Civil War & Reconstruction Bellworks!

Civil War US History Bellworks! These "Prediction Bellworks" are the best way I know of to start class and to get students bought into the lesson while also helping them to stay engaged throughout the lesson!  Prediction Bellworks turn learning goals into prediction questions so that students start-off by taking a logical guess about what they might learn and what history will unfold over the course of the lesson! 11 Topics are included in this bundle: Secession (2x alternatives) Fort Sumter Civil War Fighting/Battles (2x alternatives) Emancipation Proclamation (2x alternatives) General Grant Draft Riots (2x) Bread Riots (2x) Sherman’s March (2x) Lincoln’s Reconstruction Plan Freedmen’s Bureau Sharecropping Prediction Bellworks are awesome because they: When students make predictions, they have ‘skin in the game.’ It increases motivation to learn by giving students something to pay attention to and see if they’re right or not. Doing this in the first minutes of class, can make students more curious about a topic they otherwise wouldn’t really care about. It improves learner outcomes because students are more likely to remember the lesson since they had something at stake during the lesson. When they finally discover if they’re correct or not, the lesson is more likely to ‘stick’ since students have an emotional investment in the topic. If you do this routinely, it will become very efficient and students will feel very confident every time they come to your class! Sample Prediction Bellwork Printable Version: