Primary and Secondary Source Freebies

Hi friends! Happy Weekend! :)  Next week, my kiddos will be taking a test on hodgepodge of skills in social studies.  I'm talking primary and secondary sources, conflicts, and Ohio's mound builders.  We spent part of our two day week review primary and secondary sources. 

We started by taking notes on the definitions of each and examples in this little flip book that they could use for studying.  I used a powerpoint created by my district to help us with our note taking.  

Then we played a little game that got us up in moving.  I've always been about engagement in my lessons but earlier this year, I attended my first Kagan training and it really opened my eyes on the little things I could do to engage my kiddos.  Simple things like playing a Kids Bop song during our Mission Possible Math Review, a four corners game and just simply incorporating more movement into our day are all such easy ways to keep my students more engaged. 

For our game, hung up the following signs in my classroom. 

I read off examples of each from a worksheet I had in my files and had students turn to the type of source they thought it was.  So if I read "A letter written by a WWII solider to his family," they turned to primary source.  If I read "A copy of the Mona Lisa painting I purchased at a museum," they turned to secondary source.

This "turn and twist" game was certainy quite easy to throw together but made a big impact.  Many of my kiddos were sharing examples of primary and secondary sources with me throughout the next day and were able to share lots of examples with their partner in a Kagan structure we did to wrap up our lesson.  Woohoo, I think we will be ready for our test after all. :)

Post edit: So my dear friend Nicole just finished up studying Primary and Secondary Sources and she made a great activity to review primary and secondary sources! I've wishlisted it to use next year. 

Source: teacherspayteachers.com via Nicole Roberts on Pinterest

 

Off to enjoy my Saturday! If you download and use this freebie, I'd love to hear what you think! :)

Government Freebies

We've moved on from matter to government in our social studies/science block of our day. Social Studies was always one of my favorite subjects in school, so it's something I really enjoy teaching.  With our new Ohio standards, we are really focusing on the purpose of the Constitution and the branches of government with our new model curriculum.  I used a few pieces of my sweet friend Amanda's We the People Constitution Unit on Constitution Day and I'm so excited to use the rest this upcoming week. :)

I created some supplemental materials to use with my kiddos this week and thought I'd share them with you. :) 

A flip book for your students to record their notes for the three branches of government.  I've included a sheet of lined paper in the download for your students to record their notes on.  To use, just simply run the flip book cover and the lined paper 1-1 sided on you copier and use the two staple on the side feature if your stapler offers it.  If not, just staple twice on the side. :) I love flip books, they're perfect for introducing note taking to my fourth graders. 

 Our new standards also has students determine ways they can be responsible citizens, so I created this reflection sheet to use with my kiddos.  

I hope that one or either of these freebies can be useful to you.  If you would like to download them, I have uploaded them both to Google Drive.   Just click on either of freebie images or {here} to download. 

I have already shared these documents with you, so there is no need to request that I do once you are in Google Drive.  My bloggy pal Courtney has a great tutorial {here} for downloading documents from Google Drive.

I hope each of you had a great Monday! If you are able to use one of these freebies, I'd love if you followed my blog or left me a comment below! :) Have a great evening!