It has been over a month since I have updated the Team 8-1 American History Blog, and what a busy month it has been. One of my New Years Resolutions will be to be more diligent in renewing the blog on a weekly basis. Since my last blog post, students in Team 8-1 American History have completed their first unit of the class and now have moved towards the American Revolution. Some of the highlights from the past month include the collaboration on several projects that focused on the growth of the thirteen colonies and George Washington’s participation in the French & Indian War. Students worked in their collaborative groups to design a brochure using the Google Docs platform that would advertise the thirteen colonies. The brochures described the colonies by region, and also focused on the different types of colonies. In addition, students included information on culture, religion, education, etc. within the colonies. The Google Docs platform allowed each student to contribute to the brochure simultaneously. I was very pleased with the level of creativity and cooperation that was displayed by the students throughout this project.
The French & Indian War (Seven Years War) is one of the major events that students investigate within American History class. Students enter 8th grade with a solid understanding of the global conflict from their 7th grade Pennsylvania History course. We begin the French & Indian War with a discussion on how the North American theatre is only one portion of the Seven Years War and we spend some time creating and labeling maps to showcase this point. Students are introduced to causes of the war and then move to a Project-Based Learning opportunity based on George Washington’s involvement in the conflict. Students are provided several journal entries from George Washington and work together to place these entries in chronological order and perform document analysis on each journal entry. Students begin to piece together the young Washington’s involvement, and construct meaning to the often-difficult relationships formed between the British, French, and Native Americans. From there, students worked together on the Google Slides platform to create a presentation on their learning. Students included the following items within their presentation:
Once again I was highly impressed with the work that each student put into this project. Document analysis is a difficult skill to master, but the students from Team 8-1 performed well and I was delighted by the final outcome of their presentations. One of the benefits from this project-based learning activity was that students were able to use the new iCreate Studio located within Elizabeth Forward Middle School. If you are not aware, the library within EFMS has been transformed to a studio full of the latest technology for students to use. For example, to work on this project each group was assigned a large screen high-definition television with an Apple TV connected to the television. This set up allowed students to project different aspects of their project, so the students could see one another’s contribution in real time. In addition, the students also had the ability to utilize the One-Button Studio. The studio, which was created by Penn State (WE ARE!), allows students to use high-end equipment to record video and audio files in front of a large green screen. Students simply insert a flash drive into a computer, press a button, and a camera begins to record. From there, students can use iMovie to insert different images for the green screen, and add effects to their movie file. Students used the One-Button Studio to film specific scenes from Washington’s journal entries. Finally, the other piece of information that I would like to share pertains to an amazing teacher institute that I had the opportunity to attend. The George Washington Teacher Institute held at George Washington’s Mount Vernon was an awesome experience that I will not forget. Educators from all over the United States came together to work with experts to learn ways to share Washington’s legacy with future generations. This four day experience included interesting lecture/discussion with scholars, demonstrations by historical interpreters, and one-of-a kind access to the grounds of Washington’s Mount Vernon. I want to thank the staff of Mount Vernon for putting the teacher institute together and for allowing myself the opportunity to learn from some of the best and brightest! I have already included different aspects from the institute into my lessons and cannot wait to share more with my colleagues and students. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday break & a happy new year!
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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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