4 Easy Ways to Teach History Without Boring Your Students

Kirsten 0:00

This is the social studies teacher podcast, a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm Kirsten of The Southern Teach, an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies. I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.

Kirsten 0:47

Hello and welcome back to another episode of the social studies teacherpPodcast. Today we are going to be tackling a challenge that I'm sure many of you listening have faced, and that is taking complex or traditionally dry Social Studies topics and transforming them into simple and fun lessons your students will love. Whether it's trying to explain the complexities of government or the timeline of ancient civilizations, some social studies content can feel daunting for our students and also for us teachers. But don't worry, I will be sharing some techniques for breaking these topics down and making them not only digestible but also enjoyable for upper elementary students. Let's get into those four easy ways to teach history without boring your students.

Kirsten 1:38

Tip number one is to use storytelling to make connections. One of my favorite ways to make complex content fun is through storytelling. Every historical event culture or government system has a human side to it, and telling it through a story can help students connect on a deeper level. For example, when you're teaching about the 13 Colonies, instead of focusing on dates and dry facts about when each colony was founded or who founded the colony, you can create a story about a day in the life of a child living during that time. What did they wear? What games did they play? How did their family spend their day? There's all sorts of information about life in the colonies that students can research or you can research, and you can share that information to make it more relatable.

Kirsten 2:27

Tip number two is to use visuals and interactive elements. Charts, maps, timelines and videos can break down difficult concepts and make them more engaging. One example is if you're teaching something such as the three branches of government, the legislative branch, the executive branch, the judicial branch, thinking about those branches, and you can use a simple, colorful chart to show how they interact and balance each other out, thinking about the checks and balances. Or you can hop on to Brain Pop Jr, or Brain Pop, to visualize the content, showing short videos about the different branches. Also thinking about interactive games, such as creating a class government where students are taking on the roles from the different branches. This can make learning feel more like play and less like a lesson. Trust me, upper elementary students appreciate that type of thing.

Kirsten 3:24

Tip number three is to turn complex topics into hands on projects. I love projects. It's another great technique to use give students a chance to work with materials or create something based on the topic. This is a way to make those abstract concepts more concrete. For example, when you're teaching about the history of the free enterprise system and economics, you could do some type of classroom marketplace where students take on the roles of buyers and sellers. They can create a product and sell the product, and you can use classroom currency. Or have some type of school store system that you do every nine weeks. That's something that we actually did as a fifth grade level. So that's one example, but giving them the ability to learn about supply and demand firsthand through a fun and interactive simulation where they can buy items with classroom cash that might have been earned or real money.

Kirsten 4:19

And tip number four is to break it down with mini lessons. Instead of tackling those huge, daunting subjects in one go break them down into shorter, mini lessons. So if you're teaching the American Revolution, that is a huge, daunting topic, it's a huge subject to talk about. Break the American Revolution into smaller and bite sized lessons. Day one could be focused on an introduction to the American Revolution. Day two can focus on the French and Indian War. Day three can focus on taxes and so on and so forth. Each mini lesson is easier to absorb and the gradual build up helps students better understand the bigger picture without feeling overwhelmed. Plus shorter, focused lessons leave more time for discussion and fun activities that reinforce the topic. A lot of my Guided Curriculum Units are based off of this method, because I actually happen to have an American Revolution unit, and if I were to just try to cram it all into one week, that would be a lot. So I have spread it out into three weeks, and you can mix and match, choose whatever order you want, or you can go by the suggested order. I also have a unit for the civil war that's broken down into shorter mini lessons. Pretty much everything that I have in my guided curriculum is broken down into shorter mini lessons, so it just makes it less daunting to talk about those wide, broad topics.

Kirsten 5:46

All right, I have a bonus tip for you. I couldn't end this episode without it. My bonus tip is to connect to student interests. Find ways to connect lessons to your students personal interests that they have inside or outside of the classroom. If you know your students love sports, you can relate concepts like historical trade routes or ancient economic systems to the exchange of goods in sports like jerseys or trading cards or ticket sales. If they're into technology, connect discussions about innovation during the Industrial Revolution to the modern tech trends compare and contrast. When students see that what they're learning connects to things that they care about, they become more invested into the material.

Kirsten 6:32

And there you have it. Transforming complex or dry Social Studies topics into lessons that are simple, fun and memorable is definitely and completely doable by using storytelling, hands on projects, visuals, games, making connections to modern day examples, and student interests, we can take even the trickiest subjects and make them come alive for our students. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Tune in for next week. I will talk to you again soon.

Kirsten 6:59

Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.