Blood on the River Novel Study

Submitted by: Kristi Trevillian
Collaborators: Julie Franklin, ITRT, Al Doss, Va Beach ITRT, Melinda Tomchik, 5th grade teacher, Va Beach
School: Colonial Trail Elementary School

Summary

In this lesson, Elisa Carbone’s book, Blood on the River, was used as a springboard to an interactive, collaborative, student-centered, and cross-curricular learning project. When we began to orchestrate this lesson/unit, we knew for certain the novel would open up dialogue about the time, place, and experiences of Jamestown life in 1607 for our 4th and 5th grade students. We also knew that the students had to feel this historical fiction novel was relevant to their present day lives. As we met our “blogging buddies” through video-conferences and began to share ideas, we used our time together to discuss characters and key passages in the novel, to develop innovative products cooperatively and collaboratively, and to learn about each other’s region of Virginia. The lesson quickly expanded beyond our expectations into a multi-media rich unit flourished across the curriculum as the creative ideas of the two teachers and two ITRTs involved in its implementation abounded.

TIPC Ratings

Ideal/Target – Students had the opportunity to utilize different digital tools, including responding to the blogs either on the blog or through oral discussions. They also took notes, while listening to the story, in their journals or on the computer to incorporate into their glogs. Julie Franklin, our ITRT, told us about edu.glogster.com and showed the kids the site and how it worked. Students then spent a lot of time creating a news “magazine” where they incorporated facts learned on our field trip to Jamestown, with the fiction and nonfiction part of Blood on the River .

Ideal/Target – Students communicated with each other in real-time through our blog, with the students in Virginia Beach through Elluminate. Our information is posted on our class web page to provide global access to our understanding of the time period. The collaboration takes place as I communicate with the teacher to develop ideas for future activities and to ensure that our kids have the freedom to make choices and decisions in the sharing of information. Students were shown how to use edu.glogster.com by our ITRT, Julie Franklin. We then checked out the COW for several one-hour periods so students could choose the chapter they wanted to summarize. Students selected the chapter that “spoke” to them and researched to find appropriate information to include. Some found video that they learned or confirmed information through and one included a video segment. Students utilized excellent summarizing skills to show what they had learned from the chapter and peers in Virginia Beach were reading/evaluating/responding to student Glogs. This was a great collaborative tool because it gave my 4th graders writing practice to prepare for the writing predictor test and it gave the 5th graders an opportunity to work together to help edit “real” writing.

Ideal/Target – Students were expected to integrate all learning modalities (reading, writing, listening, and speaking) to demonstrate their understanding of the content, reading and responding to blog posts, writing responses and reflecting in their journals, listening to Al Doss read the chapters aloud and orally sharing their glogs with their classmates and peers in VA Beach. Students interacted with their peers through an Elluminate session to see how difficult it was to communicate with the Indians. Students related this experience to trying to communicate with someone who speaks another language or has a disability that impairs communication skills.

Ideal/Target – I felt my students did an outstanding job of researching the material for their Glogs: including drawing on our field trip experience and incorporating the information they gathered while in Jamestown. The Glogs were not only a new medium to the students but a virtual medium that students have since incorporated into other curriculum areas: book reports, research projects, personal diaries, etc. We included a sample of these on the Blog space. I wanted to include all of the students’ work in a virtual gallery, but we’re still working on that because it does slow down the blog loading, etc. Many parents have said their child loves to show them their Glogs and Powerpoint/Keynote presentations and has made them “projects” for work. They have learned the value of technology tools and how they can apply them to areas within the school day, as well as the work force.