Experimenting with new technology

We were having a little fun yesterday playing with our new technology cart and projector in the room.  The students had to look at this face during their reflection time at the end of the day.  Poor kids!

Culminating Experiences for the Underground Railroad

 

We culminated our studies of slavery in the Southeast Region and the Underground Railroad with a reader's theatre about Harriet Tubman, and a field trip to Dr. Nathan Thomas's house in Schoolcraft Michigan.  This house was the original home of the Thomas's. And it was an Underground Railroad stop where 1,000-1,500  escaping slaves stopped and rested while they were helped along through Michigan, and into freedom in Canada.  After all our learning it was amazing to walk on the same floors where so many runaway slaves had come to seek freedom.  These learning experiences bring us closer to the time when slavery was a legal practice in our country, and what some courageous people did to help America live up to its dream of freedom for all.  I hope the students will remember the important lessons learned from this unit and our experiences for many years to come.    

A student in our class had this to say about the trip. "I think it was a really fun field trip . It was so cool that we were able to go on it. The people there were so nice to us . My leader let us play the piano and everyone wanted to make me do it but I said no way because I was to scared to do it in front of everybody. . The thing I thing I will remember is that the slaves that hid in the little eve by the kids bedrooms  .I wonder if the childen were small kids because I hit my head a lot.It was nice that the people at the Schoolcraft elementary school let us use their bathrooms .It was also really nice that they let us eat in their front lawn. I will also remember that we got to look inside the eve were the slaves hid. I think Mr. Nathan Thomas house is really cool . It was cool that they either got the furniture from their family or bought old things that looked like it would have been their furniture . It was cool that Mr. Nathan Thomas pulled his house from the place it was built to the place it is today. I can't believe that horses pulled the house and they had little carts under the house to move it . I think it is cool that he helped to free over one thousand slaves to Canada to freedom.I think it is weird that he helped more slaves than Harriet but he is not as of famous as her because she only helped three hundred slaves to Canada. I think the Thomas family hid the secret door well because they could not find it . I thought it would be wood floor like the kitchen but it was like cotton and a lot of dust in there and I thought it would be a lot bigger than it was. I really hope everyone liked this field trip. I know I really did it was really fun and really interesting to see the floor were the slaves walked on.I also hope that the Schoolcraft station will stay there and not be gone .I think that you should bring your parents to the Schoolcraft underground railroad stations to let them see what it would be like to be in that house when slavery happened just like we did.I would bring a camera so you could remember the great times you had being in the time of slavery.That house is a great thing of the history so we should be a part and give them money so it will stay there.I think it is amazing to believe that that Mr.Nathan Thomas had four kids and had time for helping slaves get to freedom in Canada.Harriet was amazing and so was Mr.Nathan Thomas .I can't think of being in the time of slavery.I can't believe that they said yes to helping slaves get to freedom and had to worry about slave hunters looking for slaves.I hope you all enjoyed the field trip I know I did I really hope you did . The bus ride was long but it was worth it to see the house."

Introduction to Slavery in America

Today the students were given some images of Slavery in America.  The purpose was to generate questions and discussion around the pictures, and see how much background knowledge the students had.  These compelling images engaged the students in the thinking and questioning process.  Some of the students had background knowledge of slavery, and some did not.  The lesson culminated with a rich discussion about why slavery existed, and how this led to the creation of the Underground Railroad and ultimately the Civil War.

Culminating our Studies of Space

We culminated our studies of space today with some great experiences and activities. First we had some fun recreating the moon phases with Oreo cookies, the students loved that! Especially the eating part! Then we had a visit from our Zeeland (B.O.B built of brains) Robotics Team. They showcased their 2010 robot which they took to competition. We had been studying how engineers and scientists had to design, build, and deploy many different robots for the exploration of space, especially the Lunar Rover and Mars Rover. That led us to finish up our day watching a Discovery for Kids video called Moon Machines, which is all about the challenges of designing and building the first Lunar Rover. Thank you kids for a great unit, and a great day!

Phases of the Moon

The students enjoyed learning about the phases of the moon with this activity.  The large lamp you see in the background acted as the sun.  They had to pretend their head was the Earth, and the moon on their pencils orbited their head.  It is very easy to see the phases of the moon take shape right before your very eyes!

Arsenal of Democracy Time Bike Adventure

Our first Time Bike experience was last Friday.   I always begin the year by reading a book titled "The Time Bike" by Jane Langton .  In the story a boy receives a bike as a gift, and this bike can travel through time. During my first year teaching I found an old bike and refurbished it to be my Time Bike.  Each year I ride it into the classroom dressed in costumes from the past.  The Arsenal of Democracy was a nickname given to Detroit during World War II for all the war supplies that were manufactured there, and it wrapped up our studies of the Midwest Region.  The kids have a lot of fun teasing me about my Time Bike and silly outfits.  It is a tradition I plan to continue for the rest of my career, and if anyone out there has any great costumes, I would love to borrow them! 

Author's Purpose Example

A student explains what he thinks the author's purpose is.  We worked on determining author's purpose for informational text.  Students sometimes struggle to find what the author's narrow purpose is.