Classroom Ideas
Engaging students in the 21st century has created many new challenges for teachers. Competing with technology is no easy task! This is why teachers have found ways to combine the social media world with academics. Rather than assigning a two-page essay on a famous historian or author, educators are now asking students to create mock social media profiles for historical figures.
10 steps to creating mock social media profiles as a history assignment
1. Decide which platform students should use to create the profile.
You might consider offering the following options to students:
- Use a paper template. Create your own or use our free printable!
- Have students make a Google Slides presentation with each slide being a new section of a social media profile.
- Students can create their own template using Jamboards, Google Docs, or any other blank online resource.
Download the FREE template!
2. Use information from research to begin filling out the profile.
Begin with a profile picture!
Students search for the photo they think best sums up their subject. For printed versions, students can either hand draw the picture or print out, cut, and glue in a photo.
3. Write a mock status from the point of view of the person.
Ask students to imagine they are writing from the perspective of their historical figure. What would the person have written about on their social media page? Would they have tagged anyone in their update? This is one area of the profile that should be written in complete sentences.
History teacher hack: Connect this part of the profile to a mini-lesson on point of view in writing.
4. Create a mini-timeline of important events in the person’s life.
This might include historic moments in the person’s life, such as wars, awards, elections, marriage(s), kids, or moves.
5. Record personal info about the person.
History teacher hack: Connect this part of the profile to a mini-lesson on character traits
6. List likely Facebook friends and family members of the person.
7. Include other Facebook pages that the person might follow.
For this part of the profile, ask students to think about the person’s interests. What famous things/people/events would this person have wanted to follow?
8. Fill in historical information.
Students should list any places the person lived, including the current or last hometown.
9. Ask for additional information.
If you would like to see more writing samples coming from this project, you may consider assigning students to write a brief 1-2 paragraph explanation of how they created this social media profile. Ask students to explain why they included certain information and cite sources used.
10. Share mock social media profiles!
If created digitally, students can share projects on platforms like Google Classroom or Seesaw for other students to see. Students could also record themselves explaining the profile and just share the recorded explanation with peers. The traditional route would be for students to prepare an oral presentation for the class to share the profile page. For added fun, have students dress as their assigned person!
History teacher hack: Print all projects and create a class book with all of the created mock profiles. This serves as a book of history on amazing people!
Students will love putting together mock social media profiles. This unique project ties together their social media knowledge and emerging academic skills!
