EARLY HUMANS ACTIVITIES – EARLY MAN STONE AGE LESSON PLANS
If you’re a social studies teacher looking to enhance your curriculum or searching for supplementary resources, you’ve found the right place. I want to help every teacher be their best when teaching your Early Humans unit! The following resources are activities I personally use in my Early Humans units.
EARLY HUMANS BELL RINGERS
I kick off my Early Humans unit with dynamic, no-prep, skill-based bell ringers. Each bell ringer engages students by reviewing content and practicing crucial reading and writing skills such as subject/verb identification, citation, and sentence writing, with fun drawing prompts included. This approach not only prepares students for the day’s lesson but helps with classroom management, establishing routines and maintaining student expectations.
EARLY HUMANS TIMELINE ACTIVITY
The Early Humans Hominins Timeline Activity is an engaging tool for teaching students about the evolution and migration of early humans, from Homo erectus to Neanderthals and Denisovans. Through a combination of reading a short article, completing a timeline, taking notes, and drawing pictures, students gain a comprehensive understanding of early human history. The included Google Slides presentation guides the lesson, and a short quiz assesses student comprehension. This activity not only enhances learning but also makes the study of early humans interactive and memorable.
EARLY HUMANS EVOLUTION ACTIVITY
Transform your students into archaeologists with this no-prep Early Humans Evolution Activity where they reconstruct the faces of Homo erectus, Neanderthals, and Homo sapiens! This engaging lesson helps students visualize and understand the facial and skeletal evolution of early humans. Through a digital archaeological dig warm-up, reading articles, and completing notes, students gain insights into each hominin’s unique skeletal structure. Guided by a Google Slides presentation, they will reconstruct the faces of three hominins and take a quiz to assess their understanding.
HUNTER GATHERER SIMULATION
It can be hard to bring historic concepts and events into ancient and world history courses. So when we finally get the chance to teach Hunters and Gatherers, social studies teachers want to make it an amazing lesson our students will remember.
I teach the Stone Age through an immersive Hunters and Gatherers Simulation. Students transform into nomadic groups, facing challenges like hunting, gathering, migration, disease, and food scarcity. This dynamic activity includes a cave art warm-up, a short lecture, and three rounds of engaging survival tasks. This interactive approach not only educates but also captivates, fostering deep understanding and memorable learning experiences that students will remember all year!
Simulations are powerful tools for engaging students and making classroom management easier. This activity is excellent for both introducing and reviewing content, ensuring that students grasp key concepts effectively. Students never forget simulations—they’ll be talking about this all year!
EARLY HUMANS PUPPET PROJECT
We’ve all had classes that just won’t participate. Whether it’s personalities or just how kids are these days, sometimes it is hard to get a good discussion going in class. The way I promote active participation is by using Gen Z and Alpha slang in the Hunter Gatherer Puppet Project. Students use slang and key terms to write a script bragging about Early Humans and the Stone Age. They then translate their slang into academic language. Finally, they talk with other students or perform a puppet show about early man history.
EARLY HUMANS PBS DOCUMENTARY
Documentaries provide a great opportunity for students to learn or review using visual mediums. I tell my students that documentaries are like virtual field trips because we get to hear from historians and archaeologists, and see the actual sites students have studied. I also like to mix it up! Documentaries are a nice change of pace for classes, and they are great for sub plans too! In episode one of Origins in the PBS Africa’s Great Civilizations Documentary, Host Dr Henry Louis Gates, Jr. guides viewers through Homo sapiens origins in Africa and their migration out of Africa.
EARLY HUMANS EMPIRES TEST
I used to dread making tests for my ancient and world history units. If you need help writing your unit test for Early Humans Test, use this assessment covering Mediterranean geography, Roman & Byzantine Empires, Augustus, Constantine, Constantinople, and Justinian I. There is a regular and modified version, a study guide and writing tests.
The Early Humans unit is designed with teachers in mind. It is full of time-saving activities. You will get more student buy-in with interactive simulations, hands-on projects, and insightful discussions on historical figures. Designed for flexibility, the Early Humans unit helps teachers be their best!
Be sure to listen to the Middle Ages Podcast for more awesome ideas ancient and world history teachers!