Technology & Methods Spotlight

Pear Deck: In this lesson, 7th grade U.S History students responded to the inquiry-based questions through the Pear Deck application. These slides are the 'teacher-facing' slides and were used in part of my lesson on Washington crossing the Delaware River from an 'Early American Revolution' unit.

Click the photo below to view the Pear Deck used for this lesson.

The 'Inquiry Method' has been very successful in reaching both the goals of my lessons and the Kansas History and Government Middle School standards. The first lesson attached includes the Google slides I made for a lesson on the historical accuracy and significance of George Washington crossing the Delaware. Students utilized critical higher-level thinking skills as they formulated theories and refined them as further historical documents were uncovered and considered. The second link is to an 8th Grade Kansas History unit I designed for another course this semester. It aligns with the Inquiry Method, UDL, HLP, EBP and the 'What Works' methods.

Click the photo below to view the Google Slides used for this lesson.

8th Grade Kansas History unit link: 8th Grade Kansas History unit - Garrett Lynch

Active Research and Discussion: In this lesson, students have immediate access to research and are able to utilize this research to begin to form opinions, theories and arguments about a topic. In order to maximize time spent on higher-level thinking, problem-solving skills and strategies, students access research using QR codes and instant links to sources. This lesson below is one example of how students utilize this technology in my lessons.

Click the photo below to view the Google Slides used for this lesson.

Virtual Field Trips: Exploration of time and place is an important aspect of studying history. utilizing Google Maps, Google earth, historical societies and more, students are able to experience history in a new format that brings time and place to life. Student understanding is deepened as they see and experience historically significant places with the help of technology. In this lesson, students are asked to explore the battle sites of both Lexington and Concord to further their understanding of the events and historical significance. In addition, this lesson builds upon the Inquiry Method in a follow up lesson. All lessons are linked below.

Click the photos below to view the Google Slides used for this lesson.