Click on the pic to link to more in my Animoto!
My Kenan Fellows developed unit was a blast to teach with my students and fellow teachers. I work with two other amazing fifth grade teachers, and we worked together to share this unit with all 70 of the students in our school. We spent the month of November diving into Colonial Life and the American Revolution. Who would guess that ten and eleven year olds would become so passionately obsessed with what seems, to them, to be an ancient time?
Our students loved learning about Colonial life, and they were tacking difficult texts, well above what is considered to be grade level, because they were curious about how people lived long ago. They were making connections to other things they have been learning, and to historical organizations in our community. Through the focused exploration of text and multimedia, they were able to recreate a day in the life of an American colonist.
We spent 2 weeks exploring the causes and major battles of the American Revolution, with a specific lesson the role of the Battle at Guilford Courthouse, connecting the history in our own backyard. Students tackled text structure, group research, and a variety of types of text – all with gusto! Just say “war”, and you have the attention of a bunch of 5th graders!
My favorite moment was a long discussion we had on the definition of a “Founding Father.” We found an August issue of TIME Magazine that referred to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a Founding Father, as well. This discussion led to fascinating talk of the qualities and actions that lead to deserving this particular title.
For me, the hardest part of this unit has been getting good video to use for my Kenan project!