This is a great way of encouraging students to conduct vigorous research in preparation for a debate about the success/failure of a particular ruler. It can be conducted either as a way of revising and consolidating topic knowledge at the end of a unit, or as an intensive means of studying the topic for the very…
Category: Research
“Takeaway Homework”
In a ‘Takeaway Task’, students are given the flexibility to design their own project assignment based on one cell, row or column of the table. The task is constructed so that the table in itself provides a useful overview of the topic (in this case, the Origins of the British Empire). When students are told that they will be…
Create a “Fakebook” Profile for a key character
When researching a key character, students could frame and present their findings by creating a fake “Facebook” profile using the Fakebook application at ClassTools. Using this tool, students can create a timeline of a person’s life, written in the first person and in the present tense (to help prevent ‘cut and paste’ syndrome). They can…
Create a tweet for a fictional/historical character
The “Twister” template allows you to create fictional “status updates” that can then be printed off for display purposes. Students could be asked What are the most important people in this topic? What was their most important moment within the topic? What would their comment be about it? What particular keywords would they use within…
Balloon Debates!
“You are in a hot air balloon that is losing height rapidly. It will soon crash into the side of a mountain because it is overweight. To prevent the certain death of everybody on board, only one person will be allowed to stay in the balloon!” Balloon debates are a great way of promoting research…
Google Hangouts for the Classroom: Quickstart Guide
“Google Hangouts” video conferences are a superb way of bringing fresh voices into the classroom from anywhere in the world. It was by using Google Hangouts that my students interviewed Professor Orlando Figes at Birkbeck University recently with great success. Best of all, by choosing ‘Hangout on Air’ you get your video published directly to…
Google Books for Student Research: 3 minute video guide
For extended essays, internal assessments and personal projects, Google Books is fast becoming an indispensable research resource for both teachers and students. I put this 3-minute guide together after making extensive use of Google Books during the research and writing of my forthcoming textbook on “Luther and the European Reformation” (available as from Easter 2015 from…
