Education Standards
HistoryTok
Overview
This resource is an engaging way to get your students in U.S. History or U.S. Government thinking about the founding principles of the U.S. Consitutiton. After learning about the basics of the Enlightenment Period and guided principles used in the creation of the U.S. government, students can think critically about topics and create a short satiracal video on TikTok.
Assignment Guidelines
This lesson is to be used after teaching students about the foundations of the U.S. Government system in grades 10th-12th. It is a fun, relevant way to get your students to think critically about the important people, documents, and concepts that shape our country. Depending on your school's cell phone policy, you may need to ask permission in order to do this project. You may also want to have a second option, such as a political cartoon, for any students that do not have a cell phone, TikTok, or are not comfotable on camera.
#HistoryTok Project
You need to create a Tik Tok about one of the topics from Foundations of the U.S. Government. Your Tik Tok must meet the requirements below.
Requirements
- Must cover one of the approved topics or an alternative topic approved by the teacher
- Must be no shorter than 45 seconds and no longer than 2 minutes in length
- Must be original content not something that has already been done
- Anyone in your video must have agreed to be in your video (don’t film someone who doesn’t know you’re filming them or who didn’t agree to let you use the footage)
- Video doesn’t have to be public it can be private
- All public videos must contain the appropriate hashtags
- Video cannot include profanity
- Video should not trash talk the subject
- Videos can be collaborations
Approved Topics:
- Thomas Hobbs
- John Locke
- Montesquieu
- Rousseau
- Social Equality
- Constitutionalism
- Separation of Powers
- Social Contract
- Divine Right
- Rule of Law
- English Bill of Rights
- Common Sense
- Declaration of Independence
- Republicanism
Rubric:
| Scoring Category | Points |
| Educational Quality: Would a teacher put this in their lesson powerpoint to teach this topic? Is the information historically correct and relevant? | /20 |
| Basic Requirements: Length of time, profanity?, hashtags, approved topic, etc | /20 |
| Creativity: How does this masterpiece move people? Does it make people laugh, is it relatable, does it make you want to cry, are the transitions on point, video quality, what sets this apart? | /10 |
| Final Score: | /50 |