The week on November 16th – 20th was dedicated to a class project focusing on the growth of the thirteen colonies. For this project, students utilized the Google Docs and Google Slides platforms. Both of these platforms allow students to work and edit the same document in real-time. This project not only allows students to showcase their knowledge of the thirteen colonies, but also promotes cooperation and collaboration between group members. The first phase of this project asked students to use Google Docs to promote the thirteen colonies. I was really impressed with the amount of work that students put into the brochure. Not only were the majority of the brochures informative, but most were also visually appealing. The second phase of the project asked students to make a photo album for the thirteen colonies. Students used Google Slides to create the photo album, and once again I was very pleased with the final products. Please take a moment to check out a few of the brochures below! Before I end this post, I want to take the time to say thank you to all of those who donated to the Pass The Turkey fundraiser. I am always so impressed by the generosity of the Elizabeth Forward community. I also wanted to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! I hope everyone enjoys the holiday spending time with friends and family!
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The week of November 9th-13th was yet another busy week in Room 212. This week contained the Veterans Day Assembly, a visit from the Schools-to-Watch Initiative, a visit from the Smithsonian Learning Lab, and the beginning of a great fundraiser called Pass The Turkey! Please take a look at the images below to see how you can help make a difference for Elizabeth Forward families this Thanksgiving holiday!
Monday: Students were introduced to the thirteen colonies, specifically looking at the geography and economic activities of the colonies. Students listened to an oral history from Olaudah Equiano on the Middle Passage. Students participated in a jigsaw activity to investigate these aspects of the colonies. Students worked in their collaborative groups to complete a virtual graphic organizer on eBackpack on the New England, Middle, and Southern colonies. Students then shared their portion of the virtual graphic organizer with their group members. By the end of class, students had the entire virtual graphic organizer completed. The students will utilize this virtual graphic organizer when they begin their Google Docs & Slides Project next week. Tuesday: Students were introduced to one of my favorite primary sources today, George Washington’s Rules of Civility. George Washington wrote his “Rules of Civility & Decent Behavior” as a school exercise sometime before he reached the age of sixteen. His handwriting on the manuscript is childlike, his grammar and spelling mediocre, but what is of far greater importance is that this was the code of conduct that molded his character and help him assume the leadership of his country. The importance of the document cannot be denied. It influenced our first president and therefore an entire nation. Students were given several rules and “translated” these rules in a way that makes sense to us today. Wednesday: Students applied what they learned from the Tuesday’s lesson to create an image or comic strip that reflected one of George Washington’s Rules of Civility. Students could use their artistic ability to create a picture that portrayed a rule or students could use an iPad application called Comic Strip Creator to depict the rule. Students showed off their creativity and really impressed me with the scenes that they developed! I also wanted to say that I was very impressed with the Veterans Day assembly at the Middle School. The amount of support from the community was very admirable! The students who performed during the assembly did a fantastic job. A special thank you to all of the veterans and current service men and women who have sacrificed so much for the rest of us! Thursday: Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to attend a workshop presented by the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Kate Harris, a member of the Learning Lab, joined our classroom to help utilize the Learning Lab tool. Students first performed a Thinking Routine titled Zoom In. This Thinking Routine shows zoomed in images of a famous portrait and asks students to think critically about each image they see. The painting that students were analyzing was Ben Franklin Drawing Electricity from the Sky. I picked up this Thinking Routine from Harvard University’s Project Zero Summer Institute. Students then completed an activity using the Smithsonian Learning Lab website that centered on Benjamin Franklin. Students viewed several images and artifacts from the Smithsonian’s collection and also read a primary source on one of Franklin’s experiments with electricity. Friday: Students were introduced to several important concepts in today’s class. The Glorious Revolution, mercantilism, and types of colonies were all discussed in today’s class. In addition, students investigated several major movements taking place during the colonial era. The two major movements that were discussed were The Great Awakening and The Enlightenment. Finally, students held a discussion about different cultural aspects in the thirteen colonies, specifically gender roles and education. These topics will be revisited next week during the Google Docs & Slides Project. Monday: Students began to wrap up their analysis of the documents pertaining to the Salem Witch Trials. Students traveled to the document stations, and once again identified the source information, main ideas, key images/quotes/data, and what “bucket” they believed the document would fit into. At the end of the class period, students performed the “Final Bucketing Activity”. Students perused the documents one last time and identified three main causes to the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria. From there, students “filled” their buckets with the documents that displayed a particular cause. This activity is important for students to complete because it helps with the outline and rough draft process of the Document Based Question (DBQ) Response. Tuesday: Election Day! I hope everyone enjoyed the day off! I had the opportunity to work with several Middle School & High School Social Studies teachers to align curriculum and discuss other important facets to the Social Studies Department. Wednesday: Wednesday marked the outline process to the DBQ Response process. I worked closely with students to complete the outline. Students used their document analysis to develop several paragraphs to explain the causes of the Salem Witch Trial Hysteria of 1692. Students created a thesis statement, used evidence to support their arguments, and finally created a conclusion that tied everything together. I was very impressed with the work that students put into their outlines. There can be no doubt that this outline will be very helpful when students work on their final copy of the Salem Witch Trial DBQ Response. Thursday: I had the chance to travel to the Heinz History Center to partner with the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Several EFMS Social Studies teachers applied for this partnership and were accepted. We met in the All-Purpose Room of the Heinz History Center with about forty other educators from the Western Pennsylvania area. The Smithsonian Learning Lab gives everyone with a desire to learn the opportunity to explore the Smithsonian's rich resources anytime, anywhere. In addition, educators and students have the opportunity to make their own collections from the millions of online resources provided by the Smithsonian. The group at the Heinz History Center was some of the first educators to use the Smithsonian Learning Lab and its resources! I am very excited about this partnership and can definitely see my students enjoying the collections that will be made! While I was away, students worked on creating their rough drafts. To help students through this process, I provided several Ed Puzzle videos for students to watch. I am very excited to see what the students came up with! Friday: Friday marked the final step in the Salem Witch Trial DBQ Response process. Students came to class with their rough drafts completed and then worked to peer-edit their responses. Prior to this activity, I identified several items that students should keep an eye-out for when peer-editing. Students then discussed their findings with their partners and began to work on their final DBQ Response. Students used the Hanx Writer App to type their final response. The Hanx Writer App looks and acts like a typewriter. Students were very intrigued by the sounds created by the typewriter. Most were not too happy with the fact that the Hanx Writer App does not feature auto-correct. The final copy of the Salem Witch Trial DBQ is due Tuesday, November 10th on eBackpack! I am very eager to read these responses and see how students have improved in their writing since the beginning of the year. Great work everyone! Witches were the theme for the week of October 26th! Students spent the week investigating the 1692 Salem Witch Trials. Students acted as historians and detectives to research the event, investigate key players in the trials, analyze primary & secondary sources, and generate possible explanations to the hysteria. I want to give a special shout out to all of the 8th grade teachers for helping create our “Haunted Hallway”! Be sure to check out my twitter feed @MrHartnett212 & the Middle School’s Twitter Feed @EF_MS for pictures of the event! Monday: Monday marked the beginning of the Salem Witch Trials investigation. Students download an iBook that I created that would serve as background information to their investigation. The Salem Witch Trial iBook is an interactive book that includes video, interactive images & text, maps, and assessment questions. Prior to using the iBook, students participated in a “kindergarten style” reading that introduced students to the who, what, where, when, & why of the Salem Witch Trials. Spooky music was played to set the tone for Monday’s class. The Salem Witch Trial ibook is available for download on my Edmodo website and the team homework website. I encourage you to check it out! Tuesday: Students used the second half of the Salem Witch Trials iBook to investigate key individuals involved in the hysteria. Students kept track of this information on eBackpack. Students examined who these individuals were and what role they played in the Salem With Trial hysteria. Students also used the Ed Puzzle app to watch several videos on those involved in the Salem Witch Trials. Wednesday: There is a witch in a classroom! Students reviewed characteristics of a witch and began accusing their own classmates of witchcraft! This activity was used to demonstrate the power of hysteria & wild accusations and the role these played in 1692 Salem, Massachusetts. As a class, students began the “pre-bucketing” activity. In this activity, students began to hypothesize different explanations to the Salem Witch trial hysteria in 1692. Students worked as a class to generate their reasons behind the witch trials. Some of the explanations included: jealously, feud among neighbors, religious beliefs, and young girls seeking attention. Thursday: Students were provided with the “Official Case Documents” for the Salem Witch Trials investigation. As a class, students were guided through the process of document analysis. Before the document analysis began, students watched an Ed Puzzle video on Tituba, one of the main protagonists in the Salem Witch Trial hysteria. Students analyzed several documents in class, specifically looking at the source of the documents, deciding if it is a primary or secondary source, the main idea behind the document, important images, quotes, or data, and what “bucket” does the document fit into. I was very impressed with the abilities of each student to think critically when reviewing the documents. Friday: Elizabeth Forward Middle School turned into a crime scene! Not only did students analyze more primary & secondary sources, but students also needed to use their detective skills to figure out what happened to William Augenbaugh, an “esteemed historian” on the Salem Witch Trials. Students moved from document station to document station and used several different iPad applications to analyze different documents. The following iPad applications were used during the document analysis stations:
At the end of class, students participated in a Verso discussion. Students shared their thoughts on what caused the witch trials and participated in an activity called Tweet & Hash Tag that I picked up from Harvard University’s Project Zero Summer Institute. The entire classroom was set up like a crime scene and I hope all of the students enjoyed the activity. Be sure to check out the slide show below for pictures from the Salem Witch Trial investigation. |
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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