Testing for the Georgia Milestone Assessment System is right around the corner and in preparation, our state Department of Education (DOE) has provided many resources to help students hunker down and get ready to showcase their knowledge of Georgia social studies.

Enthusiastic educators from around the state have also come up with a slew of creative ways to help 8th graders have a little fun as they review our unique state history, geography, government, and economics. 

Here are five ideas to try in your own classroom.

5.     REVIEW AND RECALL

Besides study guides and practice problems for both the Milestones and former CRCT assessments, the Georgia DOE has set up a handy practice site for students to give testing a spin.  Follow the embedded links to each resource below.

4.     QUALITY QUIZZING

Whether you are a fan of Jeopardy, Kahoot, Quizizz, Quizlet, or all of the above, some sporting Georgia studies teacher has created a perfect milestone review for you.  A search for “Georgia Studies” on each site will bring up dozens of options, and embedded below are a few especially meaty links to get you started.

GPB’s free digital textbook includes selected response quizzes for each of the book’s thirty chapters.  All 300 questions provided are directly aligned to the Georgia Performance Standards for 8th grade social studies and can be accessed interactively by students at the end of every chapter.  Teachers can also find answers to the questions and a printable PDF version of each quiz in the teacher edition of the textbook.

GPB's Georgia Studies digital textbook quizzes are also available to import into the Socrative assessment app - the link above will take you to a PDF listing all the import codes.

Look for the three-part review (with over 200 questions) created by cmunoz; follow the embedded link above to access part one.

This comprehensive 80-question quiz was created by laurenadams30705.

This collection of 927 flash cards by regel_jackson covers just about everything!

3.     GAMING FOR GLORY

GPB’s new interactive game engages students in a digital adventure throughout Georgia’s geography and history.  Players find their way around the state’s historical hot spots, physiographic regions, and physical features in their search for primary sources and artifacts.  To win each relic, they must complete one of four standards-based challenges involving memory and matching, cause and effect, fact versus fiction, or influential figure identification.  After securing the four artifacts from each of the six time periods, their performance is rated on speed and accuracy.  Will you be a Poor Peanut or a Cotton Gin-ius?  Test your knowledge with Georgia Race Through Time!

2.     KINESTHETIC CONNECTIONS

Counteract milestone anxiety and spring fever jitters by getting your students up and moving while they think about Georgia.

  • Hot Seat History

Putting your students in the Hot Seat may sound intimidating but is actually a great way to promote classroom collaboration with less competition than a traditional point-based activity. To play, position one student in the “hot seat”, facing the class.  Write a term, date, place, or other factoid on the board behind the seat.  Classmates may raise their hands to assist the hot seat student in correctly guessing the word or phrase.  After calling on three students for clues, the hot seat student must answer or guess.  Change the hot seat student and factoid to keep the game going until everyone has a turn.

  • Know-It-All Monopoly

Raise the stakes by distributing an equal amount of Monopoly money to each student or group. After receiving their review question, students may wager money based on their own knowledge.  If they answer correctly, they keep the money; however, an incorrect answer can be costly, with the waged amount passing along to the next group that gets the answer correct.  At the end of the game, money can be exchanged for rewards.

  • Other fun activities include Quiz-Quiz-Trade, explained in a social studies context at The Social Studiers, and a kinesthetic adaptation of Concentration at Education World.

1.     ALL TOGETHER NOW

Kudos to Chad J. DeWolf from Madison County Middle School in Danielsville, who has put together this comprehensive collection of awesome Georgia Studies resources at Exceed the Standard.  If you were unable to find what you need under the previous four headings, check out his page for even more great ideas.

Whether your students learn best by reviewing, practicing, playing, or acting, make every way a unique reminder of their year spent exploring the rich, tumultuous, evolving history of Georgia.

Remember to contact GPB's Education team if you are having trouble finding the resources you need! Our goal is to create, create, and distribute quality educational programs and services to support Georgia teachers and students state-wide.  Sign up to receive our quarterly newsletters full of timely teaching tools and tips, follow us on Twitter, or invite us to your school for a free professional learning workshop!