Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs "Fakebook" Project

A great way to get middle school students engaged in class material is by incorporating one of their favorite things into the learning process: social media. A project that my students always have a ton of fun with is the “Fakebook” project. Students use their notes and additional information that they’ve been provided with during class to create a social media profile in the style of Facebook for a historical figure. What I love most about this assignment is that it allows students to express their humor and creativity while simultaneously reviewing the content. Since nearly every chapter contains numerous notable figures, this project is versatile and can be used for virtually any chapter or subject area.

The directions, rubric and examples that are showcased in this article accompany my 6th grade World History unit on Ancient Egypt. Students select one of the four Ancient Egyptian pharaohs that we study(Khufu, Senusret, Hatshepsut and Ramses II) and create a "Fakebook" page based on their accomplishments and personality traits. While I expect their information to be relevant and accurate, I give them a bit of creative license by allowing them to use modern phrases and hashtags.