Time Traveler’s Journal : Journaling in the Social Studies Classroom to Promote Deeper Student Connections to Curriculum Dottie Aldrich Windsor Knolls Middle School MWP / Towson SCED 605

Agenda  Introductions  Rationale  Standards/objectives  Background  Lesson Demonstration  Reflection

Rationale  Students who write well in LA classes often do not transfer those skills to other academic classes.  Writing helps students explore topics and make deeper connections to the material.  Journaling, with feedback from the teacher, helps to improve student writing and thinking skills.

Objectives  SS.AS – Analyze situations that illustrate conflicts between conscience and respect for authority.  SS.AS b. – Analyze the growing tension between England and the 13 colonies.  LA – Write to Inform by developing and organizing facts to convey information

Background  Historical simulations allow students to immerse themselves in the activity. Helps them to gain additional insights into the time period and events.  In the “Road to Independence” unit of AS1, students are first assigned a specific character to adopt for the remainder of the unit.  Students research that character and produce a short biography in order to know how that character would react to classroom activities  Students are to remain in character AT ALL TIMES in class.  For this presentation, participants will work in partners. One will be a patriot and one will be a loyalist.

Road to Independence Today’s Plan  Warm-up: Fact-finding  Direct Instruction – video clip  Personal response  Think/Pair/Share – “the other side of the coin”  To the Books!  Partner work  Time Traveler’s Journal entry

Fact Finding  Examine the image in your packet. Circle at least three things you see happening and describe them in space provided.

Check your facts: “The Boston Massacre”  Watch the following video clip. Check what you saw in your image against what actually happened.  A534- CB F6&blnFromSearch=1&produ ctcode=US A534- CB F6&blnFromSearch=1&produ ctcode=US A534- CB F6&blnFromSearch=1&produ ctcode=US

Personal Response  On the next page of your journal, write a short response to what happened in the “Boston Massacre” based on how your character would view the incident.

Think/Pair/Share – “the other side of the coin”  Now, exchange journals with your partner. Read what your partner wrote and write your response to your partner’s comments. Be persuasive. You want to change his/her opinion to possibly prevent war!  Remember to stay in character!! in character!!

To the Books!  In class, this is where we would go to the textbooks. Instead...  Read the short Wikipedia article for some additional background on the “Boston Massacre.”

Partner Time  Work with your partner to compare your two images. Identify key differences and how those differences reinforced your character’s perception of the incident.

Time Traveler’s Journal  Read all 5 possible prompts and select one.  Respond to that prompt on a sheet of paper.  Remember to: Write in complete sentences. Write in complete sentences. Support your points with facts from the text and video. Support your points with facts from the text and video.

Reflections  Questions?  Last words  3 – 2 – 1 – DONE!