Think, Build, Tweet

This activity combines two of our favorite things: Making and Twitter. Here's how it works: we challenge our students to work in groups to imagine a crucial event, individual, or concept from a unit of study. 

For example, say we choose to focus on the Great Depression.. Students might create a soup kitchen, a scene from the Dust Bowl, or a Hooverville. Before beginning to build, we ask students to brainstorm ideas (imagine) and then make plan to move forward using an organizer. Then the students create a sculpture of their chosen idea. You can give them a bins of LEGOs or a bag full of assorted  supplies (think: popsicle sticks, blocks, yarn, playdough etc).

Next, because no social studies activity is complete without writing, the students develop a tweet as a caption for their sculpture.. Each tweet is limited to 140 characters, challenging the students to write a clear and concise quote.

To wrap up, kids walk around the room through a sculpture gallery, seeing others' creations, reading the tweets, and guessing what moment in History the sculptures represent.  When you let kids, think, build, tweet, you'll see them collaborate, create, and communicate.