The last two weeks have been very eventful and full of new activities that I have never implemented during my previous years of teaching. Since my last post, students have been investigating the American Revolution. The American Revolution, as a whole, is one of my favorite topics to study and to teach. When I have a free moment, I enjoying reading and attending events that coincide with the American Revolution. With that in mind, I like to investigate the individuals and events that make up the American Revolution in great detail. We started the American Revolution by participating in a QR Code Gallery Walk that focused on the combatants of the American Revolution. Students looked into the strengths and weaknesses of the Patriots and British. Students were also introduced to the German mercenaries, known as the Hessians.
From our Gallery Walk, students participated in a new activity that I called The Battle of New York: What Would You Do? In this activity, students used their iPads to answer a series of questions that asked students to think like George Washington, As students made their decisions as Commander of the American forces, students were also able to compare their decision making with what actually occurred throughout the battle. Following our Battle of New York simulation, students were introduced to a wonderful resource from George Washington’s Mount Vernon titled, The Winter Patriots. This video series portrays the Trenton & Princeton campaigns in amazing accuracy and detail. I have taken the video series and placed the videos on the Ed Puzzle application. On Ed Puzzle, an educator is able to trim, add concept-check questions, and place comments in a video. I often add questions and my own comments in these videos, which the students watch on their Apple iPads. Following the Winter Patriots, our class spent two days investigating Espionage and the American Revolution. Using a collection that I created on the Smithsonian Learning Lab, students examined the Culper Spy Ring. The students also examined the Culper Code Book and learned how to utilize the Culper Code Book. Following the Smithsonian Learning Lab collection, students competed in a Breakout Session that focused on the Culper Spy Ring. I was inspired by Breakout Edu, and created a series of challenges and clues that focused around the Culper Spy Ring. To introduce the competition, I donned one of my many costumes and portrayed Benjamin Tallmadge, leader of the Culper Spy Ring in a video that I filmed in the iCreate Studio . Students utilized the actual Culper Code Book on their iPad to decode clues and messages around the classroom. Students also used the codebook and UV Flashlights to unlock a series of locks to bring an end to the challenge. The Quizalize and Poll Everywhere platforms were also used within the challenge. Congrats to my Period Six class for completing the challenge in the fastest time! Following the Culper Spy Ring Breakout Competition, the students had the opportunity to showcase their acting skills. One of my biggest concerns in terms of history textbooks and curriculum is how many events are often glazed over in a sentence or two. For example, many pieces of American History curriculum, that I have seen, will state that the Battle of Saratoga was a turning point in the American Revolution. However, no explanation is often provided as to why Saratoga was so vital to the American Revolution. With this in mind, I designed an activity that presented the Battle of Saratoga as a performance. Students were introduced to the main “characters”, like Benedict Arnold, Horatio Gates, and John Burgoyne. Students then utilized the plethora of props that I have in my classroom to put on performances of different portions of the battle. I was highly impressed by the work that the students put into their performances! Finally, students took part in the festivities of Culture Day at Elizabeth Forward Middle School. Canada was the country of focus for the latest installment of Culture Day. Special “Canadian” cuisine was served in the cafeteria and students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade were introduced to different aspects of Canadian culture in their social studies classes. Students in 8th grade utilized the Quizlet Live and Kahoot platforms to acquire knowledge on all aspects of Canadian culture. Students also participated in a hockey “skills competition” that focused on shooting on a net with a “shooter-tutor”. Congratulations to Mr. Englert and Mr. Hartnett’s Period Five classes for winning the Canada Cup! I also wanted to give a shout out to my Discover History Class and the work they put in during their mock presidential election. The videos that were filmed and edited in the One-Button Studio were awesome! Nice work to all those who were involved!
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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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