Spanish American War Activity Hands-On Summary Activity Visual Summary

re you looking for a Spanish-American War activity that is engaging and hands-on? Are you behind with your curriculum when you get to the Spanish-American War? This Spanish-American War allows me to quickly go over the “basics” but keep it active for my students. I came up with this strategy that I call “visual summary” that has worked really well with all levels of my students! I used this when I got evaluated this year and my administrator loved the engagement my students had with the lesson.

I have now used this strategy successfully with middle and high school students!

PLEASE NOTE! This is NOT meant to be an in-depth study of the Spanish-American War. It is a summary activity and focuses on the basics. With my 11th graders, it took about 20-25 minutes to do this activity before I taught the subject more in depth. After this activity, students could quickly make connections and answer my questions (my administrator loved it) due to having the background knowledge! Instant win!

• Visual Summary: In this lesson, students are put in groups of 2 or 3. Student #1 is the reader of a 2 page summary of Spanish-American War, which is included in this purchase. Student(s) #2/#3 are the picture sorters. They hear cues from the reader and sort pictures (you cut them up and put them in baggies) relating to the summary in the order they hear them. After they are finished, they put the summary away and “retell” the story of the Spanish-American War to their group using only the pictures. You could extend this easily into a writing assignment.

This is a great lesson for ELL/ESL learners as it allows for listening and speaking (and writing) in a non-threatening way!

After they are finished, you can assess their learning with the assessment page (using the visuals) I’ve included - this is optional.

What your will receive in this purchase:

• detailed instructions for the teacher
• 2 page summary with picture number cues
• pictures to cut out for students (to be put in baggies for each group)
• assessment page (optional)