Battlefort

In my previous post, I described how fun it can be to recreate games that kids already know with new rules adapted to the curriculum. We did just that again this week with a modified version of Battleship that simulated the conflict during the French and Indian War.

Because the French and Indian War was not a naval battle, I gave each student a grid and allowed them to set it up as they liked. Each student was also assigned a country - either Britain or France. We color-coded each of the squares as either French territory (blue), British territory (red), or disputed territory (purple). Because the grid was an 8 x 8 arrangement of 64 squares, I gave the students the following parameters to keep the game fair:

1. You must have 20 blocks of your own color, 20 blocks of the opposing color and 24 blocks of disputed territory.
2. You can arrange the blocks in any way as long as the French blocks are all together on one side or corner of the board, the British blocks are all together on the opposite side or corner of the board and  the purple disputed blocks are somewhere in the middle. 

Also on the grid handout were three forts which were exactly 3 blocks wide and 1 block tall, and two settlements, which were 2 blocks wide and 1 block tall. Once they had finished color-coding the area of the map, they could cut out the forts and settlements and arrange them anywhere within their own or the disputed territory. For a faster set-up of the game, you can also provide the students with pre-colored grids, even labeled with place names and boundaries if you wish. 

Now they were ready to play the game! To create the "boards" for the game, I used basic file folders. I set up another identical grid with letter and number coordinates and printed it in the copier on transparency film. I stapled two sheets in each folder - one on the bottom for the students to slide their own grids underneath and a second to the top flap of the folder for keeping track of their own called coordinates, hits and misses.

With the grids printed on transparency film, the students can mark both boards with dry erase markers, eliminating the need for pegs or bingo chips. We simply used Xs for hits and Os for misses. This was a lot neater and made for a lot less preparation!

The final boards looked like the image below. I decided to assign a point value to all possible outcomes to make things a bit more interesting. In our game, we used the following scoring system:

• hit opposing territory (empty square) = 2 pts.
• hit disputed territory (empty square) = 1 pt.
• hit your own territory = 0 pts.
• hit anywhere on a fort = 10 pts.
• hit anywhere on a settlement = 5 pts.

Students kept track of their points on scrap paper or on the margins of the grid in dry erase.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much the kids enjoyed setting up the boards and playing the game. Even though their boards did not exactly imitate the land boundaries of the French and Indian War, the idea of disputed territory certainly stuck with them. I even overheard someone call out at one point, "This must be the Battle of Quebec because I am really kicking your butt!" :)

Flap Maps

Sometimes, to really visualize a territory or battle, you just need a good map. But sometimes, in order to effectively study, you also need to hide your information to really assess your own recall and understanding. As a visualizing tool and a study strategy, we recently made "flap maps" to show the expansion of New Spain into New Mexico and Florida. Using just Microsoft Word, these maps are really easy to make and get the kids moving with some color-coding, cutting and gluing.

In essence, a flap map is just an outline map with titled text boxes scattered around at key points. The students then color-code the map according to a self-made key. I then send them a second document with text boxes in the same arrangement as the titled text boxes on the map page. When the students have finished with the initial sheet, they fill in key facts about each of the named sites. When the fact sheet is printed, it will line up perfectly with the map boxes. The students can then cut out three sides of each text box on the map page.

Once the students have glued the fact sheet to the back of the map page, the map text boxes are now "doors" or "flaps" that can be opened and closed. When opened, the facts from underneath are revealed for studying. The map can also easily fit into student binders and folders for quick reference later!

Below are some images of the Word templates I created, as well as a few pictures of the finished maps.

Pin - the - ?? - on - the - ??

I like incorporating games into classroom instruction and one really easy way to make it transition seamlessly is to use games the students already know.

When reviewing Jacques Marquette and Robert La Salle's exploration of the Mississippi River for France, I wanted an engaging way to review which facts belonged to which explorer. I decided to play a version of Pin-the-Tail-on-the-Donkey with "fact canoes" in place of tails and a Mississippi River with images of the explorers in place of the donkey.

I was a little leery that the kids would find it too juvenile, but we ended up having a blast! I presented each fact and asked the student whether the fact belonged with Marquette or La Salle. They responded, then they were blindfolded, took their spins and attempted to stick the canoe in the river with the explorer that matched.

The set-up was really simple -- I typed up some images of canoes with facts, pictures of the explorers and I cut out a long construction paper river. I attached the pieces to the whiteboard with magnets for easy removal when other teachers needed to use my classroom. The game only lasted about 10-15 minutes, but it was a fun way to wrap up after the notes and video segment we completed at the beginning of class.

Of course, this got me thinking about all of the things that could be "pinned" onto something else. Younger students could sort shapes and colors into a chart. They could place letters in a puzzle. Older students could pin the element to the periodic table or the organelles to the cell. The possibilities are endless!

Alphabet Books: Bringing Together Younger and Older Students

One of the many benefits of teaching in a school with a wide range of ages is the ability to collaborate across many grade levels. Older students are often excited to engage with younger students, just as younger students often look up to their older peers. In order to capture this natural energy and opportunity for community building, I like to create alphabet books each year about a concept or theme, then share them in with younger students either live or through circulation in the library.

This year, I had to cover everyday life during the colonial era, but had much difficulty finding sources, activities and materials appropriately challenging for middle level students. A quick Google search will make it abundantly clear how much of what is out there is for primary students. I figured that I might as well embrace the over-arching trend and use the alphabet book as a final project for this particular section.

I provided the students with several sites about colonial life, most notably PBS's Colonial House materials and Colonial Williamsburg's history site. From there, students refreshed their previous knowledge of colonial occupations (see post about classified ads project), as well as vocabulary terms and concepts. I assigned each student a few letters and they designed a page for each letter, designating a word for each letter. I scattered a few sample alphabet books about countries of the world, musical instruments and science topics around the room just to demonstrate the basic format, then let them go wild.

Between all 48 students, we were able to generate three unique books for the library, each with creative ideas for the letters. Some students tackled more abstract themes, like agriculture and slavery, while others chose figures and events, like Jamestown, John Peter Zenger and the Salem Witch Trials.

I bound the books together with a simple plastic comb binding machine and shared it with the school library. Shortly after, our librarian asked for the electronic files of the pages so that we could attempt converting it into its own ebook! Who knows, maybe younger students will soon be able to check-out our alphabet book both at the library and electronically! If this works well, we might just have a lot a ebook publishing in our future!

Evil and Treachery are Afoot!

Earlier in the year, many students read a historical fiction novel about the Salem Witch Trials in their reading classes. Now that we are studying the colonial experience in America, I realized that our textbook skips over the trials completely. I figured that we should spend some time talking about it for a few reasons: one, to provide further context for the literary experience they have already had and two, to show the cultural climate of the colonial era and the constant fears of colonial people.

To introduce the topic, I sent each student home with a "top secret" note in an envelope explaining their role for Monday's mock trial. I didn't tell them we would be having a trial as I wanted to pique their curiosity with the letters. I also told them that they were not allowed to share the contents of their letter with anyone else.

In each class, two "secret" students were selected to be witnesses against the accused, one person was the accused witch, and everyone else served as jurors. The jurors and the accused were only given vague instructions about when and where to appear and to keep their assignments secret, but the witnesses received secret directions about how to behave based on real testimony from the trials.

Images of the letters are shown below:

On trial day, I checked in with the witnesses to make sure they understood the expectations (and limitations) of what they could do during the trial. I put on my trusty judge's robe and asked the accused questions based on real tests and evidence used during the trials. The jurors observed and tracked the evidence on their checklist, shown below. At the end of the simulation, the jurors and the judge decided the fate of the accused. Needless to say, the accused were pretty much always found guilty.

Though the activity lasted only about 15 minutes -- and given the rambunctious nature of it, I wouldn't want it to last much longer -- it was a great introduction to the topic. Over the next few days, we watched a documentary video about the trials and the possible causes for the hysteria. We created a graphic organizer sorting the various potential causes including scientific, psychological, cultural and historical factors that contributed to the panic. 

All in all, I think this type of simulation and analysis was a great way to reflect on and engage in the literary experience they had earlier in the year.

Polling and Surveying to Differentiate and Inform

We all know that education is headed in a new direction -- a direction that is more interactive and more tailored to individuals, a direction with more instantaneous and long-distance feedback. A great way to reach out to students and parents is with web-based surveys and polls.

Polls and surveys can be used to accomplish the following goals:

• differentiation - You can tailor your instruction to suit the needs and wishes of your student population or discreetly collect information on student strengths and weaknesses. You can also gauge student interest and levels of experience in a particular subject matter before you even hold class the next day.
• interaction - There are few ways that are easier to engage with parents quickly and easily than asking them to participate in a simple survey or poll. Many parents are busy and removed from emails just as often, if not more often than we are. Sometimes it is difficult to get parents to commit to regular checking-in on grading sites, webpages and blogs. Many of these polling and surveying technologies allow people to engage from phones and tablets, as well as their computers and are much quicker and easier than emailing.
• organization - In the middle school years, we are often teaching organizational skills like studying, prioritizing and time management just as much as we are teaching content. As the world becomes more reliant on electronic means of timekeeping and organization, so should you! Well-timed polls and surveys can guide students through the process of developing positive habits and inform you about which strategies work best for particular learners.

Below are some sites that provide polling and surveying tools:

Poll Everywhere - This site has some free features, as well as a paid membership with more features. It allows users to create polls with text-in capabilities and online tracking.

SurveyMonkey - Customized surveys with multiple choice and open-ended questions can be blasted to email addresses and the results are compiled online in a user-friendly template.

SoGo Survey - Also a free- or subscription-based site, this tool has many customizable features and tracking tools outside the basic abilities of other sites. 

Kwik Surveys - Another free, web-based survey maker, similar to Survey Monkey.

I recently heard a discussion about polling parents and students, and I was immediately reminded of all the online survey and polling tools that I have seen over the past few years from various sources. I look forward to trying some of these tools in the near future and you can be assured I will post some data to this blog!

History Mystery - The Lost Colony of Roanoke

Between enjoying our winter break and the recent midterm exam period, it has been a little while since I have posted. Upon returning from break, we wrapped up our unit on early Spanish colonization in the Americas, then began reviewing for the midterm exam. With this week's half days and exam schedule, I have been devoting a lot of time to planning our next historical endeavor, so a blog post was not only long overdue, but much needed!

To kick off our unit on British colonization, we will begin with a "history mystery." The first section of the book briefly discusses the Roanoke Colony, but knowing my students' love for a good mystery, I thought I would expand on this opportunity with some detective work and a writing assignment.

On the first day of the unit, students were grouped into pairs and received a "dossier of evidence" about the colony in a manila folder. I created each of the documents to show a particular event in the history of the colony. With the exception of the names on the ship's log, all of the documents are fictional and I wrote them to show a particular moment in the sequence of the story based on true accounts. (Please keep this in mind if you use the documents yourself!)

The students were asked to go through the dated materials, order them by date and use their timeline sheet to create a pieced-together narrative of the events. This took 1-2 class periods depending on the reading abilities of the students. Once they had a sequence of events, they then used the template to create a narrative essay of what occurred. This essay should be fact-based in part according to the documents, but the students were given freedom with the last section to make a hypothesis about what happened to the people of the colony.

Below are some images of student work, as well as image versions of the documents: