Social Studies Teaching Strategies
Social Studies Lesson Plans
Ever have that stressful moment where you’ve finished your lesson for the day, but there’s still 10 minutes left of class? You don’t want your students to talk among themselves, but you have nothing else planned. If you’re looking for social studies teaching strategies to stretch your lesson, we’re here to help! Below are 10 fun ways you can stretch your lesson if you have some extra time.
Social Studies Activities
Play the Dice Game
Get some large foam dice (or use virtual dice) and have an impromptu dice game with your students! All you have to do is propose a simulation question and have them each roll the dice. No matter what you are teaching, you can set-up some scenarios where there are different outcomes based upon the number that a student rolls. It can take a decent amount of time for each student to roll the dice, but the students become invested in not only their fate, but also the fate of other students. When teaching WWI, students could roll to see what their lives might have been like in the trenches. If you’re teaching the stock market or the stock market crash before the Great Depression, whatever number students roll could correspond to how much money they gained or lost. Incorporating any simulation activity is always memorable, and it’s perfect for that awkward pocket of time you need to fill.
Drawing Activity
If you’ve got extra paper, have students illustrate something that they just learned about or that relates to the unit. For example, students could create a comic strip where they illustrate the events you just taught. You could also have them illustrate Instagram posts that connect to the time period, adding captions or hashtags if they want. This is fun because many students don’t see this activity as work and it doesn’t take very long. However, some students might go above and beyond and create beautiful pieces of art! This activity can even help our visual learners relate back to the lesson as well.
Day in the Life Journal Entry
On a similar note, students could write a journal entry from the perspective of someone who was living during the time period you’re teaching. What was their life like? What would they be thinking about or dealing with at this time? This allows your students to reflect about their perspective and it can be an easy way to tie up a lesson. How much should students write? That is up to you, but something we have found helpful is to have the students include the number of sentences based on their grade level. For example, sixth graders could write at least 6 sentences, while eighth graders could write at least 8 sentences.
Show a Related Video
For an easy option, you could also show a video related to the lesson or unit. This could be something like a Crash Course video or a video from TED-Ed. However, it is best to make sure you’ve watched the video first to plan accordingly. Sometimes there is content in a video that is inappropriate for younger groups of students. A helpful tip is to look for a related or helpful video at the start of your unit that you can have on hand whenever you have some extra time.
Watch CNN 10 (or Read Current Events)
We love using CNN 10 with students to help them get into current events! If you’ve got 10 minutes, put on the program of the day, and help your students catch up on what is happening in the world. It’s important for our students to be informed, and this is a great option if we aren’t always connecting historical events to current events. Another great option that we have used in the past is Newsela, which modifies many different news articles and historical documents in a variety of reading levels.
If you want this CNN 10 analysis sheet, it is included in our Early Finisher Activities for Social Studies resource, which features 26 different early finisher activities, a bulletin board display, no-prep worksheets, and a digital choice board! We also have a Current Events Analysis Activity for Google Drive that you might like!
Play Quizlet Live
If you have related vocabulary words for your unit, Quizlet Live is really fun and a quick activity! Even if you don’t have a set list, a quick search will help you find great pre-made vocabulary sets. Once the vocabulary set is ready to go, head to the Quizlet Live feature. Students do need devices for this. With Quizlet Live, students are divided up into random groups and must work together. It is really fun, requires no prep, and you can play multiple, shuffled rounds to help students better remember their vocabulary! If you want other ideas for vocab activities, you can check out our post of 8 other vocabulary activities for social studies to try!
Practice Gratitude
You can use your remaining class time for students to complete a short gratitude activity. Using a sheet of notebook paper or post-it, have students brainstorm what they are grateful for, even a list of up to 20 things! You could also have students write a note of gratitude or appreciation to someone. This could be to other teachers, family, friends, or classmates, and it promotes positivity in the classroom. In the past, especially around Thanksgiving, we’ve had students write kind letters to other teachers, and it touched them so much.
If you are interested, we have simple gratitude templates included as part of our Early Finisher Activities for Social Studies, which you can check out here.
Make a Pro/Con Chart
Another meaningful social studies teaching strategy is making a pro/con chart. This activity is a really great way to help students see different perspectives, and works well with any topic. Have your students reflect about the pros and cons of whatever topic you are studying, whether it is about a historical figure (such as a President), a Supreme Court decision, an event, a war, an invention, or anything else. In addition to having students reflect about perspectives on both sides of a topic or issue, it also can spark further discussion or debate.
“Choose a Side” Activity
A “choose a side” or “take a stand” activity is where you pose a question, and students who think one idea go on one side of the room and the rest of the students go to the other side. Once the room is divided, have students share their reasoning for why they chose the side they did. Prompt students to further defend their location in the room and respond to comments made by the opposing side. We like this activity because it gets students up and moving and encourages more student participation. If you’ve never used this activity before, you could start your students with a warm-up question, such as “Who is the better pet: cats or dogs?”.
Play a Game with Your Students
If this applies to your content, playing a game with lesson related topics is always a great option. This could be something like bingo, Pictionary or charades. Your choice ultimately depends on the topic you are teaching about or relevant vocabulary words, as some topics might be hard to draw or act out.
Creative Teaching Ideas
In addition to these ideas, we have many more options that are perfect early finisher activities for secondary social studies classes! This particular resource is great for students to help themselves to the early finisher activity they would like to complete. There are a total of 26 activities, with each one clearly labeled A to Z. There are cards for a bulletin board display (pictured below) that correspond with each activity, and each one comes with a no-prep printable worksheet. For digital learners, there is also a digital choice board! If you want to use this system in your classroom, you can purchase it here.
For more general tips and ideas related to social studies teaching strategies for stretching lessons check out the related video here. While a lot of what we do here pertains to middle school social studies, these tips can apply to any subject or grade level!
Are you looking for some new teaching ideas to engage your students in your social studies class? If so, you’ll love our FREE guide: 5 Creative Projects to Ignite Student Engagement in Your Social Studies Class. These activities have both printable and digital options and can work for any social studies subject!
