I'm writing a Lesson plan and need to get students involved?

Question

I'm doing a lesson in less than 24 hrs and i have everything together but my focus. I cant find a focus to get all the students involved. my lesson is for 5th grade social studies and the lesson is over the contributions to the US from Pueblo Indians. any advice?

Answer 1

Pow Wow?

=)

Answer 2

I have always found that kids seem to focus more when there is hands on learning. Maybe you could divide the students into 2 groups, Americans and Indians. You could have them live pre-contributions and then exchange contributions and then live post contributions and then discuss the pros and cons of each lifestyle

Answer 3

Give them a question to answer, could even be T/F or multiple choice.  Then have them discuss it with a neighbor.  Maybe take a vote or share their reasoning with the class, and then you can share the detailed version of the answer or continue with the rest of the lesson.

Take candy (chocolate) with you- just in case.  Candy works with people of all ages- I used to teach college psychology.  Tossing a piece of candy to someone who shares an answer gets a lot more hands raised!

Answer 4

An appropriate artifact, a photo, sound bite of traditional music or vocabulary, part of a costume - anything that will "hook" their attention.  Just a great question will do to focus attention.