Bright+Ideas

=**//Bright Ideas//**= =Here are some "Bright Ideas" created by the //"Stony..."// master teachers and participants:= ////
 * I teach Black History Month throughout the Era of Slavery and Civil Rights Movement. Stratiegies I use: word wall, wall of fame by using riddles. Extended learning: power point presentations created by students.


 * Provide background information with KWL charts. 1. What do you __Know__ about the topic? 2. What do you __Want__ to learn? 3. What have you __Learn__? This is a reading and writing process activity.


 * Discussion of a picture activity. Make a puzzle of a picture out of card board-give each child a piece of the puzzle to put together. Each child will tell aobut their part of the puzzle and why its important. The concept: taking parts to make a whole, everyone is a part/connected to the puzzle to create a picture.


 * Students will view and discuss Ruby Bridges video and then write letters to Ruby Bridges as an extension. Supplement the Ruby Bridges story with Toni Morrison's "Remember."


 * Students choose 10 items from a list of people, places and things (concepts) from the unit. Create an annotated timeline using each item and combining it with a date and design for the timeline. Annotation must describe, define or identify the item.


 * At the beginning of every unit-the first day- I show a variety of pictures that cover events and people of the unit. The students talk about what they see in each picture-what they think is happening-it's importance. I usually show 10-12 pictures. Then we talk about what's really happening in the pictures and I then place them on the back wall. All throughout the unit, we constantly refer back to those pictures. For the final and mid-term, I show several of these images they have learned about over the semester and they have questions on these pictures on the exam.


 * Historical Dinner Party: Each student takes the "identity" of an individual of the Civil Rights Movement. They research them and prepare responses for dinner conversation. As students gather at the "table," they must be in character. They become that person. They speak as that person would. They ask each other questions and dialogue continues.


 * I team the Rosa Parks' segment from the video "A Time for Justice" to the music of the Neville Brother's "Sister Rosa" to summarize the Montgomery Bus Boycott topic in 10th grade American History.


 * Children will use Charter traits to describe the personalities of Civil Rights Movement participants.


 * Civil Rights Role Play Interview: Partners can work together to create an interview dialogue between a news reporter and a variety of people who were involved in the Civil Rights Movement, especially D'Day. Each couple will present using a micophone. One person ask questions and the other student role plays a character.


 * Have students respond to an inspirational quote or excerpt and have them analyze it and connect it to that event.


 * My students like to do a round-robin question game, the question on one side and the answer on another card. The student with the answer has to be ready when the question is read so that the came will go around the room.


 * Provide sets of primary sources for students from different points of view on a historical event. Students will then, in small groups (3-4) write a short paper on the person's point of view.


 * Show and discuss "Children's March" from Teaching Tolerance. I use this to teach a unit on Westward Expansion and Exploration of the American Indian. Students will compare and contrast the results-Children will know they can make an impact.


 * Write a dialogue or letter between two objects to provide insight to the times of the Civil Rights Movement. From the Baptist Church pew to the Prayerbook. From the Sloss furnace to the sloss coins. From the playgound swings at Kelley Ingram Park to the see-saws.


 * Making quilts: Last year we made a quilt highlighting the cities and events in the Civil Rights Movement. Parents, Colleagues, and kids were impressed and delighted.


 * Learn the lyrics to popular songs-use the phasing (as appropriate of course) as you speak with students during learnings.


 * Use important dates, court decisions, and heroes of the Civil Rights Movement to develop a jeopardy game which can be utilized on a power point presentation.


 * Constitutional Issues/Current Events Friday: Students search for current events related to the Bill of Rights and Constitution and discuss the issues on Friday.


 * Create a panel in which students will have different roles to act. Similar to what we saw with the foot soldiers, their positions, etc. This can be a very good idea to link the Civil Rights Movement to the classroom.


 * Teaching Reading Through the Arts: 1. Show a picture/painting with no title. 2. Have the students’ list words (10) which describe the picture/painting. 3. Then have students write one or two sentences, using the word. 4. Do this for each word. 5. Each sentence must “tell” about the picture/painting. Skills covered: vocabulary building, describing words, sentence structure, summarizing. Students may also “Characterize” the characters, if any, in the sentence. I’ve used; the Janitar-Painter-this could be adapted to scenes from the movement, schools, church, etc.


 * Healthy Living: We are constantly worried about our African American Children being overweight. 1. Pass out copies of menus from fast food places (McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Taco Bell) with fat grams listed by each item on the menu. Put students in groups. 2. Each student chooses an item for their lunch from the fast food menu. 3. use 1 paperclip for each fat gram. 4. Let each student make a fat gram chain using the paper clips. Students will realize that some foods have less fat than other foods. Display the paperclip chains. Discuss why some foods are better than other foods. Use plastic foods and the food pyramid for discussion.


 * Put on different hats and tell what life was like for that profession in the 50s.


 * I have student project options for all of my units in AP U.S. History. This can be adapted for U.S. History.


 * Explore, analyze, and utilize more of the music of the Civil Rights Movement to help understand themes about the role of the church, self-motivation, and meaning in the activism. Also, how about arranging or creating a play about some aspect of the movement.


 * STUDENT ASSIGNMENT PRODUCTS**

A Lesson Advertisement Animated Movie Annotated Bibliography Archaeological Dig Art Gallery Block Picture Story Biography Box Board Game Book Book Jacket Report Bulletin Board Centers and Stations Chart Children's Book Choral Reading Clay Sculpture Collage Collection Comic Strip Commercial Computer Program Cook Book Costumes Crossword Puzzle Cultural Fair Database Debate Demonstration Detailed Illustration Diary Diorama Display Editorial Cartoon Epithet Etching Experiment Fact Tile Fairy Tale Family Tree Flip Book Graph Hidden Picture Hyper Studio I Movie Journal || Illustrated Story Interview Journal Labeled Diagram Learning Center Map with a Legend Mazes Memorial Mind Map Mobile Mock Election Mock Trial Model Monument Model Multimedia Presentation Mural Museum Exhibit Music CD Musical Instruments Needlework Newscast Newspaper Oral Defense Oral report Painting Pamphlet Paper Mache' Petition Photo Essay Pictograph Pictorial Timeline Pictures Picture Storybook Plaster of Paris Model Play Poetry Pop-Up Book Postage Stamp Power Point Presentation Press Conference Project Cube Prototype Puppet Show Puzzle ||  ||
 * A Letter
 * Illuminated Page

Quilt Radio Program Rap Role Play Recipe Riddle Role Play Rubric Scrapbook Sculpture Simulations Skit Slide Show Slogan Song Sound Speech Spread Sheet Storytelling Survey T Chart Talk Show Tapes-Audio/Video Television Program Tessellations Time Line - Illustrated Transparencies Treasure Hunt Travel Brochure Venn Diagram Video Tape Virtual Field Study Voice Message Web-page Web-site Window Design Word Search Working Hypothesis Write a New Law ||  ||
 * Quantum Leap