Warmers for History Class
Blog
Have you ever taught a history class where students are exhausted right when they walk into the classroom? Maybe the students just ran some laps for P.E. class in the hot sun or they were up all night cramming for a test. Whether your students come into your classroom energized or half-asleep, it’s imperative to get a good start to class; it sets the stage for a successful study period. One way to get the kids thinking is through the use of warmers.
Warmers can be useful for numerous reasons. To start, they can be used to review content that was learned in the prior class. Instead of moving straight to the next topic, give the students more exposure to the content they have already learned. If they study a topic in one class, read the textbook on the topic, review the topic using a warmer, and then review again for the final exam, it will stick in their head.
Warmers also help students with anxiety. Some students might be hesitant to participate in class because they feel nervous speaking up in fear of losing face. A fun warmer at the beginning of class might give these types of students the confidence they need to open up more in class.
Implementing warmers also gets the students laughing and having a good time. It helps improve the learning environment. Warmers are not meant to take a lot of time; they should be quick, enjoyable, and useful.
Whether you teach middle school social studies or high school history, here are some ideas you can use in your classroom.
Guess The Quote
This one is simple, quick, and fun. Before class, write two to three quotes from famous people in history. Write one quote on the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation, then a second quote on the second slide, and a third quote on the third slide. Choose a historical figures students should know. You could either choose a famous person from the past that you have studied in class or just somebody very famous (e.g., Frederick Douglass). Look online and find some quotes that provide hints as to who that person might be.
For example, here is a famous quote from Frederick Douglass:
“I prayed for freedom for twenty years, but received no answer until I prayed with my legs.”
There is just enough information in this quote for students to guess who might have said it. Students have to think of somebody who prayed for freedom which could be countless of people, but this figure received freedom by running. And, of course, Frederick Douglass escaped slavery in the South by running to the North.
Then, do one or two more quotes. Don’t do too many. Just a few to get the students thinking. Students enjoy this warmer because they want to be the one to get it right. That’s it; quick, easy, and now the students are ready for class.
If this warmer works for you, you can do it once or twice a semester.
Back to the Board
This is a classic. Get one student to volunteer to sit in a chair at the front of the classroom. Have the student sit with his/her back to the board (hence the name, Back to the Board). Make sure the student is looking forward at the rest of the class and not peeking behind.
Behind the student write the name of a famous historical figure, historical event, movement, conflict, etc. This warmer could be used as review, so feel free to write something on the board that was learned in the previous class.
Once you have it written on the board, the students have to describe what you have written without using the actually words. The student with his/her back to the board has to guess what you have written. Just let the student have three guesses. If he/she gets it, he wins!
Let’s look at an example:
If you have been studying English colonization in the New World, you could write the name John Rolfe on the board. Students can shout out hints like…
“He was a Jamestown explorer!”
“He successfully cultivated tobacco which helped to save Jamestown!”
“He married Pocahontas!”
For this warmer, just one or two students up front should be enough. If they enjoy the game, you could use it again in a couple of months.
Human Timeline
This one doesn’t just get the students minds working, it gets them moving around. The blood will be flowing and they will be ready to go.
Before class, write (or type and print) a series of events from history. Make two copies of each event, and write each event on a separate card (or small piece of paper). Make sure you have enough events so every student can have one card with an event on it (i.e., if you have twenty students, you should write 10 events two times).
When the students arrive to class, divide the students into two teams. Give each student in each time one event. Make sure no students on one team have a duplicate of the same historical event.
Then, the students have to make a human timeline. They have to get in the correct chronological order. This activity requires teamwork and leadership skills. The first team to get into the correct order first, wins!
Here’s an example for a class of 20 students who are studying World War.
- Think of ten events from World War 1 (e.g., Germany building up it’s navy, Austria-Hungary expanding into the Balkans, the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, Germany declaring war on Russia and France, Germany attacking Belgium bringing Britain into the war, two years of trench warfare, Zimmerman Telegram being intercepted bringing the United States into the war, and the Russian Revolution breaking out causing Russia to leave the war)
- Make two sets of 10 cards with an event on each one
- Explain the rules of the game to the students
- Give one set of 10 cards to one team and another set of 10 cards to the another team; make sure each student gets one card within the group
- Then students race to put the events in the correct order by getting into a line; first team to do so correctly is the winner
That’s it! If the students make any mistakes, go over the mistakes as a class. Then you can move on to the day’s lesson.
Paper Game
This one is more of a quick review, but it warms the students up (which is our objective). Ask every student to take out a piece of paper and fold it into eighths just like the illustration below.
Then ask the students to cut the paper so they have eight small pieces of paper.
Once students have eight small pieces of paper on their desks, ask the students review questions and have them write the answers on the the little pieces of paper. Be sure to tell them to only write one answer on one small piece of paper. After asking each question, have students hold their piece of paper in the air so you can walk around and see if they answered the question correctly.
This activity is beneficial for numerous reasons. First of all, it is a warmer and it gets the students thinking. Second of all, it allows the teacher to know who is understanding the learning objectives and who is not. Lastly, it gets every student involved. When asking the whole class review questions, it is often just a few students answering the questions. Some students might not answer the questions because they don’t know the answer or because they are too shy or unconfident to give it a try. With the Paper Game, shy students and outgoing students can comfortably participate without fear of making a mistake in front of the whole class.
Do you have any warmers that work with your students? Please share below!
