Cheap + Fun = Cups! 5th

I highly recommend using Styrofoam cups in group activities.  

They can be used in a variety of ways for all subjects. (It's $0.89 for a pack.)

 In this case, I wrote main events from US History on them, from approximately 1400-1800 CE, the years and events we covered this year in class.  We worked together to stack cups chronologically.

 The best part of this exercise were the discussions and arguments students participated in.  You can see we actively referenced our textbooks to prove our answers.

In the end, each group sent a representative with their stack of cups to the front of the room.  As I read the correct responses, students remained standing until they found an error.  No group had all events perfect, as we ran out of time.  But it went very well in the time that we had.

Today, I will try the same activity but split the cups into six groups instead of three.

You can modify this assignment to include events from fiction or non fiction texts, alphabetical order, numerical order of whole numbers, fractions, decimals, or equations, events from history, or smaller to larger concepts (nesting doll style) for example atoms, cells, tissue, organs, etc.

It would also be easy to use three cups of various colors to act as signals.  For example, a green, yellow, and red cup could be how students ask for assistance during classwork time or how all students can participate and answer whole group questions.