Discover how different types of group activities for high school history classes can bring your curriculum to life, no matter the time period you're studying.
Unforgettable social studies classes immerse high schoolers in a different time in history, inspiring them to think about human life in another way while collaborating with their peers in innovative ways. Adding strong group activities for high school history classes into your social studies curriculum can help enhance the experience. From mock trials in high school to gallery walks through time, you can use these activities to review any period in history and to connect groups with a new understanding of the past.
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1. Mock Trial Group Activities for High School
There’s a reason mock trials in high school are a student favorite. Teens love to argue, and a mock trial is an excellent way to capture that energy and get everyone in class involved. Base your mock trial assignment on any significant event in your high school civics curriculum, reenact a famous court case in history, or have students test laws and policies they’ve learned about in their government instruction.
For students interested in criminal justice and the legal system, build an entire criminology unit that culminates in a mock trial. Use sketch-the-scene forensic activities for students to make inferences about a fictional crime, work with students’ science teachers on the chemistry and biology concepts needed to analyze forensic evidence, and equip students with the information needed to be expert witnesses at the upcoming mock trial.
Mock Trials for Government and Civics Classes: The Trial of the Big Bad Wolf
By Room 311
Grades: 7th-12th
Subject: Civics, Criminal Justice—Law, Government
Combine criminal justice and fairy tales with a whimsically fun high school mock trial assignment. This resource includes student instructions, character statements, and evidence for a trial that puts Booker T. Lupine (aka Wolfie) on trial for the murders of two of the three little pigs.
2. High School History Escape Rooms
It’s true that those who don’t learn history are doomed to repeat it. But could that be true for students trying to beat history-themed escape rooms? Armed only with their social studies knowledge, a cooperative team of peers, and the guidance of their well-prepared teacher, history students put their skills to the test to solve puzzles and riddles in an escape room group activity.
You’ll find escape room ideas for any moment or concept in history you’d like to reinforce with students. From the Middle Ages to the Cold War, students can reference primary and secondary texts (as well as their class notes) to delegate and collaborate with their classmates.
Harlem Renaissance Introduction Escape Room (paper) – Black History Month
By Nouvelle ELA
Grades: 7th-10th
Subjects: Literature, U.S. History
Perfect for Black History Month or anytime you’re discussing the Harlem Renaissance, this high school escape room assignment is as engaging as it is educational. Have students complete the included tasks as designed, use extension options to increase difficulty, or work with your colleagues to create an interdisciplinary project between U.S. History and ELA.
3. Student-Run Model Governments
Can your social studies class run as well as the government—or even better? Have students narrow down their concerns, interests, and values as they work together to create an even more perfect union. They can take inspiration from prominent governments in history or turning points in world politics, assign roles and positions, and see how well their governance affects the “country” they’re in charge of.
For an educational extension, incorporate this project into a series of career exploration ideas. Students interested in public service or politics may find a self-government position an important step into the rest of their lives!
Mayflower Compact: Self-Government & Pilgrims Worksheet & Group Activity
By Social Studies with Ms Mc
Grades: 7th-12th
Subjects: Social Studies, U.S. History, World History
Standards: CCSS RH.9-10.1, 9-10.2, 11-12.1, 11-12.2
Immerse students in a Colonial America unit with a CCSS-aligned group activity focused on the Mayflower Compact. After learning more about the Pilgrims and the Mayflower, students work in a group to create their own government, including making laws that reflect their values, and reflect on how their government is similar or different from the Mayflower Compact.
4. Group Gallery Walks and Viewing Days
Taking teens on a history field trip may not be feasible this year, but that doesn’t mean they can’t visit a museum. Have students work in groups to create artifacts and pieces of art that other students can view and ponder on a social studies gallery walk.
For a more collaborative angle, assign presentations to groups for them to teach about their artifacts. These “docent” speeches may prove even more educational to speaker and listener alike than the rest of the year’s curriculum.
Alexander the Great Activity | Ancient Greece Gallery Walk and Reading Passages
By Mr and Mrs Social Studies
Grades: 6th-9th
Subjects: Ancient History, Social Studies, World History
Standards: CCSS RH.6-8.7
Turn your social studies classroom into a history museum with a no-prep gallery walk project focused on Alexander the Great. The resource comes with 13 different artifacts, printable and digital student handouts, and a teacher guide and answer key for easy implementation and assessment.
5. Walking Tours Through Historical Eras
Unless your history classroom comes equipped with a time machine, a walking tour group activity for high school history class is the best way to experience prehistoric times firsthand. Perfect as a group project that culminates in an immersive historical experience, well-organized walking tours involve role-playing, sets, and artifacts for viewers to explore.
If you’re inviting other classes or younger students to take a walking tour, set up the project in a larger space than your classroom, such as an outdoor quad or a multi-purpose room. Encourage high schoolers to dress in costume, and consider offering awards for students who put the most into their projects!
Paleolithic and Neolithic Age Revolution Activity | Stone Age Gallery Walk
By Michele Luck’s Social Studies
Grades: 6th-10th
Subjects: Ancient History, Social Studies, World History
Standards: CCSS RH-6-8.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7; RH.9-10.1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7
How much does your class know about the prehistoric time period? A walking tour resource has students rotate through 26 stations on the Paleolithic and Neolithic ages to investigate the early humans, the invention of fire, hunting and gathering, early religion and government, and more.
6. Collaborative Social Studies Jigsaw Activities
Jigsaw activities are an effective way for students to be both learners and teachers in the same assignment. These group activities for high school history create stations with informational sources for one student in each group to learn and take notes. Newly formed experts then go back to their groups and teach their peers what they’ve learned.
You can use jigsaw activities for any historical era or social studies concept in your curriculum. Consider adding videos and other digital sources to each station, or even assigning student historians to convey the meaning of different sources to their peers.
Causes of the Great Depression Group Activity and New Deal Solutions
By Stephanie’s History Store
Grades: 8th-11th
Subject: Social Studies, U.S. History, World History
Teach about the many causes of the Great Depression with a group activity that compares each cause with items from the New Deal. With printable materials for students and a teacher guide to direct the lesson, this resource is an excellent way to immerse students in one of the pivotal moments of the 20th century.
More Group Activities for High School History
Need more ideas to get kids up and working together? Use these tried-and-true activities, games, and collaborative projects in your next history lesson.
- Have groups play history and geography-themed board games, such as Risk or Settlers of Catan.
- Send students on scavenger hunts in your classroom or throughout the school to find historical items, such as school landmarks or items that were invented in a particular era.
- Split the class in half and have both teams compete in board races, where one student at a time writes the answer to a history or social studies question.
- Assign small groups a mural project that represents a time or a significant figure in history.
- Have groups write and perform parody songs, skits, reenactments, or other performances in front of the class.
Tips for Leading History Group Activities
Interested in bringing more group activities to high school history class? Use these tips to implement high-quality and engaging projects that are sure to inspire social studies students learning about any moment in history.
- Get students out of their seats when possible, whether it’s walking around the classroom, going outside, or just moving to different parts of the room.
- Incorporate other skills in group activities, including art, speaking and listening, math, technology, and leadership.
- Keep the lessons as student-directed and student-led as possible, with the teacher only introducing the activity and lightly supervising student progress.
- Use career exploration ideas to address social studies-based career pathways, such as members of Congress, lawyers, historians, and more.
- Align group activities to NCSS, including culture, power and authority, science and technology, and civil ideals and practices.
- Connect with other classes, including ELA and science, to create interdisciplinary group activities that address skills and concepts in both courses.
Bring history to life with well-planned teamwork and TPT
When you augment lectures and textbook work with engaging group activities for high school history class, you’re creating memorable opportunities for students to really understand history like never before. These group assignments make great unit or year-end projects or review games for high school, ensuring that students never forget that moment in history! Use these and more high school social studies group activities to create an immersive academic experience for teen historians.
