Social Studies Fun with QR Codes

I don't know about any of you, but it has been a whirlwind summer so far! This week our county has started summer hours for 12 month employees, which are Monday - Thursday 7am - 6pm. It makes for long days, but I am really looking forward to having Fridays off for the next few weeks!

I'm just now getting the chance to sit down and reflect on a few things from the school year, and I wanted to share one of the fun things I had the opportunity to do during the last couple weeks of school. I got spend some time doing one of my favorite things- working with 3rd graders! Mrs. Bare at Carr Elementary contacted me about collaborating on a social studies lesson focusing on inventors. We had the best time!

Once Mrs. Bare told me which inventors to focus on, I created a QR code for each inventor that took students to a biography page, video, or other resource for that inventor. I printed each QR code out on a single sheet of paper and posted them around the school (making sure to post in places where there was a wireless signal). Students were paired up, and each pair was given an i-Pod touch. To complete the activity, students searched for the QR codes, scanned them using i-nigma, and filled in the requested information on their handout. The QR codes were also on the handout, since I wasn't sure they would be able to travel around the school that day. The activity took over an hour- and it was great to see students intent on reading the information on each site! They even asked for more time so they could watch the accompanying videos on each site. After the research portion was done, students could then take their information and use it to create presentations to share with each other. I loved doing this activity with this great group of 3rd graders!


If you'd like the QR code printouts, student handouts, and lesson plan for this lesson just leave a comment and I'll be glad to send it out or post it!


Below you can enjoy some pictures of students hard at work.