The last two years I have struggled with teaching this standard. I don’t know why, but it seems hard to model and hard to teach! This year, I have made a point to do quick little teaches of it multiple times throughout the year, and I love this fun one we just did!
We were studying the causes of the Revolutionary War and my students loved it! I found this book and a lightbulb went off…. PERFECT for teaching comparing points of view! 🙂
Before reading I had my students complete this graphic organizer for their thoughts on King George and George Washington {I had an after thought that I should have used post-its for more interaction, and definitely will in the future!}
Next, we read the first parts of the book to learn more about the Georges. We filled out these two foldables in our interactive SS notebooks!
I loved hearing how many students were pleasantly surprised about how good of a person King George actually was, and it opened up a whole new teachable moment for talking about a theme of don’t judge a book by its cover!
After having a good discussion on the two, we decided to use what we knew, and the evidence from what we’ve read to compare their Points of View on the Revolutionary War. My students had SO much evidence to support each side, I loved it!
As an extension activity, I took this standard further. I divided my students up into 5 groups of 6. I told each group they were either on King George or George Washington’s side. They had to come up with a letter to their people explaining why they were right about the war and persuading them to listen to them.
I drew a bunch of scrolls real quick and gave them to each group for their final copies.
They turned out GREAT!
My accelerated group still had a little time, so we took it to a debate! All of the groups on King George’s side got together, and all of the groups on George Washington’s side did, too. They discussed and came up with their 5 main points of why their point of view was correct.
I then became the “judge” (Had this not been so spur of the moment, I totally would’ve worn my graduation gown and brought in a gavel.. next year!) We talked about respectful debates and good arguments. Each group sent a representative up to state their point. After all points were made, they had 5 minutes to discuss and come up with a “closing argument.” A representative gave their argument, then I deliberated. I gave them points for each valid argument, and then points for good counter arguments in their closing statement. The winning team was excited, but we talked about how well each side did!
It was such a fun activity that I am definitely planning for next year! I love how challenging and interactive it was, and the kiddos loved it!
I just added this as a freebie to my store! You can pick it up by clicking here or on the picture below. 🙂
You lost me when you made five groups of six. Holy hello! Your activity looks great, though.
So Awesome! Guess What! I gave you a shout out in my MAY CURRENTLY!!! 🙂
Courtney
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Yes, huge class sizes in our district… no fun! But thank you 🙂
How much of the book did you end up reading during the entire assignment? Just the beginning part that gives the background on the "George's" or did you read the whole book?
This looks like a great activity. Im going to try it. I have a class set of this book. Thanks for the download.
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