Assignments (CYOA)

Below you will find links to and descriptions of all the assignments we use for Choose Your Own Adventure.

Click on the individual assignment links to get the full instructions and printable worksheets.

The assignments are divided into three categories based on what skills you will use to complete them.

Detective: A detective closely examines historical facts and puts them together in many forms. They work with charts to represent information clearly and logically. They enjoy answering questions and finding details.

Artist: An artist focuses on pictures to learn about the past. They produce drawings and crafts to present information to others in unique ways. They enjoy creating work that shows off their skill and talent.

Profiler: A profiler is mostly interested in people and how they think. They like to imagine themselves in historical situations and write about how they would have reacted. They usually present their findings through short writings.

History assignments for just about any topic!

50 XP Assignments

20-30 Minutes to complete

Acrostic Poem - A word from the unit is written vertically and then each letter is used to start each line of a descriptive poem.

Advertisement - Create a print advertisement for an invention from the given civilization.

Advice Letter- Write a letter to a historical figure giving him or her advice on a problem.

Be the Thing - Write a short explanation of the life experience of a particular object from history like Da Vinci's first paintbrush.

Bio-poem - Complete a poem with a pre-made layout about a specific person or group in history.

Bumper Sticker - Create a witty bumper sticker about a specific topic. Recommended only for highly creative students.

Cause and Effect Chain - Describe two causes and two effects for a given historical event.

Caution! - Create a caution sign warning people about something dangerous from a civilization. (Thanks Doug!)

Countdown! - Complete a 5-stage graphic organizer including key terms, review questions and a symbol.

Creative Line Art 1 2 3 - Using a picture with random shapes and scribbles create a scene from or representing the current unit.

Day Planner - Plan out the daily schedule for someone living in an ancient civilization.

Epitaph/Gravestone - Design the epitaph and gravestone for a famous figure. May require outside research.

Game On! - Design a game that could be played in a civilization we've studied. Consider the impact of their geography and culture.

In 'N' Out - Complete a graphic organizer highlighting the influences and contributions of a civilization or person.

Judgment - Create a T-chart to determine if a historical figure was a good or bad person.

Neo Venn Diagram - Like a Venn Diagram only less reliant on drawing properly sized circles (which I can't do...)

Picture Analysis - Answer a series of thought-provoking analysis questions about a photograph or piece of art.

Picture Frame - Design a graphic organizer in the shape of a picture frame about a historical figure.

Postcard from the Past - Make a postcard as if you were visiting an ancient civilization.

Report Card - Give grades to a historical figure in categories assigned by your teacher.

SOAPS - Create a simple chart to help you understand a primary source.

Top Ten - Create a top ten list of contributions and achievements from a civilization.

TXT MSG SMRE - Write a summary of a historical event in the form of a text message to a friend.

Venn Diagram - Complete a Venn Diagram (kinda...) to compare and contract two historical figures, events or civilizations.

Wanted Poster - Create a wanted (or hero) poster for a person from history.

100 XP Assignments

45 minutes to complete

Annotated Illustration - Students draw a full-page picture of a historical object or location and write 6 captions to describe it.

Bracketology - A chart set up like a tournament bracket where students "battle" terms from the unit against each other.

Bio Box - A 3-D graphic organizer that highlights the key characteristics and events of a person's life courtesy of mrwoodside.com.

Brain Chain - List 10 important people, events, concepts, etc. and 5 generic history terms then create conceptual links between them in a graphic organizer.

Character Clash! - Complete two bio-poems side to side to highlight the similarties and differences between two historical figures or groups.

Circle Summary - Complete a graphic organizer as a history unit summary. Requires the unit to be broken down into 5 parts to work as shown here.

Comic Strip - Create a 3-5 panel comic strip showing an event from a historical perspective.

Create a Super Hero - Design a super hero based around a civilization or historical era. Give him or her powers, a motto, a sidekick and a weakness.

Dear Diary - Write a series of diary entries as if you were a person in history truly experiencing a historical event.

Flash Cards - Create flash cards for 4 key terms from the unit.

Illustrated Map - Draw a map and add captions or small pictures to bring the map to life.

Illustrated Timeline - Draw a timeline and add captions or small pictures to bring it to life.

Introduction Speech - Write and recite an introductory speech for a historical figure. May require outside research.

Invitation - Create an invitation (the who, what, when, where, what to bring, etc.) to a historical event we studied in the unit.

Legal Brief - Write a legal defense for a historical figure who may have committed a crime.

Mannequin - Draw the clothing a historical figure would likely wear and describe some of his/her inner thoughts and feelings.

Personal Pyramid - Create a 3-D monument to memorialize a person from history.

Perspective - Imagine how a historical figure would view modern inventions and ideas.

Private Messages - - Create an instant message conversation between two historical figures about a historic event.

Quest for Knowledge - A series of activities to help get the most information possible out of a section of reading in the textbook.

Recipe for a Civilization - Write a recipe with a list of ingredients it would take to create a given civilization. This definitely requires abstract thinking.

Remote Control - Create a television channel line-up based on a recent unit. Decide what shows would on to match up to the culture.

Song Rewrite - Rewrite the lyrics to a song to make it about a historical period.

Time Machine - Transport yourself back in time and figure out what would happen to someone your age and gender in a given civilization.

Trading Cards - Create three trading cards for people, events or objects from a given unit. The cards each include basic information and a "relevance rating." Collect them all!

Worlds Collide - Draw pictures contrasting key points of two civilizations.

200 XP Assignments

90 minutes to complete

Civilization in a Bag - Find 5 modern items that represent different aspects of a civilization and use them to report on the civilization.

Create a Crossword - Make your own crossword puzzle using terms from the current unit.

Deadliest Warrior - Research information on the warriors of two civilizations and then simulate a battle between them.

HiStory - Write a creative fictional story using key terms and figures from the unit.

iHistory - Imagine what personal information would be included in a historical figures apps.

Letters Home - Write a series of letters home as if you were traveling on a long journey.

Magazine Cover - Design a one-page magazine cover for a given section of the textbook.

Movie Madness - Use art and writing to recreate a given unit as a movie. Includes designing a movie poster and writing a movie review.

Paper Bag Puppet - Create a puppet of a historical figure along with a list of statements that person might say.

Picture Book - Create a children's book about a given topic.

Play - Write and perform a short play about a historical event. Completed in pairs or small groups.

Pop Culture - Create a "pop-up" 3D display of the key aspects of a culture.

Social Network - Create a social network page for a historical figure

Storyboard - Create a storyboard layout for a movie based on a historical event.

Travel Brochure - Create a six-panel foldout brochure that highlights the history, hot spots, and accommodations of a civilization. You also get to design an amusement park!

Web Page - Create the layout for a web page about a specific topic from the unit.

What If? - Flip the script on an event in history. Change one major detail from the event then speculate how this would have changed the outcome. Show your results in a recreated textbook page.

400 XP Assignments

All 40 point assignments require significant work outside of class and take up to 4 hours to complete.

A-Z Book - Working with a partner create a picture for 26 key terms each starting with a different letter of the alphabet. If you ask nicely I might let you skip 2 of the tougher letters.

Bloom Ball - Create a soccer ball shaped graphic organizer that represents different aspects of a civilization.

Board Game - Create a board game using historical information. Be creative and follow directions carefully.

Model - Write a report on and build a model of a historical object or location.

Newscast - Working with a group of 3 - 4 students film a short newscast about a historical event.

Newspaper - Working with a partner create a newspaper with sports reports, comic strips, ads and other articles about a civilization.

Mind Map - Create a large word cluster using terms from the unit. Then write sentences explaining how the words are connected. It is basically a very large Brain Chain.

Slideshow Presentation - Create a PowerPoint presentation on a topic. It must be at least as good as what you see from me in class!

Textbook Remix - Create a textbook section on a topic from history. Our textbook is terrible so help me make a better one!