Description
Looking for fun, no prep ugly sweater holiday activities to keep students engaged in the weeks leading up to winter break? Your students will LOVE this ancient civilizations ugly sweaters project and designing an ugly Christmas sweater will quickly become one of *your* favorite end of year activities too. Students think critically and work independently as they apply their knowledge to create an ugly sweater for a chosen figure or topic… all while you cross things off your never ending to do list!
How It Works:
- Learn about the history of ugly sweaters using the 2-page article, by watching a short video, or using the PowerPoint presentation.
- Next, go over the directions for the assignment and learn about color psychology and the different design elements students will use for their sweaters. Go over the included examples so students know exactly what’s expected of them.
- Students will use the included sweater templates and colors, symbols, patterns, and text to design a custom ugly sweater for their figure from history or other chosen topic.
- Finally, they’ll justify and explain their choices in a short writing assignment and/or class presentation.
Reasons You’ll Love This Ugly Sweater Activity:
- Engaging and fun activity that also requires critical thinking
- Multiple and flexible options for use with a reading, PowerPoint, and activity
- Integrates literacy, art, history, social studies, science, and more!
- Awesome for biography units
- Students can work independently or in groups
- Multiple sweater template options make it easy to differentiate
- Perfect for end of semester review or as a creative assessment
- Makes an awesome classroom, hallway, or bulletin board display and can help you win any door decorating contest
- Perfect for substitutes and filling multi-day gaps in your planned lessons
What’s Included in Ancient Civilizations Ugly Sweaters:
- 3 sweater template options for each person (see list below)
- 2-page article + 100% Editable PowerPoint about the history of ugly sweaters
- Student directions + Design tips
- Research graphic organizer + List of people
- Teacher Tips + Grading Rubric
- 30+ Examples to share with students
- Blank sweater templates for additional flexibility
Who’s Included:
- Abraham
- Aesop
- Alexander the Great
- Aristotle
- Ashoka
- Chandragupta II
- Chandragupta Maurya
- Cicero
- Cleisthenes
- Cleopatra
- Confucius
- Constantine
- Cyrus the Great
- Darius I
- Draco
- Emperor Wu of Han
- Gilgamesh
- Hammurabi
- Han Fei
- Hannibal
- Homer
- Jesus
- Julius Caesar
- King David
- King Ezana
- King Solomon
- King Tut
- Laozi
- Marc Antony
- Menes
- Moses
- Octavian
- Peisistratos
- Pericles
- Piye
- Qin Shi Huang
- Queen Hatshepsut
- Queen Shanakdakheto
- Ramses the Great
- Sargon the Great
- Siddhartha Gautama
- Socrates
- Spartacus
- Thutmose III
- Xerxes
What Fellow Teachers Are Saying About Ugly History Sweaters!
“I cannot say enough great things about this project. My kids LOVED it, my kids SLAYED it and they’ve been hanging in my hall for 4 months now and I still get compliments on them. JUST LOVED THIS! Wish I had found it sooner. DON’T WAIT!” – Ann P.
“This is a TERRIFIC resource!! My students really got into it & their imagination really showed. Thank you!!” – Stacey R.
“My students love this! We are dragging ourselves to that finish line & this is helping make the last few weeks fun” – Kerin W.
“Super easy to implement and helped me include Christmas type activities while still incorporating history and social studies into my schedule. I really liked that it has some people that the students have never heard of before. And I also like that there are a wide variety of individuals.” – Marti B.
“This was such a great way to recap some of the important people we have discussed so far in history this year. My students loved getting to design the sweaters. A fun, meaningful way to review right before the Christmas break!” – Michelle S.
Frequently Asked Questions:
- Is there a digital version of this resource? I really tried to make it work digitally, but unfortunately I never found a solution that worked well. So I’m keeping it print for now!
- Does this resource include information about each person? Information about the individuals is not included. Students can use any source (textbook, video, website, etc.) to learn about their historical figure or topic.
- Can this be adapted for younger grades? Absolutely! I recommend just using the PowerPoint as a class instead of relying on the 2-page article about the history of ugly sweaters. Going over the included examples with students will be essential!
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