Dr. Dennis Denenberg, Day 1, Part 2

Dennis Denenberg

Day 1, Part 2:

Ideas for at home:

Mystery hero on the fridge. Put it up on the fridge every few days so the kids become intrigued by who it is. Are they related to us?

Have the students write to heroes that are alive. Have them write letters to authors. Write them birthday cards to them too. Oftentimes they will send a response to you.

Hero cereal boxes. Use the ingredients and nutritional value to put that their hero is 15% bravery, 25% creativity, etc. Pick a hero from history and have them create a cereal box.

"Carry Your Hero" Tote bags: Similar to the hero shirt/vest, but having it be on a tote bag instead. Put not only stuff about the heroic figure, but also the people that helped them get to where they were. Example: Jackie Robinson and Branch Rickey.

Placemats about your hero: Get a piece of paper and have the kids make placemats about their hero. Tell the kids that they are going to put those placemats in a local restaurant.

Make your own activity books: Have kids make an activity book that goes well with your hero. You can get the details about your hero in the book. You can have older students write them and then teach the younger students about it. If you can plant the seed in younger students, then they will have a great love for history as they get older.

Decorate the bathroom door: You have the historical pictures of people on the bathroom door and the students need to ask if they can "visit" the historical figure instead of asking to go to the bathroom. She put more and more pictures up there so the kids know them well. Then add more people as the year goes on.

Bathroom Hall Passes: Put heroes on the bathroom passes. Their picture on one side and information on the other. You can do this and switch it every so often. They want to learn more, this is the perfect opportunity for them to do it!

Bookmarks: Have the students read about a hero and then they can make their own bookmark. You can distribute this to the other students in the class. This will truly make the person that created it feel so special!!!

Heroes on a Songsheet: Put a picture of your hero on one side and the song that you sing about them on the back side.

Timelines: Make it so that it is applicable to the period in time. Make it the "big ideas" during that period of time. Don't jumble it with too many people. Revolutionary War ideas: Musket, flag, uniform, horses, Thirteen Colonies, Marching Footprints from boots.

Heroes Calendar: Hero of the month, each month has details about important historical figures. You can have it be specifically about one person throughout the year where on important dates big events happened.

History Biography Blocks: The kids creat an eight-sided block with details about the person. You can put a special item inside that represents their hero. Example: Helen Keller special item could be something in Braille. Name and Lifedate on one side. Other details on the other ones. Pictures are needed also.

Heroes Lunch Bags: Make lunch bags with information about your historical hero. Draw pictures, write about them. Once you have done yours, then you need to share it with three other people in your class and report out about what you have learned.

Freezer Bag Heroes Quilt: Put together a bunch of freezer bags with pictures on one side and their information on the back. You leave the zipper part open so you can switch these out for others so they can learn about more people.