My Classroom Treasure Box

My Classroom Treasure Box

 

My students are familiar with our Survivor Island treasure box in our classroom where they are able to collect immunities on our island and purchase rewards from our treasure box.  Well now we have a different treasure box where the students also enjoy learning together.  It is truly a treasure in my classroom.   

 

Our treasure box is used in many ways.  It is a box where the students can pull material to read or play a game that they feel comfortable participating in.  It is a great resource for me to support my lessons. It is also an awesome resource for my centers!  I have many books on the constitution and the declaration. At one center the students will choose a book and practice the reading skill of the day.  At another center I have a game on the history of the United States that I purchased at the gift shop in Philadelphia this summer.  Another center will be two primary documents where the student will use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast. The last center is a timeline labeled “A New Nation and A New Government” where the group will attach the cards from 1781 The Articles of Confederation to the 1800 Washington, D.C., becomes capital of the United States.  Yes, I like timelines too!  I believe this treasure box will foster deeper, critical thinking in my classroom.

 

Having a classroom with many different Genres of history being read during our literacy time with the activities in our centers carefully thought out to engage both hemispheres of the brain, left being analytical and the right creative.

This treasure box and my teacher interactive notebook will always be a working progress.  I continue to make notes for the next improved lesson and replace and add to my treasure box and centers.

 

In our fifth grade history curriculum we teach Ancient Civilizations.  I teach U.S. history using our reading and language arts skills needed for fifth grade.  It works out well considering most primary documents lend themselves to discrepancy which allows for many skills such as compare and contrast, critical reading, debating, and critical thinking with discussion.

Biographies and Autobiographies

Reading “The Shoemaker And  The Tea Party” it is evident that history can only at times be only what one can remember or what one might think is important.  Hewes remembered more when Hawkes took him on a field trip to reminisce and then asked pointed questions about the past opposed to just trying to recall memories. There are many accounts in this book that the writer knows they’re accurate accounts.  “This was Hewes’s story, via Hawkes.  Thatcher, who knew a good deal more about the Tea Party from other sources, accepted it in its essentials as an accurate account.”

History is always living and breathing.  People are always finding new primary sources such as:  documents, pictures, and people whom may never been considered before like Hewes.

George Robert Twelves Hewes

                        George Robert Twelves Hewes

One of the “last surviving members”

Of the Tea Party

George Robert Twelves Hewes, if you’re wondering about his name, well, I can tell you that he and his wife Sarah, named one son Eleven and the last-born, George Robert Twelves Fifteen.  This was stated as “A mischievous sense of humor.”  Hewes was a brave,  high spirited and a warm hearted man who thought of others.  In the book written by Alfred R. Young , “ The Shoemaker and the Tea Party,” shares Hewes story of  being a patriot, soldier and sailor, a family man, a veteran and a Hero but, the chapter I believe that tells who Hewes really was is the Tar and Feather chapter where Hewes won public recognition.  

My heart broke for Hewes while reading “The Shoemaker and the Tea Party.” It seemed at first he was failing at all he did in life or did all this happen in order to succeed?  Hewes, wanting to get away from shoemaking but had the desire to support his family so he tried several times to join the service but was rejected because he was too short.  Then there was war, war was the perfect opportunity for Hewes to escape his humdrum occupation.  Most of his voyages were shattering. Hewes didn’t receive his share of prize money or wages for most of his voyages.  Hewes came out of war poor and he stayed poor.

Hewes was a family man.  He had great respect for his wife Sarah.  Together they had fifteen children. Hewes was very poor and didn’t own any real estate. He lost his shop that he built in Boston, the British troops appropriated if for the purpose of a wash and lumber house. When his wife passed away, Hewes was passed around to his children until they were financially unable to keep him.  In the end, a “worthy gentleman” in the neighborhood took Hewes in and cared for him. He was supported by the charity of others.

Although Hewes was a poor man he believed in equality. In the chapter Tar and Feathers, he won public recognition for an act of courage that almost cost his life.  This act would have been trivial at any other time, but instead it was the most publicized tarring and feathering of the Revolution.   The book states, Hewes, was walking down the street witnessing the redoubted John Malcolm standing over a small boy pushing a little sled, damning, cursing, threatening and shaking a large cane over the boy’s head.  Hewes knew that if Malcolm would strike the boy it would kill him. Hewes stated to Malcolm that he hoped that he wasn’t going to strike the boy with that cane.  Malcolm responded, “You are an impertinent rascal, it is none of your business.”  Malcolm struck Hewes almost killing him.  This led to a mob wanting to tar and feather Malcolm.  Hewes, for the same reason he didn’t want cruel punishment inflicted on the boy, didn’t want it to happen to Malcolm as well.  Hewes only wanted justice from the courts not from a mob.  Hewes didn’t tip his hat to Malcolm and stood up for equality which allowed this act to precipitated the most publicized tarring and feathering of the Revolution.  Hewes conveyed no hatred towards Malcolm. 

Hewes discusses the Tea Party as a matter of fact and never boast about his important role.  He was singled out of rank and file and made an officer in the field. He speaks about how it took three hours to throw the tea overboard on three ships while being surrounded by British armed ships and how they made no attempt to resist them.  Oh, and also how he worked alongside of John Hancock while throwing the tea overboard.  After three hours they returned to their residence without having any conversation with each other or trying to find out who their associates were. 

Hewes was a humble man.  What I’ve learned from him was that it didn’t depend on your wealth or social status to be happy, content, or to be a part of history.  It was his belief of equality and religion.  Hewes walked miles to church and read his Bible.  Hewes was a featured guest at many Fourth of July observances.   “Under the influence of strong emotion he gave the following toast, ‘Those I leave behind me, May God Bless them.’”  The Cole painting of Hewes told it all “It is not a picture of a man as a shoemaker, but we can understand it only if we know the man was a shoemaker.  It shows the pride of a man the world had counted as a nobody at a moment in his life when he was somebody, when he had won recognition from the town that had never granted it before. It is the pride of a citizen, of one who ‘would not take his hat off to any man’.”  Hewes was a man who’d had to defer to the royal and British Officers and lived to see General Washington and now the educated lawyers and lieutenant governors defer to him.  “It is the pride of a survivor.  His enemies had all passed on. His ‘associates,’ the patriots, had all gone to their graves.  He had out-lived them all.  Fortified by his religion, the old man could rejoice that he would soon join them, but as their equal. ‘May we meet hereafter,’ he told his Independence Day well-wishers, ‘where the wicked will cease from troubling and the true sons of Liberty be forever at rest.”

Friday, June 15, 2012

The Constitutional Convention

 Hakim Vs. Wood in the sharing of History

      As we all have discovered, Hakim brings the history alive by allowing the reader to relate to our Founding Fathers. When reading chapter 36, “Summer in Philly,” Hakim sets the stage to the Constitutional Convention in May 1787.  It happened in the month of September, the Convention finally completed its business.  All had to deal with the heat, biting flies and big mosquitoes. “They bit right through the silk stockings that the delegates wore.” She also talks about how it would have smelled and paints a picture in the reader’s mind. There was garbage in the streets, no bathrooms, and they thought it to be unhealthy to take a bath. Wow! I can see and smell this story.

     Reading the event “The Philadelphia Convention” in the book “The American Revolution” written by Gordon S. Wood, tells me that James Madison was an important decision maker and tells of his opportunities he had. However, Hakim displays the character of our Founding Fathers that allows the reader to relate and visualize the story (history). On page 164 Hakim states, “A secretary was hired to keep a record of the proceedings.  His records were lost. But Madison sat close to the front, never missed a session, and copied down all the speeches.” This paints a picture of the passion Madison had for what he was doing.  He was called, “The Father of the Constitution.”  This truly depicted his character. While Wood gives a good account of the Constitutional Convention, Hakim paints the character so the reader can relate to the situation, allowing for better understanding, and keeping the interest of the reader.  

A HISTORY OF US FROM COLONIES TO COUNTRY 1735-1791

The book A HISTORY OF US FROM COLONIES TO COUNTRY 1735-1791 written by Joy Hakim, brings history to life. Her teachings are a delightful animated story telling. One that motivates me to continue my read for history.  Joy Hakim's style of teaching is very effective for me and appealing to my students. 

Her style of teaching, I believe would be effective for both right and left brain learners.  The left brain learners have the primary sources such as facts, quotes, pictures and maps. The right brain learners will engage themselves in the creativity of her true storyline that bring the history to life.  Hakim's book is threaded with cartoons to help remember the facts and stories being told.  As we learned in our small group during our May activities, cartoons are pictures of many words, most of them not to be forgotten.  One of my favorite cartoons is on page 38, showing Benjamin Franklin, who was trying to help the Indians.  My students could relate to many of the true accounts in this book.

My students are good at relating to Ancient Civilizations by comparing "Then" and "Now" by using graphic organizers to see the similarities and differences of today.  Joy Hakim makes it easy to relate to her stories of history or maybe not!  When I was reading the chapter "Summer in Philly" a time when bathing was thought to be unhealthy and they had "necessaries" or "privies", holes in the ground to bathe in, well this made me think.  On page 163, Elizabeth Drinker states, "I bore it better than I expected, not having been wet all over at once, for 28 years past." I'm not too sure my students could relate to that however, I think they will remember that! Also on the same page it sounds as if the first jacuzzi was in the making.  It states, "Benjamin Franklin did have a bath. He never let other people's ideas stop him from experimenting.  He had a round wooden tub built and set it on large paving stones that were heated by fires circulating hot air under the stones. Stories made for discussions!

This book is made to use across the curriculum.  These history stories would be appealing to my students for their writings.  There are many open-ended questions on the character of the early Americans and the heroism and adventure that was compared to the Greek history on page 61.  The study of the maps would also be interesting. Working across curriculum is valuable due to the time restraints during PSSA prep time. This would work in my classroom.

Right Brain/Left Brain While Teaching Historical Literacy

Applying Right Brain/Left Brain While Teaching Historical Literacy

I remember learning about the left brain being very analytical, learning in a step by step manner and the right brain being a more creative way of learning. According to Linda Verlee Williams, an associate of The Learning Circle in Berkely “while the left hemisphere is busy separating out the parts that constitute a whole, the right specializes in combing those parts to create a whole. It could also be said that the right hemisphere sees the pictures while the left hemisphere sees the components of the picture.” Reading our assigned articles we can easily see how a lesson should be orchestrated to involve both sides of the brain for a deeper learning.

Deeper learning will give our students a lesson they can sink their teeth into. Having a classroom with many different Genres of history being read during our literacy time with the activities carefully thought out to engage both hemispheres of the brain.

Wow! How inspiring is Matthew Reif’s classroom! In my 5^th grade classroom we read our history and science books using our reading strategies, comprehension/thinking strategies. Infering and drawing conclusions. We learn to read non-fiction differently from fiction to find information. At the end of each chapter we summarize it in our summary point writings. I am eager to take my history classes to the next level as Matthew does. Our goal is to connect history with our lives by having students linking the past to the present by learning to think for themselves. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, “Every effort must be made in childhood to teach the young to use their own minds, for one thing is sure, if they don’t make up their own minds, someone will do it for them.”

Natural Reflections

                                      Natural reflections……blogging solutions

     I believe we all reflect on our teaching naturally.  Note taking…reflecting on our experiences in the classroom only to revisit them with the intent of refining our learning process.  My students reflect on their learning as well. Our math curriculum, Everyday Math, has a self-assessment that students complete to understand what they know, what they don’t know, and what they should be studying.  According to Dewey (1933) in our assigned reading by Shi-Hsien Yang, http://www.ifets.info/journals/12_2/2.pdf , “Reflective thinking is the kind of thinking that consists of turning a subject over in  the mind and giving it serious and consecutive consideration.”

     Is writing becoming a lost art?  This is why I am excited about this class!  I can’t wait to jump into 1776 and share it with my students.  I believe for me blogging is one way to share this knowledge with my students.  Is blogging the solution?  Blogging will infuse more writing across my curriculum.  If students blog their reflections of their assignments, they will ask questions and share viewpoints of their discussions. They will have greater interests in writing their blogs than the standard paper and pencil writings.  Also knowing that their writings will be read by many on the World Wide Web, the quality of their writing will shine.

    This course will enable us to share our country’s history by employing the uniqueness of blogging.  We will reshape our learning to meet our students’ needs.  Hence, challenging students to perform at their highest potential and increasing their critical thinking, while giving them a sense of community.