Pinterest for Historical Figures

On the docket today was to read a biography about Jane Addams and practice the skills we've been learning so far in our ELA unit. You know, summarizing, author's view point.... As I planned the lesson, I just couldn't, in good conscience, have them read, take notes and then write yet another summary. I feel that that's all we have been doing lately. Deciding to not do a basic summary was easy; figuring out what to do instead was not. What task can they do that's "real world", tests their comprehension, and encourages connections and higher level thinking? Then it came to me....

To demonstrate their comprehension of Jane Addams, her life, and accomplishments and to give them a chance to synthesize and use this knowledge, I had them create a Pinterest page they think Jane would have if she was alive today. Based on the information they learned, they needed to decide what books, movies, hobbies, organizations, etc. Jane would like and be interested in. They really enjoyed the activity and it made them REALLY think! They drew pictures, symbols, and wrote description, just like a real Pinterest page. I found the above "Pinterest like" template made by Best Teacher Resources on TPT for only a dollar! Her blog can be found here, and a link to this template here. For an extension, students could be asked to justify why they chose the items they did. This would give them the opportunity to cite the text.

Common Core Standards: Reading Informational Text Anchor 1, 2, and 3