Jamestown Through Our Eyes

Lesson Summary

Jamestown Through Our Eyes is a lesson that required students to document their trip to Jamestown in an effort to share their perspective with another 4th grade class that may not have the chance to visit Jamestown due to their location in Virginia. The students took iPads on our trip to Jamestown and Historic Jamestown, where they took pictures and videos within their group to record the most important details that every 4th grade student should see and may not have the chance to see. Upon returning back to school, the class sorted the pictures and videos into 6 categories and worked in groups to create a Google Site. They combined the sites into one and shared it with a 4th grade class in Christianburg, Virginia.

TIPC Ratings

Research & Information Fluency

Rating:Approaching – Explanation: The students researched information about their pictures and videos to obtain accurate information for their captions. The teacher guided them minimally by directing them to the library database and the Jamestown website.

Communication & Collaboration

Rating: Ideal – Explanation: The students collaborated together using their Group Google site where they were able to work at different times and see what edits had to be made, or were made by their group members. Each day of their site creation they were asked to come together as a group and develop a plan before they began. The teacher monitored the groups by checking with the note keeper each day to see what each person’s tasks were for the day. The students also showed communication through the Google Hangout with the school in Christianburg, where they were able to share their knowledge and research with each other and build a relationship for future review activities that can be done together.

Critical Thinking & Problem Solving

Rating: Approaching – Explanation: The students began this project with first deciding how the documentation would be handled at Jamestown with their groups. They further showed this by working through editing each others work for accurate information and how to show their documentation effectively, so that others that have never been to Jamestown would get a understanding of our class trip. As problems arose within a Google Site group, the teacher would talk with the notekeeper to give advice on how to solve any problems.

Creativity & Innovation

Rating: Approaching – Explanation: The students used prior knowledge taught in class and their experience at Jamestown to document what they learned about the settlement of Jamestown and the Native Americans. Each group had specific guidelines and were required to create a Google Site. The teacher allowed the groups 9 work days to accomplish their documentation, collaboration, and creation of their sites.