Summer

A Class Divided

We are in the midst of our Civil Rights unit in U.S. History where we are exploring the histories and struggles of various groups who've faced discrimination and oppression. As part of this unit, we do a segregation simulation where the students are divided into two groups based on some arbitrary characteristic (eye color, hair color, etc.). One of the groups must wear special identifying necklaces strung with noodles so everyone knows they are in that group.

For two class periods (four days) students in each group must follow a certain set of rules. I've loosely based the rules on certain codes of conduct that dictated society's rules during the Jim Crow period in America. The simulation is also loosely based on one that a third grade teacher, Jane Elliot, conducted with her students shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther King, the primary difference being that the students knew this simulation was coming and therefore knew it was pretend.

At the end of the simulation, the students were asked to watch a documentary about Jane Elliot and her students called A Class Divided, which I would encourage you to watch here. It is fascinating and arguably one of my students' favorite films of the year. Although they usually feel somewhat uncomfortable while the simulation is happening, year after year they say that it is a very good learning experience and think it is a valuable lesson. I think it fits with the 'learn by doing' philosophy, which is a sentiment the students echoed in our 'debriefing' class discussions.

All That Jazz!

We are studying the history and culture of the Roaring Twenties and have had the chance to have a little fun!  We sung All That Jazz from the musical Chicago, then analyzed the lyrics to find examples of slang terminology from the '20s.  We read some background information about the Charleston, a popular dance of the age, then cleared the dance floor and tried it out:

 

We concluded our study by researching and writing biographies on famous figures of the 1920s, otherwise known as Character Sketches.  Students were required to research, write a properly formatted essay, then present to the class.  Instead of having each student present in the third person, the students were asked to come to class dressed as the person they researched and present in the first person.  I dressed up as a flapper to inspire them and they had some fantastic and creative costumes of their own!

Pictures from the Character Sketch presentations:

 

"Spring Sphere" Hunt

Before going away for April Vacation we concluded our unit on the Populist & Progressive movements by taking an exam:

With the last half hour of class I decided to have a little pre-vacation fun by hiding eggs all around the room for the students to find.

Of course, like most activities I plan, there was a twist!  Each egg contained a little prize as well as a U.S. History trivia question taken from all of our previous units of study:

The students had to correctly answer the question before they could keep their prize!  It was a fun way to relax, review, and kick off vacation!

HAPPY SPRING!

Abe Lincoln is My Homeboy!

It was this week in 1865 that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.  A new movie came out yesterday chronicling the aftermath of the assassination....The Conspirator.  I had tried to organize a vacation week History Club outing to see this film but sadly it only came out in limited theaters, none of which are convenient for my kiddos to access.  Oh well!  I am going to try to see it anyway and maybe we'll watch it as a class at the end of the year??  Here's one of my students modeling an awesome History Club t-shirt:

Sure does beat the Jersey Shore t-shirts I've seen around school lately! :0)

Family, Friends, Food, and Fun!

It finally happened!  Tonight we had close to 200 students and parents at Family History Night!  I wanted a meaningful and fun way for my students to showcase their immigration and family history projects (read about the project descriptor here) so I planned this fun and casual event.  In addition to presenting their projects in a museum-style format, students were asked to bring a dish made with a family recipe or that represented a part of their heritage.  We had LOTS of great food and it was a really fun event.  Check it out:

THANK YOU to everyone who attended!  Your support is very much appreciated!

British Isles Trip 2010

I was just looking through pictures and video from the British Isles trip I led this past summer and thought I would share with you.  I, along with 2 other chaperones, took 18 students on a 10 day trip to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and England.  It was pretty amazing! This video is mostly of my journey, not the students, but I hope you like it nonetheless!

Toto, We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

 

This week we did a lesson on Populism, a social and political movement of western farmers and laborers in the late 1800s.  One way to hook the students into the ideas and concepts surrounding this topic is to explain the popular theory that Frank L. Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz as a parable on Populism. Supposedly, many of the characters in the story represent ideas and concepts of this movement.  This connection to The Wizard of Oz was first introduced by an American high school teacher named Henry Littlefield in the 1960s.  You can read his original essay here.

I put up pictures of various characters from the book/film on our bulletin board as visuals. I love this lesson because as the students make connections between our discussion of the Populist movement and various characters in the film, I can see little 'light bulbs' going off in their minds via the expressions on their faces.  It's really fun and engaging!

Erin go Braugh!

Family History

The students are busy working on one of my (and usually their) favorite research projects of the year...Family History & Immigration!  The basic components of the project include:

-a family tree traced to great-grandparents
-a 50 question interview of one family member, preferably an older relative
-their surname meaning
-a family story with photographs
-a detailed write up with charts of immigration to the U.S. by one ethnic group (Irish, Italians, Germans, etc.)

Although each requirement of the project is the same, the students do have the option of creating either a museum-style tri-fold poster, an iMovie documentary, or a scrapbook, based on personal preference.  I created a tri-fold project of my family to use as an exemplar for the students.  Creating my own project was also helpful for me to 'iron out' any kinks in the project before I asked the students to create their own.

 The culmination of this project will be an evening for the students to showcase their research to their families...

Having an authentic audience with whom to share their projects gives the students more incentive to create quality projects.  Once they are complete, I will put together a video montage with pictures of the projects and from this event!  Can't wait!!