I really enjoyed our class last night! I thought each activity was engaging and did well to reinforce the ideas that we’ve been targeting throughout the semester. I think what resonated with me the most was when Dr. Stohr referred to history as being “his-story”. Doing the activity about her uncle during the war was an example of just that. It allowed us as the students to see into someone’s life, understand their history. As we discussed, it’s easy for students to see history as the culmination of famous people’s story. This activity allowed me to make a more personal connection to what history means and motivated me to dig deeper into mine. I think this lesson is not only engaging for students, but it was a good way to incorporate primary and secondary sources, make inferences about the information, and encourage students to unfold an unknown story. This activity could be used as a means to incorporate a variety of targeted skills across content areas. I also really liked the picture comparison activity. I enjoyed the way it looked at observational skills while giving students the opportunity to think freely and creatively. I was surprised to see the Venn Diagram at the closure of the activity. I think that it was a good way to incorporate the compare and contrast element in a fun and engaging way. Overall, really fun class!
2 thoughts on “Week 4”
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Stephanie, I am glad you enjoyed the lessons in class last week. I can tell that your critical thinking skills were challenged! Dr. Stohr and I enjoy planning lessons like this because we know how eye-opening they can be to motivate pre-service teachers to create future classrooms like this. I like that you are thinking about your own life. If you create a primary source lesson like this about yourself it would be a great way for students to get to know you at the beginning of the year! Also, Fred Stohr was actually Dr. Stohr’s father :0). This lesson was a special one for her indeed!
Stephanie,
I love that you found more personal connection to history in this week’s lessons and that you were motivated to think more deeply about your own history. I do think the everyman story is an important part of social studies and helps students to understand that we all make history and are part of that story in some way.
I’m also glad you enjoyed the activity comparing George Washington to King George. I know we tend to reserve Venn diagrams for math and science, but it’s such a great tool for comparison, that we need to remember to use it in all curricular areas.