On the first day of class I like to do an activity with the students that fulfills the following two goals:
It introduces them to a lot of the concepts that we will be covering in class
It is a fun activity that gets kids out of their seat.
It also has the good side effect of you being able to figure out who the talkative students are, who the students are that won't be willing to do work, and which students consider themselves experts/leaders.
Before the lesson, print off the following events from Utah's history, and cut them up so that each event is on it's own slip of paper.
Rock formations form to make what is now our national parks
Ancient people use Danger Cave
Archaic Culture emerges
Fremont and Ancestral Puebloan cultures begin to flourish
Ancestral Puebloans begin to leave the region
Dominguez and Escalante’s expedition through Utah
Fur trappers and Mountain Men roam the area
John C Fremont Expeditions begin
Donner Reed Party gets slowed down by Hasting’s Cutoff
The Mormon Pioneers enter the Salt Lake Valley
Settlers apply for statehood, requesting the name “Deseret”
Utah becomes a territory
Walker War begins
Walk War ends
Utah War begins
Mountain Meadows Massacre
Utah War ends
Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act becomes U.S. Law
Bear River Massacre
Transcontinental Railroad is completed at Promontory Point
Utah Women gain the right to vote, the first time
Edmunds Act becomes U.S. Law
Edmunds-Tucker Act becomes U.S. Law
1890 Manifesto
State Constitution written
Utah becomes a state
Utah women regain the right to vote
Topaz Internment Camp open
Topaz Internment Camp closes
Nuclear tests begin in Nevada
Nuclear tests stop
They Olympics are held in Salt Lake City
On your board (either projected or just written) write down the numbers 1-32, spaced out enough that the slips of paper can be placed next to each number.
Hand out slips of paper with the different items on them. As you hand them out, read the events out loud (this helps them know how to pronounce some of them, as well as giving them idea of the spectrum of the events).
Once they are all handed out, have the students go up 1 row at a time to stick their slip on the board next to a number. Make sure to emphasize that they probably won't know where it goes, and to just try to get close. (I have a set of laminated event slips that I put magnets on, but tape works just as well)
Once all slips have been stuck on the board go through the results. Anything that is in the right spot (there won't be many) circle with a green marker. Anything that was placed within one spot of being correct mark with a blue marker, and anything that is more than 10 away mark with a red marker (not to embarrass the kids, just to let them know that they need to move it across the board)
Then let them try again. They come and get their slips of paper and WORK TOGETHER to try to move them around to be more accurate. This takes anywhere from 5-10 minutes usually. Once they are good with their order, go through and do the same check as you did after the first round.
Then give them one more attempt. They can move their slips around more, then do a final check where you circle all the correct ones with green, and move the incorrect ones to the proper place. When finished, they usually have somewhere between 12-25 correct. I usually tell them that which ever class gets the most correct will win something to motivate them to try their best and work together.
ACTIVITY CAN TAKE ANYWHERE FROM 45-75 MINUTES