I hope this Blog Update finds everyone doing well! I apologize for the large gap between Blog Updates… as you will see our Team 8-1 American History students have been quite busy! Over the past few weeks, our students have been investigating the American Revolution. The American Revolution is one of my favorite topics to teach about! I have attended numerous professional developments, seminars, and trainings that pertain to different aspects of the American Revolution. To introduce key background information of the American Revolution, students participated in a Gallery Walk. Our Gallery Walk involved students moving to different stations and reviewing the source information at each station. In addition to primary & secondary sources at each station, the majority of the stations include a brief video on the Ed Puzzle application! Before students moved to a different station, they answer a Station Question on a giant piece of background paper (see the pictures below!). This question is normally opinion-based, and students are able to see how their opinions match up with those of their peers.
Students were also provided a choice on how to explore the first major battle of the American Revolution: The Battle of New York. Students could use animated maps to examine troop movement and strategy during the Battle of New York. Students also had the choice to act as General George Washington in an activity that I like to call, The Battle of New York: What would You Do? In this activity, students are provided with different scenarios that General Washington faced at the Battle of New York. Students explained how they would respond to each situation and then compared their responses with how Washington handled the scenario. In addition to our Gallery Walk, students used the iPad application called Flipgrid. Flipgrid allows an educator to pose a question for students to respond. In American History Class, students were given the following question, “If you were present during the early years of the American Revolution, would you agree more with the Loyalist or Patriot perspective”? Students then used the Flipgrid application to record their explanation to the question. One of my favorite aspects of the Flipgrid platform is that students can view their peer’s responses and also comment on the response! I was very impressed with the students’ responses… although we did have quite a few Loyalists among us! Following our Gallery Walk & Flipgrid activity, students then had a choice in how they further explored the American Revolution. Going along with our Flipped Classroom and student choice, students chose between the following:
George Washington’s Mount Vernon is a wonderful source for any teacher of American History. I have used this website for primary source material, video lessons, teaching with objects, and much more! The Winter Patriots video series is one of my favorite resources from Mount Vernon! The series portrays the Trenton and Princeton campaigns in great detail. In addition, the series is highly engaging, and students really become engrossed into the action. In my American History classes, I upload the videos and place these in the Ed Puzzle application. On the Ed Puzzle platform, I am able to embed questions for students to respond to and also other pieces of information that students may find interesting. Being a 2017 PBS Digital Innovator, I often use PBS Learning Media. One of my favorite resources from PBS Learning Media is Hamilton’s America. This series explores the life of Alexander Hamilton and features prominent historians such as Ron Chernow & Joanne Freeman. In addition, Hamilton’s America also includes actors and actresses from Hamilton the Musical. Students watched a short video clip in this activity and answered a few concept check questions. Then students were given the lyrics to the opening song of Hamilton the Musical. Students deconstructed the lyrics in order to gain insight on Hamilton’s upbringing and to compare the information provided by Hamilton’s America & Hamilton the Musical. We then looked into a few interesting individuals of the American Revolution, including Benedict Arnold. Students were provided with information on Arnold’s background and his contribution during the Battle of Saratoga. We will explore Benedict Arnold’s treason in the days to come! We also looked into critic of George Washington and discussed why some would want to replace our leader of the Revolution. Since our students enjoyed our first Galley Walk, I created another Gallery Walk for students to participate. In this Gallery Walk, students explored foreign involvement of the American Revolution. Students investigated individuals like the Marquis de Lafayette and Friedrich von Steuben. To aid students in their exploration, I included video from History Channel: The Story of Us and the song Guns and Ships from Hamilton the Musical. Last Friday, we took a break from our investigation of the American Revolution and celebrated South Korea Culture Day. Students participated in a Quizlet Live competition that centered around Winter Olympic sports. In addition, students played the traditional South Korean game called Ddakji. This game involves students learning simple origami-style folds to create a perfect-square. The object of the game is to throw your square on the ground in an attempt to flip their opponents square over. Although the game sounds quite simple, you can ask our students that it is rather difficult. Congratulations to all the class period winners! Over the past few days, students actively investigated Valley Forge. Students were presented with the following question, “If you were a soldier at Valley Forge, would you have quit?” To answer this question, students explored the historical background to Valley Forge and also performed document analysis on primary & secondary sources related to Valley Forge. One of the students’ favorite sources came from Dr. Albigence Waldo. Dr. Waldo’s primary account provided a vivid account of the harsh conditions that George Washington’s army endured during their stay at Valley Forge. Currently, Team 8-1 American History students are working diligently on their American Revolution Project. Students could choose any topic related to the American Revolution and then conduct research on their topic. Espionage, women of the revolution, weapons, and specific battles are popular project topics this school year. Students are using an index-card system to record their sources and information and will use their research to create a project of their choice. Students submitted project proposals earlier this month and some of the proposals that were submitted included: reenactments in the one-button studio, website creation, iBook creation, and infographics!
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Mr. Steve Hartnett
Mr. Hartnett will update the Room 212 Blog with classroom updates on a regular basis. Be sure to follow me on Twitter @ MrHartnett212 Archives
July 2019
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