Testing is over. You’ve already turned in your textbook (or you never had one to begin with). Your students are burned out and need a change. Your brain is DONE with the school year.

Whatever the reason, I’ve got some ideas for some quick, last-minute history lessons that will work well at the end of the year. I’ve chosen all print and go or Google Classroom™ resources to keep it easy for you.

1. Asian history BINGO

Available for Chinese history, Japanese history, and Indian history. These games require you to print blank boards for your students and then you project the game board on a whiteboard. The game is preset and will present the next prompt at the click of a button.

Students are presented with a historical prompt and they must write the name of the dynasty, time period, or empire in the square. Once they have a BINGO, they win.

2. Poem of Mulan

This is one of my favorite resources. I was inspired to create a resource that guided students through a historical document the way a historian might approach it rather than approaching it as an English-language arts resource. Students aren’t concerned with the elements of a poem as much as they are with the historical references.

The TpT video resource is actually a podcast and only contains one image that students should see. The rest is blank, giving students a chance to focus on the words and the analysis rather than imagery that might take away from the experience.

All you have to do is print the packets and then stream the video.

3. Ancient Egypt Coloring Pages with Short Reads

Learning about Ancient Egypt is fun and high school students still love to color. Give them some coloring pages with short reads as they learn about or review Ancient Egypt. Print and go.

4. Queens of Africa Series

Squeeze in some last-minute lessons about Africa’s greatest queens. This is a five-part series that covers the entire continent, not just Egypt, and spans the beginnings of the ancient world through the present.

Very few of these women are included in history curriculums and we need to learn more about influencial women. Add this to your classroom and support the inclusion of women.

• Kandakes of Kush
• Queens of Ethiopia
• Queens of Madagascar
• Warrior and Rain Queens
• Pharaoh Queens of Egypt
• Queens of Africa Full Bundle

5. Leif Erikson or Columbus: Who Should Get Credit?

The bottom line is that one European is going to get credit for the discovery of the North America. Marking the European discovery is an important benchmark in world history and American history and still has to be taught no matter how much people want to ignore it.

This resource highlights the evidence that would give the credit to Erikson rather than Columbus but in the end, students get to decide. Making a decision is actually a historical thinking skill and it deserves more practice than students get.

Available in both the print-only version and for Google Classroom™.

6. World History Active: Top 25 Inventions and Discoveries

One of my favorite activities is to get students to debate history. An easy introduction is to get them to rank the top 25 inventions and discoveries from all of world history. Every student’s list will be different and the conversations that you will hear will amaze you.

This specific resource is a Google Classroom™ only resource. A slightly different take on the same lesson (print only) can be found here or read the blog to find out more.

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