My Delightful Treasures Boxes

My treasure boxes are somewhat different from the ones I've been reading about on here. I have three separate plastic totes with slightly different things in each one. All of them have at least four or more books and several objects that would have historical value, along with pictures from either the Library of Congress and/or the National Archives.  But how they differ is that one box is geared toward the left brained student, another is geared toward the right brained child and the third is set-up as a mystery solving box that all students (both right and left brained of learners) are required to try and figure out the problems/mysteries in their own unique learning styles.

Now for details about the left-brained box. I have a lot of concrete, factual information. And the question booklets/worksheets in there are totally fashioned for the  cut-and-dry, one way only answer. I have several time lines, many different photographs, and a list of the biological information about some of our founding fathers in there along with pictures of them.

The right-brained box has personal stories about significant historical figures and requires the students to be much more creative. The questions I have in this box require more opinionated answers. I also ask the students to create illustrations with some style when responding to the questions. One example question from this box is, "If you were trying to explain what someone dressed like in the late 1700's how would you do it? Draw/design, label and creatively describe your answer." All of my right brained learners loved this particular question. They put a lot of time into their answers and really came up with some fantastic drawings that were very accurate and creative.

My third box has several different items in it, and there are open ended "mysteries" attached to each piece. The students are required to solve the mystery in their own way.

As far as the two books, "Signing Their Lives Away and Signing their Rights Away, I really enjoyed reading both of them. The information is delivered in an extremely easy  way for anyone to really comprehend. The part that I personally enjoyed the most was the titles they gave to each signers of the Declaration of Independence and the little biological information under their titles. It helped me better understand who they really were before I started reading a more detailed description of them. I also found it interesting how a lot of them were just your average, ordinary man. . .merchants, planters, land speculators, etc.

July-August Activities - War

After reading, The American Revolution: A History by Gordan S. Wood and The American Revolution picture book, I realized something about the Revolutionary War -  it was a very unique war. By that, I mean the Colonial Army was made up of just as many militia as regular army. Even Washington himself realized that they could not fight a "traditional" war against the British. They (colonists) engaged in a more guerrilla type offensives. They spent a lot of time fighting little skirmishes and did things to block the British food and supply lines. In England the British officers themselves did not want to get involved with this war and some even elected to stay out of it all together. (I found that to be very interesting.) The Colonial Army, along with it's militia, really didn't win many battles. It was not necessarily from a lack of heart though. The Colonial soldiers were not even remotely close to the British soldiers when it came to actual military training and experience. However, the Colonial Army was resilient. That was proven though the winter at Valley Forge and at many other times throughout the war. By going toe to toe with General Howe at both Brandywine and Germantown (although the Colonial Army lost both battles) it gave them confidence that the American army was capable of taking on the British. The entire war was a perfect portrayal of an underdog standing up to and beating the much greater opponent.

As I read though these books I have gleaned at how historians must put in countless hours researching and cross referencing the information they find. They have to make sure to double, and I'm sure even triple check, what they have found out before putting it down on paper. If a historian is careless and does not get their facts correct, they could severely damage not only their reputation, but career. It is an exhausting line of work that requires one to have a very meticulous way about them. I truly appreciate what they do because I enjoy reading about history.

The event/person I chose to read about and comment on is titled "The Firebands" and Samuel Adams. I didn't know a great deal about the man, but I love the beer, so I thought I should get to know him better. According to what I read, in both books, he was an intelligent person, but more importantly, he was a trouble maker and loved to get everyone he could fired up about what the British were doing. He, along with Patrick Henry, and Thomas Paine were the three biggest antagonists against the British.

Reading, "A History of US From Colonies to Country"  was interesting, yet easy to comprehend. I think the author, Joy Hakim, did an excellent job of writing. She delivered the information in a very basic, but understandable way. By that I mean reading about history can sometimes be very humdrum to the average person. Her way of writing kept my attention throughout. I already had a decent amount of knowledge about US history before reading this book, but she added some really interesting points that I have never heard  before. I think she also hits both sides of the brain. What I mean by that is she will give you a fact about something, then elaborate on it, or give you several examples to better explain the fact she is trying to get you to know and understand. In my opinion, it is a very effective method to use when writing about history. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Activity 1

The first article, Good at Math? Good at Science? What's Your Brain Type . . . I read was about left brain -vs- right brain and I find it very interesting. I know a lot of people who really fit into one of those two learning styles. I took the test to find out whether I was left or right brained and I am very close to 50/50. My results were 52 left and 48 right. I don't know if that's good or bad?? I made it this far in life, so I guess it's fine.
The other two articles I read were, Right Brain Dominant Learners and The Left Brain Dominant Child and Learning. These articles were really neat because it made me look at my own son. He is four years old and I strongly believe he is close to 50/50 also. He is a "neat freak" and likes to organize things. But loves to color and design things and listen to music. I am not 100% sure what type of learner he is yet. He can listen to someone and follow their instructions very well, and at the same time he loves doing things with his hands and pays real close attention to visual directions. So time will tell what he develops into.

Activity 2:
I just got finished reading Teaching Historical Literacy, and couldn't agree more with what was said about not having enough time to teach Socical Studies in elementary schools. With all the emphasis placed on Math and Reading, Social Studies does indeed take a backseat. All areas of education have been affected by these standardized tests. They are really hampering the creativity of our students. Another great quote from the article, "The curriculum has become a mile wide and an inch deep" is a great example of how teachers teach social studies and science. The idea of having more resources for students to use increases their interest is definitely true. I often put myself in my students shoes and quickly come to the realization that I enjoy learning something from multiple sources, so why wouldn't they? I was one of those students who lost interest quickly if something didn't catch my attenttion and keep it! The higher order thinking skills students need to develope are critical for them to become great learners. . . I agree with that wholeheartedly!

GET A CLUE? GOT A CLUE!!!

Since beginning to do the work for this class last week, it has made me realize why some of my students get so frustrated, especially the special needs students. I can really sympathize with them more now.  What I mean by this is how angry and frustrated I got at trying to figure out how to Blog and set things up. This was the first time  I  worked with Blogs and didn't know too much about them.  I needed to "get a clue!"  At times I felt like shutting everything down and dropping the class, but I didn't. I fought through my frustrations and figured things out.
I actually told my students yesterday in class my story. I explained how even though I really didn't understand, or like, what I was doing, I didn't just quit.  I am not sure if I got my point across to all of them, but I think most of them appreciated what I told them. And hopefully some of them will use my situation to help themselves when they are upset, or confused, about something in their lives. Time will tell, I guess???