Change of plans...

Since I started this blog in January, I have had a hard time sticking to just one topic!  I have been doing some soul searching and have decided to end this blog and switch over to a new blog in which I can address any topic from my classroom. I decided to make it more open ended so that I can share infromation, tips, and anecdotes about my classroom in general.  I will still continue with my sciencegal blog OF COURSE...but am hoping to be able to share many more topics in this one place. 

This blog will shut down next weekend...so, please join me over at the new blog....

http://engaginglearnersinuppergrades.blogspot.com/

King's M and M's on Smart Board

Have you heard of the King's M and M's?  I would never try to claim it as my idea as it is one that has been published by other authors.  However, for those of you who don't know about it...I'll give you a quick synopsis. 

King's M and M's is a way to let the children in your class feel a little frustration with "taxation without representation."  I found the pdf online taken from the book "American History Simulations" from Teacher Created Materials.  wiki.coe.jmu.edu/msme/admin/download.html?attachid=4446696

 I put the "cards" on the smart board as a fun way to reveal their taxes...  You can get it for FREE (as usual) at  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Kings-M-and-M-Tax-Cards

Enjoy! 

Hooking the kids...with art

We are getting ready to start our next semester and the Revolutionary War.  Whenever you start a new unit, I think you need to HOOK them.  Find out what they know and what they are thinking and then...you have their interest.  I use a lot of art work to evoke feelings, share time period clothing/culture and give them a peek into the world of 1776.

Revolutionary war introduction

View more presentations from Leslie Lausten

I start by showing them some paintings and asking what do you notice? What do you wonder?

Then I ask a few questions like...what were the sides in the war?  Who were some of the key players? (show pictures of Ben Franklin, George Washington)  Were there any spies??? (James Armistead Lafayette)

I embedded a video clip from United Streaming too that shows events leading up to the war to give them a good introduction and preview into what is coming...

I end the powerpoint with the big idea: 

Throughout history, many people have fought to be free and govern themselves….

Making Vocabulary meaningful...

Everyday Words make more sense....

Have you ever noticed that it's the big words that stump your kids on their tests?  Of course you have....This is a strategy that I have used in science for years that I got from an excellent resource found from Seeds of Science - http://www.scienceandliteracy.org/.  

In fact, if you go on this website to the Teacher Resources section, you can find
over 40 strategies for teaching reading in the content area.   

http://www.scienceandliteracy.org/teachersupport/strategyguides 

This just happens to be my favorite strategy and it works for all content areas...

Today we reviewed for our social studies test and as we did I noticed a couple of times the students were still asking what certain words meant.  So I quickly created a T chart on the board.... I wrote down the word agriculture and said....agriculture is the social studies word but it really just means farming.  I was pleasantly surprised when my students said "what about architecture? exchange?"  We worked together to come up with a list similar to the one below - with some pictures of course. My good friend Sherrie wears "fancy glasses" to introduce her "fancy words." Kinda fun...but not necessary!

Social Studies Words	Everyday words
Agriculture Architecture Exchange Origins Migration	Farming Buildings Trade or to barter Beginnings To move to a new place

You Tubing It...

Do you use YouTube at school?  I have just fallen in love with it this year as we finally got our projectors connected overhead and to the Internet. 

This is one of my favorites!  It will go along great with events leading up to the Revolution - my next unit.  It is a parody to the tune of "Too Late to Apologize" by One Republic.  Thank you Chrissie Lincoln for sharing this with me! 

You can also use...  Liberty's Kids.  My team loves these videos and now you can get them for FREE on You Tube in short 11-12 minute snippets.  What a great way to hook your audience.

And don't forget:  School House Rock....My favorite show from the 1970's...

Synthesizing information....Differentiation

Project TimeProjects used to be a bad word in my home.  They meant extra research, expense, fighting with my child to stop playing and start working...not anymore.  Read more to find out how we changed our mindset on projects.

My colleagues and I really believe that students need time to synthesize information....especially in Virginia Studies.  We have a large population of children from low-socioeconomic homes who don't exactly know how to study at home.  So, we decided to help them learn by creating projects. 

First, we teach the unit (duh!).  Then we spend about 2-3 days on projects.  How do we fit this in? Sometimes it is in our Va. History block (last 10 minutes each day) and sometimes it is in our writing blocks.  We have even asked kids to do this at home and believe it or not - it works!

Then, we pass out the study guide.  We specifically believe that the kids need the information to do the project because without this, the parents don't know what is supposed to be on the project.  This ranges from kids who do too little to kids (with parents) do too much.  I have had projects presented that were on a college level and yet the kid didn't understand the fourth grade material.  Sound familiar?

I created assignments for each of the five VS 4 sections:

Procedure: Choose one of the five sections from the study guide to do a project to review.

            VS4A – Agriculture:  Make a poster to show the reasons some Virginians wanted slavery to help with tobacco

            VS4B – Culture:  Make a brochure to show the five main cultural groups living in Virginia in the 1700’s  - show where they lived and how they changed the culture of Va.

            VS4C – Capital Moves:  With a partner, write a script to show why the capital should move to Williamsburg and Richmond.

            VS4D – Money, Barter, Credit:  Make a Jeopardy Game about Colonial Economics.

            VS4E – Everyday life in the colonies – write a diary entry from one of the Virginians – a slave, a freed African, a plantation owner, or a small farmer.          

Here are some pictures of the results:

Of course, the big hit was creating scripts. Oh I wish you could see them...they loved acting out for their classmates and sharing information that they had learned.  A great review and opportunity for speaking in front of a group too...

Money in Colonial Virginia

Everyday Life in Colonial Virginia

Day 6

Objective: Money in Colonial Virginia – as it related to the times.  Few people had paper money to buy goods and services.  Most people relied on bartering and credit.  Many people went into debt if they didn’t save. VS d

Procedure: Watch another PowerPoint on the money system in Colonial Va. and create skits to show what you have learned.

            I borrow a PowerPoint from this website: http://star.spsk12.net/socialscience/ss_vs4.htm 

The one I like to use is Money and the Colony.  It takes the concept of bartering and connects it to trading video games.  It also talks about the use of tobacco for money, no banks and the idea of credit/debt.  By the way, my students want to say 'debit' - so make sure you clarify the difference between debt (owing money) and debit cards!!!

       When we finished, we made a four square in our journals with the four main vocabulary terms and a picture for each:  credit, debt, barter, savings.

      Another great activity that my colleague Lori Kania came up with this weekend was writing up scenarios for the kids to act out.  We printed them and passed them out to groups of three. 

• Create a skit about bartering. In your skit, you will show bartering services for services.
•  Create a skit about bartering. In your skit, you will show bartering goods for services.
• Create a skit about bartering. In your skit, you will show bartering goods for goods.
• Create a skit about credit.  In your skit, show someone purchasing goods on credit, promising to pay for them later.
• Create a skit about debt. In your skit, show someone who has gone into debt because they purchased something on credit.
• Create a skit about savings.  In your skit, demonstrate how you would have saved in order to buy something you need.
• Create a skit about money.  In your skit, show what money is.  Make sure to mention that few people in colonial Virginia had money, so there were no banks.

The kids loved acting the scenes out!!!  A great review anytime....

Martin Luther King Jr. Day...

I'll never forget the first time I heard Dr. King's speech in Washington.  I think I was in high school and as I listened to it, the tears rolled down my face.  You see I had grown up in the south in the 70's...and while I had friends of different races, many people around me were still struggling with the changes. 

I was fortunate to go to Mary Washington College in the 80's and hear the late, great James Farmer - a true civil rights fighter who became a professor in Civil Rights at my college.   He had a deep baritone and talked openly about his friend Martin.  He shared stories of escaping from Alabama (I think) in a coffin of all things...Can you even imagine?

Having taught for 22 years now with children of all races, genders and nationalities I am eternally grateful for the battles that Dr. King and others fought so that we could live in a more diverse community.  I know that there are more battles to win...more battles to fight... and so it is important to take time to remember on this day...

I wish I had some original resources to share, but instead I would like to share what I found at Sub Hub.  She has put together some amazing resources including a video clip and a Pinterest Board of the best resources out there. 

http://subhubonline.blogspot.com/

Visualizing Colonial Virginia

Do you believe in the skill of visualizing?  I truely believe that most kids need to draw pictures to commit information to memory.  So the other day, we took some time to draw different pictures to depict Colonial Virginia in the 1700's.  Enjoy!

Examples of architecture:  churches

Clothing Styles for the Plantation Ladies

Architecture:  Barns

Clothing Styles for the Plantation owners

Food was made from natural resources found locally.

The Germans and Scots-Irish migrated from Pennsylvania to the Shenandoah Valley.

Tobacco growing in Virginia...

Native Americans were being forced to move inland as more and more Europeans came to Virginia.

How did cultures change the customs of Virginia in the 1700's?

Objective:  Culture of Virginia influences – VS 4b; Architecture, Place names and Migration to western Virginia
 
Procedure:

Step 1: So far we have learned a lot about English settlers, Native Americans and Africans all living together in Virginia.  How did these groups of people influence the culture of colonial Virginia? Were there any other Europeans moving into Virginia in the early 1700’s?

Step 2: PowerPoint to show how Virginia’s Culture is changing. This is FREE to download at

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Culture-of-Virginia-is-Changing

Step 3: 3,2, 1 reflection at the end for you to evaluate what they learned and for them to use their metacognition skills to remember content taught.

More details and Student Relections...

This is a continuation from "Tobacco and Slavery"....

If you were wondering how to set up the simulation with unifix cubes, this is how my colleague and son's teacher for two years Ali Horn did it...

She put 22 unifix cubes in a bag (for 22 students).  If you need to add more, then you can add additional red cubes for farmers working by themselves.

2 red cubes = a farmer working by himself (2 kids)

3 blue cubes = a farmer working with two slaves (3 kids)

5 green cubes = one farmer working with 2 slaves and 2 indentured servants (5 kids)

5 yellow cubes = one farmer working with 4 slaves (5 kids)

7 orange cubes = one farmer working with 6 slaves (7 kids)


Then....get ready to pick (cut), dry (color) and stack (barrels)....

One trick to know is with the indentured servants, they are freed at the 5
minute mark...



Some examples of the students reflections when the activity was complete:

Tobacco Simulation....

This is one of my favorite simulations that we do throughout the year.  I originally got the idea from http://kenmore.org/education/lesson_plans/economy/tobacco-and-slavery.html.  But, like anything...I have tweaked it a bit....

Everyday Life in Colonial Virginia

Day 3

Objective:  The Virginia Colony relieved on agriculture as the primary source of wealth.  In order to make more money, African men, women and children were brought as slaves to the plantations to work. VS4a

Procedure:

Students will take part in a role play simulating different types of farms in Colonial Virginia and how slaves increased productivity on Plantations.  This lesson is NOT about if slavery was good or bad (we all know it was awful) - but it shows the economic reasons the Virginian Plantation owners had for slavery.  It increased their profit.

Step 1:  Background information on a PowerPoint - FREE for you to download.(http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Tobacco-and-Slavery-in-Virginia)

Step 2: Students will choose a colored cube from the bag.  This cube will determine their group.  Once they get their color, they will need to take a pair of scissors and a brown crayon and join their group.

Step 3:  Read what each color group symbolizes – small farm to large plantation.  Your farm is going to work on harvesting tobacco, drying it and packing a barrel.

            You have ten minutes to

            1.  Pick the tobacco – (cut the leaves off the picture of the tobacco plant).

            2.  Dry the tobacco = (color the tobacco brown)

            3. Pack the barrel – each barrel holds five plants.

Step 4: After 10 minutes is up…answer the questions on the half sheet as a group. 

Tobacco and Slavery – Economics Lesson

1. How many barrels of tobacco was your "plantation" able to pack? _________

2. Which teams were able to pack the most barrels? _________________________________________

3. Why were those teams able to pack more? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

4. Why would owning slaves be helpful to a tobacco farmer? _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

5. Why would owning slaves be better than using indentured servants?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________  

Step 5: Share information as a group and discuss it from a purely economical angle – does slavery help plantations earn money???

Hope you will see the benefit of this economic lesson - it is certainly eyeopening. 

Anayzing Photos of Colonial Life

Have you ever been to the Jamestown/Yorktown website? They have some amazing lesson plans, video clips, and images available for free. 

This next lesson comes straight from there.  You will need to go to :
http://www.historyisfun.org/colonial-life.htm

There you will find the worksheets you will need for you (background information) and for each cooperative group as well as the graphic organizer.
Colonial Life background essay (pdf)
What was a man's role on a farm? (pdf)
What was a woman's role on a farm? (pdf)
What was the role of children on a farm? (pdf)
What was life like for slaves on a Virginia farm?(pdf)
"What was life like?" graphic organizer (pdf)
I have my students working at table groups and so each group is responsible for one role - man, woman, child or slaves.  I downloaded and copied each pdf and put them in plastic sleeves inside a folder (with brads).  This makes it easy for clean up and distribution.

Make sure you run off enough copies of the graphic organizer.

Everyday Life in Colonial Virginia

Day 2

Objective:
Students will read and analyze passages and photographs in order to learn about everyday life on colonial Virginia.

Standards of Learning:
Virginia SOL: VS1.e; VS4.e; US1.5c; English 4.5; English 5.6, 5.7

Procedure:
Students will work in cooperative groups to determine the roles of various colonial Virginians.

Step 1: Ask the students what jobs they have at home. Discuss their jobs and those of their parents and other family members. Ask the students how these jobs might be different from those in colonial Virginia. Ask them how they think everyday life was different for whites and enslaved African Americans in colonial Virginia.

Step 2: Begin the lesson by telling students that most people in colonial Virginia at the time of the American Revolution lived on small farms. Divide the class into four groups – table groups. Explain to each group that they will read and analyze a different Student Handout about the role of one of the following groups: men, women, children, or enslaved people in colonial Virginia. Tell them that each group will then report their findings to the class.

Step 3: Distribute a different Student Handout to each group, along with a copy of the Graphic Organizer - What was everyday life like in colonial Virginia? Instruct student to read their passage and look at the photographs. Suggest that students highlight key words pertaining to the roles of their assigned group as they read the passage. Have each group discuss among themselves the roles of their group and record them in the appropriate section of the graphic organizer.

Step 4: Have each group select a member of their group to present findings to the rest of the class. Instruct all students to add information on the other groups to their graphic organizer as their classmates report.

Summary Activity:
Have students write a journal entry comparing life in colonial Virginia to life in Virginia today in their Va. Studies notebook.

New Year...New Blog

In August 2011, I began my first bloging adventure to share with others the joy I get from teaching science in my classroom... Now, I'd like to share the joy of teaching Virginia Studies to my fourth graders.

We are getting ready to teach about Colonial Virginia after Xmas break.  For those of you in Virginia...you know it as "VS4".

I have put together some powerpoints, active learning strategies and notebook suggestions for you to view and use...for FREE. I will also take the time to comment and share other resources found on the web...

The first lesson is on "Virginia is Changing" - how the colony changes in the early 1700's from living at Jamestown to living on Plantations and other settlements. 

Everyday Life in Colonial Virginia

Day one

Objective:  To introduce students to the customs of everyday life in colonial Virginia – VS4e

Procedure:

Students will interact with a PowerPoint presentation; take notes and then compare two types of classes in colonial times.

Step 1:  Ask students to turn in their Va. Studies Notebook to the next clean page and write in big lettering – Colonial Virginia.

Step 2:  Next, students should copy the focus question down and a graphic organizer too:

            FQ:  What was daily life like in Virginia?

Housing	·         Plantations for a few rich farmers ·         Rich had carriages, fine furniture ·         One room homes with dirt floor for most
Food	·         Food choices were limited ·         Meals were made of local produce and meats
Clothing	·         Households made their own clothes ·         Most clothing made of cotton, wool and leather ·         Rich had fancy clothes from London

Step 3:  Go through the PowerPoint together and discuss along the way what you notice.  You can use the Teacher background sheet for more information.  Have them add bullets to the chart as the PowerPoint introduces them.

Step 4:  At the end of the PowerPoint, have the students compare the rich to most Virginians in their journals.

To view the PowerPoint, go to http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Virginia-Is-Growing.
      
                               Enjoy it!  Leslie