Twitter Challenge

Today we decided to approach learning about the War of 1812 a bit differently.  I had a reading planned out (check it out below), but thought it was a bit boring and dry.  Instead of just "reading" about the War and answer questions, I decided to put a spin on the lesson.

After we read as a class the above reading and annotated it--highlighting the important facts, causes of the war, events of the war, and outcomes--the students were issued a "Twitter Challenge."  They had to write a comprehensive summary "tweet" of the War of 1812 using only 140 characters.

This is the sheet students were given.  I was AMAZED with the results I got!  Although many tweets were infused with "text" and "slang" language, they all got the point across: a summary of the War of 1812.  Once again, these 8th graders continue to impress me!  And the best part: they all accepted this challenge without complaint...instead of complaining about Ms. Pepin's crazy tweeting idea, they all embraced it and were enthused about the challenge.  This could be a post-reading activity that could be done with almost any topic, and in any content area!  Maybe next time the students will actually tweet out their responses!