Across the country, teachers are being required to alter their class structure to a distancing learning format. However, they are still required to teach history key concepts. Teachers everywhere are negotiating what this may look like. The path that lies ahead will be a challenge. Thankfully, teachers are resilient, compassionate, and hard-working. Knowing this gives me peace of mind. Teachers will rise to whatever obstacles lie ahead. My hope is that my experience in online teaching may help teachers feel more at ease with the distance learning mind-shift.
Online Learning Class Flow
I have learned so much from the beginning of my online teaching adventure to now. I have tested and learned how to teach successfully in a digital classroom. After much trial and error, I have come up with a formula for a structured online learning class flow. At the core, a shift in how frequently and in what ways I assess student learning has driven my success as a Google Classroom Social Studies teacher.
#1 Study the Geography
Studying the geography of the civilization is important. It provides a foundation for student understanding. Luckily, Google Slides and Google Maps are the perfect tools to use for this! After students learn, they can then take a Google Forms quiz on key physical features. Thankfully, Instructomania has many geography videos on our YouTube channel for history key concepts instruction and review.
#2 Study Academic Vocabulary
Next, students study key content and academic vocabulary with various activity options for teachers to assign. Most frequently, I use the ‘In Other Words’ vocabulary interactive activity because it’s proven to work overtime. With this interactive activity, 90% of students have earned 90% or above on the first assessment attempt.
In this activity set, students read vocabulary words and do Quizlet flashcards and online games. They then match slightly different definitions to the words in an activity. After the assignment, students take a Google Forms quiz that always has a few short reading passages at the end.
#3 Historical Snapshots
Students then read the basics of the content through a Historical Snapshot two-page reading. While we do have an interactive Historical Snapshot online interactive option that allows students to annotate within the document, I have found that printing the resource works best for reading, because it’s easier for students to annotate and use as a reference. I typically have students define or infer the meaning of six unfamiliar words, highlight golden text, and summarize each section with a hashtag summary, billboard, or fictitious web address. Then, I assign the Google Form quiz.
Since the quiz is a mixture of knowledge-based and skill-based questions, I allow students to use the reading in an open-note format. Sometimes, I even allow the students to take it in pairs. However, each student is held accountable for the answer he/she submits!
#4 Reading and Writing Activities
After the basic content quiz, I like to assign a few of the activity choices that are content reading and claim-evidence-reasoning writing-based. Honestly, what I assign is always different in any given unit. However, keep in mind that there are more activities available than I would ever assign on any given year.
For some examples, sometimes students view slides presentations and do cloze notes while other times I assign the Online Reading Investigations (ORI lessons) for a more in-depth skill and content activity. In addition, the warm-ups parallel the end of the unit assessment question format while practicing the same skills too!
#5 Testing History Key Concepts
Lastly, it’s test time for all of these history key concepts. To prepare students, I assign the Big Idea/Key Concept Matching Review and the Study Guide. The first part of the test is always key-concept matching so I like to get them thinking in terms of the key concepts for Social Science.
The second part of the Google Forms test has students cite and find the best-supporting evidence from primary and secondary source reading passages. To parallel the test, the study guide has the EXACT same reading excerpts that are on the test! I found success in allowing students to preview the excerpts, that way they can make meaning and define words that are difficult before being asked to evaluate an answer. The test is not easy, but after previewing the excerpts students have less test anxiety and they always perform better
Grading Assessments
Unlike the previous unit quizzes, I do not allow retakes on the end of unit tests. I learned that students did not take the study guide very seriously when that was an option. Since the reading portion of the test is difficult for some students I offset the test grade by making it one point per question. This makes it a total of 30 points, by making the study guide value 10 points based on effort and completion. This offsets test grades while placing a high value on preparation! The two grades average together nicely for better overall student performance.
Assessment Frequency
While the idea of virtual instruction can be daunting, frequent content and skill-based assessments help measure student progress with ease. Essentially, I had a mental shift in the way I assess. Previously, when students were primarily taught on paper, I found that I had more low weighted assignments.
However, learning was always loosely assessed. Now, I more frequently assign higher-weighted mini-assessments. I view them as activities, allowing for retakes and sometimes for students to take them in pairs or groups. Still, since they are titled “quizzes” student effort is heightened.
Hopefully, some of these suggestions have helped you gain the confidence you need to teach your students history key concepts they need to learn! If you still need some guidance, check out this blog post where we share the power of repetition in the classroom!
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