How To Teach Kids

Want to make test time easier for the teacher?  Here is a great way with FREE online tests for children’s biographies of U.S. presidents.  These tests are graded by the computer for free, are also printable, and the grades can be printed out by the teacher.  Here are the biographies that have tests available at this time:

• Abraham Lincoln
• Andrew Jackson
• Barack Obama
• Benjamin Franklin
• Franklin Delano Roosevelt
• George Washington
• James Madison
• James Monroe
• John Adams
• John F. Kennedy
• Ronald Reagan
• Theodore Roosevelt
• Thomas Jefferson

Teachers will need to log in and register their class so students can take the online tests.  Remember there is no cost for anything!

(THIS COULD ALSO BE USED AS AN INTEREST CENTER.)

This is a very interesting project!  I imagine most people know someone who lived through WWII and have heard stories of what life was like during that  period in history.   What made this particular project interesting was that the student (actually my son) interviewed several people who lived during this time period.  He received first hand information about what life was like and how so many people pulled together for the good of our country, even though they had to ration items and do without some items.  Interviewing these people helped make this project come alive for him.  We knew someone whose best friend was killed at Pearl Harbor on the USS Arizona.  It was such a sad time in history for all those involved!

Another interesting factor was that we had actually been to Pearl Harbor, saw the short movie (which made it seem like we were really there and brought tears to my eyes), went through the museum, and bought memorabilia such as a copy of the newspaper which showed the headline “WAR!”

TIPS FOR THIS PROJECT:

• Interview people who lived through WWII and get a first hand account of what it was like.
• Get copies of pictures of people who served in the war to add to the project.
• Read children’s books about Pearl Harbor.  See list below.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS ON PEARL HARBOR:

• Pearl Harbor: A Primary Source History by Jacqueline Laks Gorman. Good for ages 8-12.
• The Attack on Pearl Harbor (Cornerstones of Freedom Series) by Tom McGowen.  Good for ages 9-11.
• Attack on Pearl Harbor by Shelley Tanaka.  Good for ages 10+.
• Air Raid – Pearl Harbor!:  The Story of December 7, 1941 by Theodore Taylor.  Good for ages 12 and up.
• Boy at War: A Novel of Pearl Harbor by Harry Mazer & Triston Elwell.  Good for ages 12 and up.
• Pearl Harbor: Day of Infamy by Stephanie Fitzgerald.  Good for ages 12 and up.
  

This game was made very quickly as you can probably tell, but children don’t usually notice that.  (I try to make the games neat.)  The student decorated the game with Batman stickers.  I wrote the words on index cards.  If the word was read correctly then the student got to advance to the next space.

These easy gameboards can be decorated by the student so they take ownership of the game and enjoy playing it.   If several students will be playing the game, take a whole sheet of poster board and draw the basic path with “Start” and “End.”  Let the students decorate it.

Bottle caps make good playing pieces to move along the path.