Writing in Social Studies

My classes are currently studying the Gilded Age and the Expansion of cities during the early 1900s in US History.  Recently we discussed European Immigration and Eliis Island, looking back on family histories to see if we could connect the dots!  The students were eager to discuss and desribe what it must have been like for the individuals entering America for the first time.  Writing is something I really strive to do more in my classes, and this was an opportunity for my students to be creative, practice their writing skills, and imagine what it must have been like to have been an immigrant and experiencing the process of Ellis Island, where nearly 40% of Americans can still trace their roots!

The assignment was very open, I provided them with 6 writing prompts, placing them in different situations surrounding the topic...they had to choose four and just write!  I was amazed at the results!  Many of them really painted a picture with their stories, and students who I never would've expected to get into this assignment, surprised me with their skills and creativeness.  Although they may not tell me, I feel as if many students really enjoyed the activity, I hope to do more like this in the future.  Also, in concluding this activity, I explained to the students that writing is a life skill, not just one that they will use in school.  For this reason we will continue to "practice" this skill in my social studies classes!  Below are a few excerpts of student writing, as well as the assignment given to them.  Enjoy!

Writing Prompts: https://docs.google.com/a/nsdtitans.org/document/d/16_mvzbaPGBT-x6qcVtlu2YpE022xKQYCp2Rc3ILE5Tg/edit

Google Rules

My students recently completed projects on Native American tribes.  Instead of giving them specific guidelines, I gave the students a choice on how they would display their information.  They could use anything...from a hand drawn poster, a video, or any online presentation website.  I figure I would get a wide variety of presentation tools, I figured wrong!  I have a total of 147 students in 6 sections of American History, 137 students chose to use Google Slides/Presentstions, yes 137 of 147!  The other sites used included Prezi, Glogster, and SlideRocket, with one video and one hand drawn poster.

So what does this tell me?  While I gave the students a choice, an overwhelming majority chose to use Google.  The reasons for this vary, but come down to this: my school is a Google Apps for Education (GAFE) school, all students have google accounts and the simplicity is great for the students.  Familiarity of the product, and the ability to work in the cloud (access their work anywhere, on any device) make Google perfect for this sort of project.  Finally, all students have a "hand in" folder that is shared with me on Google Drive, so access to their projects by the teacher is seamless, no "my dog ate my project" excuses!  I joked with my students that they were all "boring" because they all used Google, however I am proud of them in utilizing the tools that our school has provided them with. Keeping it simple, and being pragmatic are both traits that extend beyond the walls of my classroom.  A ton of great projects were turned in, and more importantly they all took responsibility for their own learning, and acquired new knowledge.

Reflections of Quarter 1: Setting the Table

The first quarter officially comes to an end today, hard to believe how fast its gone!  In my American History classes we've covered the time period extending from Reconstruction to about 1900.  It is my goal to get through WWI by the end of the second semester.  Although my students are often engrossed in subject material, the first few weeks of a new school year are about more than just American History, Algebra, or Biology.  To me the first quarter is about students learning how to interact in certain classes, understanding routines of each teacher, and getting used to the responsibility of a new school year.  Students have a lot going on, and the first quarter is about setting the table for the remainder of the semester/year.  I've been very pleased with how quickly my classes have learned the routines of my classroom, things have gone smoothly, I have learned a ton about these groups and they are beginning to understand how my classes function.

Other than the goal of getting through WWI in the 2nd quarter, my goals for my students over the next 9 weeks include: begin to create content rather than just consume it,  begin thinking critically about history, and continue discussing/analyzing current events and how they affect us individually.  It's been a great start to the school year, lets take it to the next level in quarter two!

YouTube in Education

Recently in my American History classes we covered a unit on Industrialization and development in the United States in the late 19th century.  When we finished the unit, the students were assessed on the material.  Assessment does not always mean a test, as we complete projects, essays, quizzes, etc, however in this case they had a test on the unit.  I always prepare a study guide for the students and did so in this instance as well.  Rather than discuss the study guide in class, I recorded audio of a discussion and shared it on YouTube with students to access at their own convenience.

I have done a few of these in the past, however my students this year really appreciated this method. (See picture below for # of views!)  It allows them to study when they want-and not have to rely on just hearing the review in class.  They may access this as many, or as few, times as they'd like.  If they miss the class period we review during, they can still get every bit of information they need.  YouTube is a great tool for this and many other practical solutions in the classroom.  I simply recorded my voice on http://www.screencast-o-matic.com/ and uploaded my videos to my YouTube channel.  You can capture videos, create photo slideshows, insert sounds or music, all from your computer's webcam on YouTube, and they have made it very user friendly and simple.  I anticipate this being something that many teachers will be attracted to, as students today are busy-and the more access you give them to your material-the more they will access it!

For an example of my test review click here.

L to J Update

About a month ago I gave a brief overview on a form of classroom assessment known as L to J, to read my post click here.  As of today, we are through 5 full quizzes in each class and are starting to get some early results!  Its interesting to note that while all classes take the same quiz-not all classes achieve the same results for a variety of factors!  As we progress through the semester-the trend should obviously lead to greater results, so far we've only scratched the surface!  Here are our current results after 5 weeks:

Teaching 9/11

This past Wednesday marked the 12 year anniversary of the horrific attacks on America.  Many of my students (freshmen) were just 2-3 years old when this happened, hard to believe its been that long ago.  Teaching 9/11 has always and will always be a delicate topic for educators everywhere.  Where do we begin?  What do we include?  What do we omit?  All of these are difficult questions, however one thing is certain: we must teach it!  It's too important and too historic to omit.  I have done a variety of lessons in the past, I tried something different this year and spent a bit more time preparing, it went well and the students learned a great deal.

To preview the lesson I asked the students in each class to jot down the first 5 words that came to their mind when I said 9/11.  I then typed each of these words into wordle.net which created the word clouds in the pictures below, fascinating to see what the students know, think they know, and possibly don't know!  We then viewed news clips from the day, discussed the facts of what happened, and used google earth and the sphere app to take virtual field trips to these sites.  

The lesson went well.  I am always amazed to find out how much confusion there is over what exactly went on that day 12 years ago.  Here are a few takeaways for me from the lesson: (1) no details are too small to omit.  Many students don't know if Iraq/Afghanistan/Syria or who was involved, teach the facts and explain them thoroughly. (2)  Descriptions of the day in words are good, but video/audio footage gets the students to really understand the gravity of this situation and can be extremely powerful. (3)  Finally, more schools/teachers need to teach 9/11..every year, in every grade, in every subject, if we do not...9/11 will become another date on the calendar.  Never Forget.

Talk a Mile a Minute

Recently we completed our review unit on the Civil War and Reconstruction.  We then took our first test of the year.  To prepare for the vocabulary section of the test we used a review activity that I picked up from Toby Boss at ESU 6 in Milford last year.  This is a great activity that gets students up and moving, lets them be a bit talkative (loud!) and allows peer review and instruction.  The students loved the activity and we will definitely be using it again!  Below are a few pictures from our activity.