Yesterday and today I’ve been running our first attempt at HistoryQuest8: Revolutionary War. Last year we tried running it in the spring on the whole year’s curriculum and were only able to get enough classes to sign up for one session. This year, in talking to one of my teachers, we decided to try running it with a narrower focus: Revolutionary War. It’s going so well that I think I’ll be doing HistoryQuest8: Civil War in April/May for sure.
I had several scheduling problems, so the sessions today and yesterday have only two classes in them, which is never ideal. Still we are learning some things:
- HistoryQuest doesn’t really need the Q&A. The history mysteries aren’t as challenging as finding out a country and a city with MysteryQuest.
- Running it in 45 minutes seems like it will work great. The true test will be the sessions with four classes on November 23 & 24.
- Giving dates for a clue is definitely a bad idea. Too easy! It’s like showing the flag or map of the country in MysteryQuest World Geography.
- Also, mysteries like the Boston Tea Party are too easy because it is something the students should know off the top of their head if they have studied the Revolutionary War. The mystery and clues should be obscure enough that students have to use their knowledge of the Revolutionary War and their research skills to figure it out.
We’ve had time at the end of the sessions for the students to ask each other questions, and the classes have enjoyed that. I put up the timer for a minute to have them brainstorm questions first, and then let them ask questions. This gave the teacher time to get the questions organized and made it a little less like a free for all!
Stay tuned for updates on this project in a couple weeks! Also I have one spot left on Nov. 24 if you want to join us! (FREE)