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Students work in mixed-ability teams to arrange key historical events on a timeline. Each team receives the same set of event cards with images and descriptions in simplified language. Teams race to place events in chronological order, then must justify their reasoning using sentence frames like 'This event occurred before/after ___ because...' or 'We know this happened in ___ century because...'

ELD Focus: Sequencing language, past tense verbs, and time period vocabulary
CA Standards Connection: Chronological reasoning across grade-level historical periods
Prep: Print timeline templates and event cards (or use post-it notes)

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Set up 5-6 stations around the room with different primary source documents relevant to your current historical period (simplified as needed). Use a consistent graphic organizer for all stations. Students rotate through stations in small groups, collaboratively analyzing each source using the graphic organizer.

ELD Focus: Academic vocabulary for analysis, sentence stems for evidence-based reasoning
CA Standards Connection: Historical analysis and interpretation of primary sources
Kagan Element: Round Robin sharing within groups as they analyze

Guide questions for graphic organizer:
- Who created this? When?
- What was happening during this time period?
- What is the main message?
- What evidence supports your conclusion?
- How does this connect to what we're learning?

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Students work in pairs using the Inside-Outside Circle Kagan structure. Half the class researches historical figures from the current unit, creating character cards with key facts, achievements, and quotes. The other half develops interview questions using sentence frames.

During the activity, the 'interviewers' rotate to different 'historical figures' to conduct short interviews. Historical figures must respond in character using first-person perspective.

ELD Focus: Question formation, past tense responses, role-playing with academic vocabulary
CA Standards Connection: Understanding historical figures' perspectives and contributions
Prep: Character profile templates and question sentence frames

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Create domino-style cards where each card has a historical cause on one side and an effect on the other. Students work in teams to connect the cause-effect chain properly. For example, one card might have 'Gold discovered at Sutter's Mill' on one side, and another card would have 'California Gold Rush begins' on the matching side.

ELD Focus: Cause/effect language structures, conditional statements
CA Standards Connection: Understanding causation in historical events
Kagan Element: Rally Coach - students take turns placing dominoes and explaining connections
Prep: Create domino cards with simplified text and optional images

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Create mystery boxes with replicas or images of historical artifacts relevant to the current unit. In small groups using the Numbered Heads Together structure, students examine their artifact and complete a graphic organizer to analyze what it reveals about the time period, who might have used it, and its significance.

After initial analysis, call random numbers to have students share their team's conclusions. Then reveal the actual purpose and context of each artifact.

ELD Focus: Descriptive language, hypothesis formation, academic discussion
CA Standards Connection: Material culture analysis, historical context
Prep: Gather artifact images or replicas, prepare analysis graphic organizers

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Divide students into expert groups, each assigned a different perspective on a historical event (e.g., for California missions: Native Americans, Spanish missionaries, Mexican settlers, American settlers). Using a structured note-taking graphic organizer, expert groups research their perspective.

Students then regroup into mixed perspective teams using the Jigsaw Kagan structure, where each student teaches about their assigned perspective. Teams create a visual summary showing how these different perspectives interact.

ELD Focus: Comparing viewpoints, perspective-taking language, academic vocabulary
CA Standards Connection: Multiple perspectives in history, critical thinking
Prep: Perspective guides with simplified texts, graphic organizers

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Using Rally Table Kagan structure, pairs of students build a collaborative concept map about a historical topic (e.g., causes of the American Revolution, impacts of the Transcontinental Railroad). Provide students with a central concept and key vocabulary terms.

Student 1 adds a connection to the map and explains it. Student 2 then adds another connection and explains, continuing until the map is complete. Students use sentence frames such as 'This connects to ___ because...' and 'This led to ___ which resulted in...'

ELD Focus: Making connections, cause/effect relationships, academic vocabulary
CA Standards Connection: Understanding relationships between historical concepts
Prep: Central concept templates, vocabulary word bank, sentence frames

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Present a debatable historical question with 4 possible positions. Label classroom corners with 'Strongly Agree,' 'Somewhat Agree,' 'Somewhat Disagree,' and 'Strongly Disagree.'

After presenting background information on the issue, students move to the corner that represents their opinion. In corner groups, they use a graphic organizer to develop arguments supporting their position. Using the 4-Corners Kagan structure, students then share across positions and can change corners if convinced by others.

ELD Focus: Persuasive language, agreeing/disagreeing respectfully, citing evidence
CA Standards Connection: Historical debates, forming evidence-based arguments
Prep: Debate questions, position graphic organizers, evidence cards

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Students create simplified 'trading cards' for historical figures, events, or concepts related to the current unit using a consistent template. Cards include key facts, significance, and a visual representation.

Using Quiz-Quiz-Trade Kagan structure, students circulate, exchanging cards and quizzing each other on content before trading and finding new partners. Provide sentence frames for questioning and explaining.

ELD Focus: Summarizing information, asking/answering questions, academic vocabulary
CA Standards Connection: Identifying key historical elements and their significance
Prep: Trading card templates, example cards

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Using Think-Pair-Share Kagan structure, students analyze maps showing how geography impacted historical developments (e.g., settlement patterns, trade routes, military campaigns).

Provide a structured graphic organizer for students to identify geographic features and explain their historical impact. First individually, then with partners, students complete the organizer with sentence frames like 'The ___ (geographic feature) caused ___ because...' and 'Without this geographic feature, the historical outcome might have been...'

ELD Focus: Geographical vocabulary, cause/effect relationships, conditional language
CA Standards Connection: Geography's influence on historical development
Prep: Historical maps, analysis graphic organizers

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Students work in teams using a structured matrix to categorize and evaluate historical evidence related to a central question (e.g., 'Was the Gold Rush positive or negative for California?').

The matrix has columns for different stakeholder groups and rows for different types of evidence. Using Fan-N-Pick Kagan structure, teams take turns drawing evidence cards, deciding where they belong in the matrix, and explaining their reasoning.

ELD Focus: Categorizing information, evaluating evidence, making comparisons
CA Standards Connection: Historical evidence analysis, multiple perspectives
Prep: Evidence sorting matrix, evidence cards with simplified text

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Students create an accordion-style foldable timeline focusing on how a specific aspect of society changed over a historical period (e.g., transportation, communication, rights of different groups).

Using the Timed Pair Share Kagan structure, partners take turns explaining each time period section of their foldable. Provide sentence frames focusing on comparative language: 'Before ___, people would... but after ___, they began to...'

ELD Focus: Sequencing language, comparative structures, past tense
CA Standards Connection: Understanding continuity and change over time
Prep: Foldable timeline templates, example images for different time periods