who have been inducted include Sacajawea, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton and FDR. There is even a Hall of Shame group of inductees that includes Aaron Burr.

Mr. Thomas just recently passed away and his students created a Mr. Potato Head of him and inducted him into the Hall of Fame.

Fakebook

This website allows students to assume the persona of a historical figure and create a Facebook profile for them. They can add profile information such as education, job, date of birth. They can also add friends and hold conversations. It looks just like Facebook and can be a fun way to assess student learning. Here is the link to a Fakebook that I created for Jimmy Carter. Here is a screen grab that shows what it looks like. Click here to visit the website.