Lesson Idea – Aimee Nettleton

Overview
Title: “What If…” Important Figures in Georgia History
Grade Level: 8th
Content: Social Studies / Literacy in History
Standard Addressed: L6-8WHST7: Conduct short research projects to answer a question
(including a self-generated question) drawing on several sources and generating additional
related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.
Amount of Time: 55 minutes
Technology Standard Addressed: 3 – Knowledge Constructor
SMAR Level: Modification. Tech allows for significant task redesign.
Essential Question(s): Who are important figures in Georgia History? What criteria do these
people meet that makes them “important?” How can I creatively rewrite history without this
figure’s existence or impact? How can I use PowerPoint technology to create a book? How can I
use PowerPoint to make an informational video?

Learning Activity
Introduction: Students will have learned about important figures in Georgia History throughout
the course of the semester. They will be introduced to the project with the example booklet that
was created by me and sample students. Students will be assigned to groups of 4, each
designated to a specific time period in history. Depending on the size of the classroom, duplicate
time periods or combined time periods may be needed.
Instruction/Activities: Students will have access to school technology to perform online
research on the people from history that they choose. They will then write 2 paragraphs about
that person, explaining their significance and what history might be like had that person not
made the impacts they did. They will find a photo of their historical figure to upload into a
shared PowerPoint presentation with their group members. They will then use new PowerPoint
features to record themselves presenting their books, and they will download this as an mp4 file
and upload it to the class website.
Final Product: The students should leave the classroom having gained knowledge on how to use
PowerPoint and knowledge on their historical figures. These booklets can be printed and then
presented and shared in class. Their videos can also be presented and shared across grade-levels.
Evaluation or Deliverable: Students will be evaluated on the following: completion of the task
at hand, historical accuracy of their reports, grammatical accuracy, presentation style, and their
creativity on how history would have changed. This can be done on a 1-4 scale with a rubric with
1 not meeting expectations and 4 exceeding expectations.
Reflective Practice
Are there any additional activities or tools that would extend or enhance the lesson idea
above?
We could host a Georgia History night or afternoon where parents, faculty, and lower grade
levels are invited to watch these presentations or read these booklets that were made by the
students. This will allow the students to teach their material to a group that has limited
knowledge on their topics and will help them with their public speaking skills. Students can also
be encouraged to dress up like their famous person for extra points. We can extend this lesson to
serve as a final group project for 8th grade. Another addition could be bringing in a Georgia
Historian or a member of town politics prior to beginning the lesson to give the students more
insight into the activity.
Could something be added to the activity to extend it to a higher Bloom’s level or
technology level?
This activity is operating at the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy—the students are creating
new and original work. To operate at a higher level of technology, students could publish their
video-stories online and have their peers comment on ways they can improve their books or
elements they like prior to the final publications. This would allow the students to go back and
edit their work without having to start all over.
Is the project such that it can be published to share with people outside the classroom? If
so, what additions would you make to the lesson idea to make this happen?
Both the printed books and the video-stories can be published and shared outside of the
classroom. We could put printed copies of the students’ books in the school library, share links to
the school website where the videos are published, or host a Georgia History night (as suggested
in the first question).