Design a Political Party

I use this project with my Participation in Government classes to engage the students in the development and role that political parties play in the United States government system. Particularly of interest now since the 2018 midterm elections just occurred and the 2020 elections are going to arrive before we know it! This project calls for students to come together in groups of four or five and develop their own political party. Each group is charged with developing a political party name, slogan, logo, press release, party platform, and stump speech. One member of the group will also represent the party as the presidential candidate. This person will participate in a class debate positioning each of the party candidates against one another to discuss their party's positions on key policy issues. After the debate has concluded, each candidate is given time to read their stump speech before each student exercises their right to vote in a class presidential election. The class is then provided with a link to a google form to vote for the candidate they most resonated with. 

My students love this project. Their engagement is through the roof with this project and the students really get into the role of designing their own political platforms based off of their beliefs. Many of the students have shared with me that this project helped them to better understand political parties and the process of campaigning in the United States political system. New to this project are the Google Forms incorporated for class elections. In addition, the project has recently been revamped to include a pathway for teachers to discuss the process of impeachment through a simulation activity. Google forms are provided to encourage an impeachment simulation with teachers having to develop their own scenario.

The logos, ideas, and speeches these groups have shared are so creative. It really is great to see a project captivate a class in such a way where the students are able to easily apply it to their own personal lives. Below are some pictures of previous logos created by some of my students and also a preview of the project itself. If you want a copy of the materials, it is available in my store on Teacher Pay Teacher (TpT) by clicking on this link (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Big-Apple-Social-Studies).   

Preview of the Political Party Project

Photo of a Designed Party Logo by Students

Photo of a Designed Party Logo by Students

WINTER BREAK IS COMING!!!

WINTER BREAK IS COMING!!! EVERYONE HANG ON!!!

Attention ALL teachers of social studies! WINTER BREAK IS COMING!!! In order to help us all get through the next two weeks, Big Apple Social Studies is throwing a Battle to Winter Break Sale! Everything is 15% off in the store! Great project ideas that span a few days to an entire semester! Get them while the presses are hot! Check out the link for a good laugh at what is to come. 

Teachers Thinking About All of the Parents at Home With the Children for 2 Weeks

Create Your Own Public Policy: Addressing Societal Issues Through Policy

This project is on public policy research. It is intended to be a semester-long project, but it can be adjusted to be shorter. Public policy has, and continues to shape the development of our society into its present form. This project will challenge your students to create their own public policy, or modify current policy at the national, state, county or local level of government. The policy will address a problem within society students will identify through research. Students are challenged with thinking about What pisses them off in society? as a starting point, and is a great discussion board topic to commence the project. The primary learning objective for this project is for students to acquire a detailed understanding of what tasks are associated with creating public policy, think critically and analyze the process of gathering support for implementation, and apply their knowledge as a means of finding solutions to address current issues within society.

I use this project as a college preparation research project. The students have full autonomy over the topic that they choose and must conduct thorough research to develop a detailed policy addressing the societal problem. Each student constructs and produces three working drafts with a culminating presentation and memo to a player. The memo to a player acts as a letter of support for the policy to push for its implementation. Additionally, students work in small groups and conduct two rounds of peer reviews to collaboratively work through the revision processes. At the end of the semester, students present their policies to the class, and if exceptionally constructed, are further revised and sent to the actual player for consideration to push for a meaningful impact on society. The project engages students in the process of policy development, lobbying, and implementation. 

Check this project out! My government students love the project. The project has also given my students a taste of college-level work, which many have been appreciative toward preparing them for "the big show". The project can be found on my TpT store page.

Destination Explorer!

This week my students are studying the events surrounding the Age of Exploration. A project that my students and I developed focused on student choice and the incorporation of technology to expand their learning and knowledge of the impacts of exploration. This project called for each student to choose an explorer from the list we created as a class, and go deeper into the impact of each explorer. Students will be doing more of the "heavy lifting" and will have full autonomy on the deliverables for the final submission of the project.

Students will create a one-page take away using Piktochart or similar, or a travel brochure depicting the location(s) their explorer journeyed to. Students will use this information to further dive into the impacts/ramifications their explorer had on the indigenous peoples they came in contact with and the impacts the explorer's pursuit of new lands had on the development of globalization.

CrossFit and Teaching... More Shared Similarities Than One Could Imagine

Julie Potts, an educator from Massachusetts and avid Crossfitter at Fort CrossFit in Hampstead, New Hampshire, highlighted several similarities between CrossFit and teaching from an instructional perspective. I too experienced this epiphany that Potts (2016) observed when she first started at her respective box (gym). As educators, we strive to provide a learning environment for our students which are challenging, but also an environment where our students can succeed and see growth.

Through various instructional strategies focused on differentiating learning activities to a multitude of learners, educators have struggled to find specific pathways to learning for each of their students. Although I use a flipped learning and workshop model within my classroom, I too struggle to properly differentiate for each of my students.

Much like Ms. Potts, CrossFit has been an eye opener, if you will, for me in terms of instruction and the way I deliver instruction in the classroom. I have been a member of CrossFit Commack in Commack, New York for approximately a year and a half, and while I am undoubtedly biased, the coaches there are some of the best teachers (especially Joey and Mikey) I have ever met. My classroom consists of a whiteboard, books, and a bunch of desks. Their classroom consists of a whiteboard, barbells, rowers and chalk... lots of chalk.

 It is interesting to observe how the coaches differentiate their instruction to meet the needs of their athletes. Similarly to what Potts (2016) pointed out in her article, the coaches at CrossFit Commack are able to take the workout as it is prescribed and scale it out (differentiate) so that it challenges and meets the needs of each individual athlete. This is very similar to the way teachers attempt to meet the needs of their students when we construct our lessons and hands-on activities. Teachers have students who excel in the classroom, while other students may need a little more work or fine-tuning. The goal of differentiated instruction is to meet the needs of every student in the classroom and provide them a pathway to success through challenging them in the learning process.

Teachers and CrossFit Coaches alike push students and athletes toward success with an individual's zone of proximal development (ZPD) in mind, as shared by Potts (2016). I cannot agree more with Potts' (2016) assertion that "Success is unlikely if a child is constantly pushed past her ZPD and into frustration and failure, just as it would be impossible for me to succeed if pushed past my physical limits or given a task my body simply cannot perform."

For each student in a classroom or athlete at a CrossFit box, the goal is to provide impeccable instruction which provides a pathway to success. The comparisons between teaching in a classroom and teaching in a box are evident... if you don't believe me, I challenge you to go check it out for yourself.

Julie Potts' article on the CrossFit Journal
21+15+9 = Better Teachers

   

First Amendment Position Paper

I use this project with my Participation in Government classes to challenge the perceptions of the students in terms of their understanding of the First Amendment. This project challenges students to develop their own perceptions of the First Amendment and ascertain current threats to individual freedoms found within the First Amendment. This topic gained additional notoriety due to some of the current events within our government and recent challenges to the freedoms set forth within the First Amendment. While this is an individual project, students have collaborated to expand ideas and present counterclaims to current challenges to individual freedoms within in society today. The project also permits student choice with multiple options to choose from and an option which presents a scenario but allows the students to conduct a deeper inquiry and application to their own personal lives.  

This project was by far one of the class favorites this year. Their engagement was through the roof. Their assertions pertaining to individual freedoms reflected a deep grasp of the content through the application and impact on their own personal lives. Below you will find previews of the project. The full project is available at my store on Teacher Pay Teacher (TpT) by clicking on this link (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Making-Social-Studies-Great-Again). 

Political Party Project

Political Party Project

I use this project with my Participation in Government classes to engage the students in the development and role political parties play in the United States government system. Particularly of interest now since the State of the Union Address just occurred and the 2018 midterm elections are quickly approaching. This project calls for students to come together in groups of four or five and develop their own political party. Each group is charged with developing a political party name, slogan, logo, press release, party platform and stump speech. One member of the group will also act as the party's presidential candidate. This person will participate in a class debate positioning each of the party candidates against one another to discuss their party's position on key policy issues. After the debate has concluded, each candidate is given time to read their stump speech and ask for their classmates vote. The class is then provided with a link to a google form to vote for the candidate they most resonated with.  

My students love this project. Their engagement is through the roof with this project and the students really get into the role of designing their own political platforms based off of their beliefs. Many of the students have shared with me that this project helped them to better understand political parties and the process of campaigning in the United States political system. The logos, ideas and speeches these groups have shared are so creative. It really is great to see a project captivate a class in such a way where the students are able to easily apply it to their own personal lives. Below are some pictures of previous logos created by some of my students and also a preview of the project itself. If you want a copy of the materials, it is available in my store on Teacher Pay Teacher (TpT) by clicking on this link (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Making-Social-Studies-Great-Again).   

Preview of the Political Party Project

Photo of a Designed Party Logo by Students

Photo of a Designed Party Logo by Students