Treasure Box

I think treasure boxes are so cool.  They are very similar to the centers that I created when I taught second grade last year.  However, it is a little more tricky this year because I strickly teach science with one section of language arts.  In our reading series we have a story discussing good old Ben Franklin.  I could take this story a step farther and create various centers or treasure boxes with items from the time period and also items that I have collected since I began this course.  Included in the treasure boxes would be the two books titled Signing Their Rights Away and Signing Their Lives Away.  I would create an activity to go along with these two books.  The activity could consist of choosing two people (one from each book) to construct a pamphlet discussing detailed information.  The pamphlets that they created would be displayed and sold in the Independence Hall giftshop.  (Of course they would know that we would be pretending, however we could actually set something up in the classroom to resemble Independence Hall).  With that being said, I would definitely include The Declaration of Independence and The U.S. Constituation replications that I received this summer in the treasure boxes.  (I already broke those out of the closet this year and the kids thought they were real!)  This would lead into another activity; comparing and contrasting in their notebooks the writing and language of that time period to today's "lingo."  Quite different!  Since we would be replicating the Independence Hall giftshop inside my classroom I would provide the pictures that I took this summer during the Philadelphia trip, mainly the ones of Independence Hall.  Students would have to create their own postcards on index cards while viewing these photographs.  A few other items that I would also include are the items that we received in the plastic, clear box during the June Institute (lead bullets, stockings, seeds, etc.)  Students would need to compare these items to items that we have today.  Example: stockings-sock, lead bullets-today's ammunition, seeds-seeds that students think of and their uses...I would also include some background information inside these boxes that students could read.  I would print these documents off of the Library of Congress' website.  Everything that the students would complete would be glued or written in their interactive notebooks (after the "gift shop" display of course :)

How do historians work?

Well, before taking this course and reading all the texts I had this vision of what a historian was.  I envisioned this person reciting fact after fact and talking way above us common folks. In other words, I had no idea of what he or she was talking about.  I now realize that they take a moment in history and analyze every aspect trying to answer the questions how and why.  There are so many historians out there.  They all could take one topic in history and analyze differently.  It's neat to see so many perspectives on one topic.  For example, take a look at The American Revolution picturebook and The American Revolution book by Wood.  Same information, but totally different viewpoints, different style of writing, and different target audience. 

July August Assignment

For the July-August Assignment I needed to read The American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood, The New American Revolution Handbook, and The American Revolution Picturebook.  As I stated in my previous posts, history was very difficult for me growing up.  It was difficult because I memorized and you can't memorize history because there is so much history out there and even more various interpretations made by historians.  I really liked the Hakim book that we needed to read earlier this spring/summer.  The picturebook was very similar.  It had wonderful illustrations and tid bits that kept me wanting to read more!  I think kids will really enjoy it and understand it better than the other two books we had to read for this assignment.  It was especially neat to see the pull-out letters.  Those, in way, drew you back into the time period.  I always had a rough time comparing and understanding the differences between the colonial and British soliers.  This book shed some light onto that because they had a whole section devoted to comparing the two.  It even had diagrams and captions of the soldiers.  I never realized that the colonial infantry soldier had it so rough compared to the British.  I really learned a lot from this section. I love this book and I will definitely use it in my classroom!

As far as the other two books we needed to read for this assignment, well they didn't match up to the picturebook in my mind.  I like it simple.  I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy these books, but they had a different purpose.  The handbook was great for looking up certain battles and other facts.  I think this might be good for kids if they a particular question reguarding a moment in time during the revolution; of course I would have to break it down more for them.  Though the Wood book is more detailed, it really draws you into the perspective of the historian. 

So let's be honest...if I had to be stranded on an island with either the Hakim or Wood book, I would hands down pick the Hakim book.  However, if I was prepping to be on Jeopardy, I would have to choose the Wood book.  You can clearly see why.  The Hakim book is fun and interesting to read.  It peaks your interest to learn more about the events and people in the book.  If gives you enough information to know the major players in history.  The Wood book was a typical book that was very dry to read.  It didn't keep me involved.  It did provide a wealth of information from the very beginning to the end.

After reading a new chapter from the Hakim book (Chapter 34, Thomas Jefferson) I again learned some valuable information.  This book does that to me!  New, cool, little tid bits pop out!

1) It was Jefferson who wanted a money system for the U.S. based on tens, the decimal system.  Thanks to him for the twenty dollars in my wallet!

2) He was very humbled.  Even though he held prestigious positions in his life, he was most proud that he wrote the Declaration of Independence, the VA Statute for Religious Freedom, and was the father of the University of VA.

3) The Statute for Religious Freedom stated the governments had no right telling citizens what to believe.  AKA Separation of church and state.

I did learn a thing or two from the Wood book relating to Thomas Jefferson and the Declaration of Independence.

1) In the Declaration of Independence, the king of Great Britain was held accountable for every grievance that the Americans had suffered since 1763.

2) Congress removed part of Jefferson's original draft because it blamed King George III for the slave trade.

3) The Declaration of Independence is truly a special document that changed the face of our country.  It instills a mindset that not only Americans can abide by, but any human can follow and live by.

A History of US

I enjoyed reading the Hakim book.  The author did a nice job making you, the reader, feel as if she was talking to you directly, teaching you history.  I enjoyed the brief chapters.  As we all are probably aware, some textbooks drag out long, boring chapters.  She did a nice job summarizing the wealth of information.  It's easy to use as well.  If you're ever wondering about a specific topic during this time period, you can easily look up the chapter and get a basic idea of the topic you are searching for.  However, I feel that this may be a downfall to the book.  Key word: basic.  I would not want to soley rely on this book as a textbook for my class.  It just skims the surface of American history.  I need the "whole" idea to completely understand history.  This book seems as if it pulls the big ideas from history and threw it in a book.  It kind of confused me at times. 

Two pieces of information from the book that I learned...

1) Long ago someone could get arrested and thrown into jail and nobody would tell him what he had done wrong.  Sometimes they even forgot about a person in jail.  They died before they would even know what he did wrong.  I find that very interesting.

2)Yankee Doodle...we all know that song!  The British made that song up to insult Americans.  Who knew?

That's what I mean about this book....It gives you cool, little facts about history that typically get lost in the teaching of American history.  Good book to keep for the future!

I especially enjoyed reading the articles related to the brain.  In college, I majored in psychology.  We learned about the two hemispheres of the brain.  While reading this information I gained more knowlege as to how each hemisphere influences how we think and act in our every day lives.  I have characteristics of both types.  I am logical, but yet would rather look at a the "whole picture", rather than parts.  So I guess according to the articles my brain hemispheres work together.  Most importantly, I gained an understanding of how my students think.  They gave good ideas as to how to stimulate the students' brain.  One idea that I thought was cool dealt with the right brain dominant child.  They said that for kids to see/remember their mistakes in spelling was to have them write the incorrect letters in a different color so they stand out.  I will definitely keep these articles in mind when I am teaching.  I might even have the kids take a quiz to see which hemisphere they are dominant in. 

Hi, my name is Holly.  I really hope this works because I really have no clue what I'm doing.  Anyways, I am a second grade teacher.  I have three dogs and am getting married within the next year.  That's just a little info on me!