Friday, January 13, 2012

Wordle Reflection

Wordle: Untitled 

I believe students have a greater understanding of specific content about explorers than in past years past, but I still feel that time developing these concepts is limited.

Monday, December 26, 2011

“The Historical Method Document, Building Student Understanding of the Past”

"Building a Personal and Intimate Connection to the Past," is one aspect of the Tier I, Historical Method Document that I would like to reflect on.  All too often, it seems that history books are full of dates, events and information from long ago neglecting to bring meaning and relevance to the lives of young people living in the 21st century.  I believe one way to help students connect to history is through reading historical fiction literature books based on a particular event from the past that we study.  For example, I often read the story Blood on the River to bring a deeper understanding of the harsh voyages that explorers from the past endured to find new land.  This book brings to life the conditions on the boats, the hardships of being at sea for months at a time, and the adaptations humans had to endure in order to survive early life in small settlements.  Also, through characters' actions and feelings, students experience the turmoil that occurred between the natives and early settlers.  After reading this novel aloud, and supplementing some of the facts with the history book, students can then write a  third person narrative about life as an early colonist in Virginia.

Reading literature books allows students to connect with characters actions, motives and feelings from historical events of the past.  This enables students to understand history as a story of people and their voice rather than dry, disconnected events.  I have seen the impact this story and others like it have on learning about these events.  Students are motivated to then write their own stories with factual information they have learned from the literature and history book combined. 

Friday, October 7, 2011

October 7th Highlights of Lesson Planning

Our group today had an exciting discussion about tying history into the language arts curriculum.  We discussed the possibilities of incorporating  historical fiction into our writing themes of persuasive, response to literature, and even narrative writing.  For example, students can read literature on a historical hero and persuade the reader how that person is in fact a hero or not.  A character trait or theme can be pulled and supported by details in a response to literature essay.  We chose to use Benjamin Franklin's biography from the American Heroes  book and have students create a persuasive piece to support why he is a hero.  I think this is a great way to bring more history to students across the curriculum.

Reflections

I really enjoyed the summer institute through the AHF grant.  Anthony Fitzpatrick reviewed some activities such as "white out," "clues," and "spec."  I really enjoyed the primary sources on slavery and how it could be incorporated into a class learning experience.
 
Dennis Denenberg was amazingly entertaining and knowledgeable on the topic of incorporating heroes into history lessons.  From puppets to bookmarks, I found his ideas for projects incredible.  Inspired by his speaking, I have already made historical hero puppets to tie in with the curriculum. 

Fran Macko's reminded me that using picture books as a means of teaching children about history is very appropriate and enjoyable.  All too often, I think teachers feel tied to textbook learning. I also like how she incorporated artistic perspective into the lessons.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Reflection Thoughts from 12/4/10

I love that I was able to set up a blog as one of the tabs on my livebinder.  Yay, success!  I am still confused about many things when it comes to the web and using the internet effectively and efficiently.  I am hopeful to set up a blog for my classroom and get a forum for students to interact with one another. Thanks!