Our Team 8-1 American History Students have completed their Chapter Three: Colonial America Projects, and I must say that they were AWESOME! If you will recall my last blog post, students were given the opportunity to select a project to complete based upon the content covered in Chapter Three: Colonial America. Essentially, students had the opportunity to complete one of the following:
The majority of the students decided to tackle the Colonial America Commercial. Students first designed a script/story board with their peers. Students then used the One-Button Studio or my pop-up green screen to film their commercials. The majority of the students decided to edit their videos using iMovie, but some groups decided to use the application known as Touch Cast. If you have not checked out Touch Cast, do yourself a favor and explore this application. The students, who used this application, were very impressed by how easy it was to add effects and edit their commercials. The final commercials were so impressive! Students incorporated so much information from our study of Colonial America. It was obvious that the students also had a great time completing this project. A special shout out to the group of students who filmed their commercial in the style of The Office! Several groups of students chose to design a brochure using Google Docs. Since every single student has a Gmail account, it is very easy for students to collaborate with one another on the Google Doc. I really like this project, because it asks students to not only design a brochure, but also complete outside research on topics that were not yet discussed in class. One of the best parts about watching the students complete their brochures is seeing how each individual group builds their final product. This project is also helpful because it provides students with time to work on their computer operating skills. The majority of our students struggle typing on a computer. The Colonial America brochure allows students to work on typing and formatting on a laptop. This school year, I decided to incorporate an art piece to the Colonial America Project. The directions for this project were purposely vague, but basically students who wanted to use their artistic skills could create a “piece of art” based on the Chapter Three content. While only a handful of students decided to complete this choice, the final results were spectacular! I am always impressed by those who can draw. I do not possess a single artistic trait, and therefore I really appreciate the time and effort that goes into making a piece of art. Some students decided to draw the first interaction between the Pilgrims and Native Americans at Plymouth. A student drew a scene based on Jamestown’s Starving Time. Another student created a massive map on the New England colonies and drew diagrams of the colonial sites. It was truly inspiring to see these students put their abilities to work! Following our Chapter Three Project, we investigated the Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692. Using an Apple iBook that I created, students were introduced to the witch trials. Students were then asked to create an infographic based upon the contents of our iBook. On Halloween, students used our brand new Virtual Reality headsets to visit Salem, Massachusetts. Our Virtual Reality headsets utilize the Google Expeditions platform. The best part of using the Virtual Reality technology is the reactions that the students have when we move from each scene of the expedition. I am so excited to use this technology throughout the school year! We also completed another Breakout Edu Challenge! Using primary and secondary sources from the Salem Witch trials as clues, I designed a Breakout Edu Challenge. For this challenge I used Breakout Edu’s digital platform. Although there were a few minor technical issues with the site, students still enjoyed navigating the clues and unlocking the final locked box, which contained their Halloween candy! Students are now working on their document analysis and preparing to write their first Document Based Question (DBQ) response. Students will be analyzing primary and secondary sources related to the witch trials and organizing these documents to craft a convincing argument to what they believed was the cause of the Salem Witch Trial hysteria of 1692.
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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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