Submitted by:Ryan Stein
Collaborators:
Music Teacher: Amy Holzbach
Art Teacher: Kathy Schini
Additional Teachers: Kristen King, Jayne Bluford, Matt Stein, Nat Draper, & Kelly Becker
Special Education: Bob Lauer & Kim Cheshire
School: Pinchbeck Elementary
Summary
This engaging and innovative 21st century Jamestown Expedition provided multiple paths to the content by meeting all types of learners at their individual levels. Students created their own clay animation projects highlighting Indian tribes and important Virginia geography features. They created a dance video, iMovies, podcast, online scrapbooks, animated historical pictures, kerpoof pictures, comic strips, 3D models of Jamestown forts or Indian villages, as well as online quizzes and games. Students solved multistep math word problems related to Jamestown and completed a take home project, which they had the option of writing and producing their own Jamestown song, designing an illustrated booklet, creating their own news broadcast, writing a letter, play or poem, or research and write diary entries for one of the original explorers in 1607. In addition, the students communicated virtually through Skype and Google Docs to other elementary and high schools. Furthermore, the 4th grade students traveled to Jamestown on a class field trip, and later dressed in professional attire to conduct a mock trial. During this exercise, students played the role of jury members, judges and lawyers debating several topics related to the survival at Jamestown. As a wrap up, the entire 4th grade stayed after school on a Friday afternoon to watch “The Animated Hero Classics Pocahontas.” All these projects were posted on Mr. Stein’s interactive blog and inserted on a Jamestown Unit GLOG, which as off 1/09/12 had over 14,500 hits from students, parents, and other teachers throughout Virginia!
TIPC Ratings
Students researched Virginia geography, native tribes, and the Jamestown colony in order to complete the clay animation project, podcast, animated historical pictures, online scrapbooks, dance video, Jamestown project, kerpoof pictures, comic strips, and online quizzes and games.
This lesson offered extensive communication and collaboration. Each student took on a specific role within their work groups as they contributed to the final product.
Students used critical thinking and problem solving skills to develop legal arguments and theories of each mock trial case.
Students used multiple resources to plan and design the American Revolution from their own eyes and perspectives.
This lesson allowed students to apply critical thinking and research methods to create original work.
