Here's a quick activity that will help students process and reinforce what they've learned. It can even be done on the bus ride home. Give students each an index card or half sheet of paper, and ask them to complete two or three of the following leading sentences.

1. I used to think ___________________ but now I know ______________.
2. I really liked hearing about _______________ because ______________.
3. One interesting thing I learned today was ___________________.
4. I'd like to talk to __________ about ___________ because ____________.
5. A question I still have about ____________ is _______________.
6. I wonder what it was like when ______________.
7. The most important thing I learned today was ____________.
8. I'd like to know more about _________________ because ______________.
9. I was surprised about ____________ because _______________.
10. If I were a ____________________, then _______________.

Processing Activities

Students may use their answers to the two-minute survey as basis for more in-depth assignments in the classroom. They might expand their answer for a journal entry, write a letter to someone in history, create a diorama displaying what they learned or use the Internet or library to research a topic they want to know more about.

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Contact the Michigan Historical Museum.

Updated 09/08/2010