Let me back up...awhile back we were reading about the first colonial settlements in our social studies text (Roanoke, Jamestown, and Plymouth), and my kiddos were absolutely FASCINATED by Roanoke and the mysterious disappearance of the early settlers. To tell you the truth, I was pretty fascinated along with them and was quick to indulge when the kiddos begged to hear more about the settlement. Since no one is breathing down my neck about pacing and scope/sequence of my social studies instruction, I figured if the kids were at least showing a PULSE about a topic, why not stretch it out and explore it a little deeper? (Who can resist when kiddos get excited about learning...)
On our second day, I introduced the words "speculations" and "evidence" to the kids. We talked about how there is SOME evidence from Roanoke, and many speculations, but not even historians know for sure what happened to the settlers. (This seriously baffled them. At first they seemed to think I was hiding the truth from them. They thought it was pretty cool that they were thinking of answers to a question that even historians hadn't solved!) We watched a short United Streaming video clip, then I read aloud this awesome book:
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Then comes my favorite part. Each kiddo chose a theory that they liked best and wrote a story to explain it. A few chose to explain in an expository format, but several wrote completely awesome journal entries from the points of view of Roanoke settlers.
They turned out fabulously! Some theories were completely crazy, including bands of pirates and underground settlements, others went so far as to explain how the carving of the word "CROATOAN" was really an anagram for the settlers' TRUE location...all in all, super creative and amazing. And even though the stories were fictional, all of the students included true facts about Roanoke, so it was a great learning opportunity. I absolutely loved this assignment and would have dragged out Roanoke even more if I could have, but eventually I figured that I should probably try to squeeze in other important history topics before the end of the year...you know, like slavery or the American Revolution or something like that... :) But what can I say, kids' getting excited about learning is like crack for this teacher. LOVE IT!
Are you able to connect your content areas to literacy? With our structured literacy series, it's tough, but every now and them I try to bridge social studies and writing workshop. Sometimes it works better than others though!! :)
Oh, and I just found out my blog was nominated for a Fascination Award! Stop by and vote for me by clicking on the emblem on the side of my blog! I'll be your best friend... ;)
You can't vote until May 14. Please remind me then.
ReplyDeleteThis is an absolutely fabulous impromptu class interest session! I am so impressed! It is SO exciting when the kids are isn't it!? I try very hard to connect our leveled readers I have for guided reading to our social studies content. For example, we are currently studying the Revolutionary War so I used a story from our text book on the Boston Tea Party (out of order)and a leveled reader on Paul Revere's Ride during guided reading to integrate the two. We have quite a bit of freedom in reading so I integrate a LOT.
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