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Deborah
Pifer
Falconer Central School
Reflections
on The Presidential Timeline Project
As I worked with our fifth graders throughout
the school year, it became apparent that few of them possessed any
mental picture of the sequence of American history. Which
president, which war, which event all muddled together in what they
referred to as Social Studies. It was my goal to allow our
students to see American history evolve by creating a giant
timeline in our corridor depicting our presidents and major
historical events.
What I’ve learned:
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Our students know the names of, and have
scant information about, only a handful of American presidents,
but when given the task to research, many of them became very
interested.
-
A student’s ability level has little to do
with their enthusiasm or finished product.
-
Time is a fleeting fantasy in the fifth
grade. Even the best laid plans must be adapted due to time
restraints.
-
It is possible to create an end-of-the-day
project in which students in every fifth grade classroom can
actively participate.
-
Even though my teammates say they
understand what I am doing, they really don’t understand. They
do, however, support my efforts completely.
-
Keep the project trim. By proposing the
timeline and the game, I overshot what was possible without
keeping kids after school.
-
Our 2 portable laptop carts do not allow
students to save to the server. It was best to keep an older
cart in my room on a weekly basis.
What I’d change:
-
I would kick off the project with a short
assembly so all students received the same information at the
same time. Students would also benefit by hearing questions
others have.
-
I would have scheduled meetings
periodically with the students in other classroom to do progress
checks and compare efforts.
-
Plan to create the trivia game at home
over the summer using students research facts.
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In place of a game, I found it to be more
beneficial to have a group presentation to share what we each
had learned.
By doing this project as a follow- up activity after our
research reports, students were better able to uncover
information independently. By not having a written or graded
component, students were better able to enjoy the facts without
worry.
-
Student response:
Most of the students felt the experience was
fun and educational. They enjoyed being allowed to choose their
president and share what they learned about that era. It gave them a
purposeful activity at the end of our day while many are at band and
chorus.
The students did find it difficult because we have several
end-of-the-year projects going on at the same time. Presidents,
Latin America, Research reports, etc. Yet they were more interested
in the research than “regular” schoolwork.
The hallway presentations made to the entire
fifth grade was a first, Because the audience had a “facts sheet” to
compile, they were engaged listeners. They were told that their
facts would help me decide which information to use in the
Presidential Trivia Game.
Suggestions by students:
·
Keep the project for volunteers or those who have time
to research.
·
Encourage more students to research at home.
·
Know which laptop carts do what.
Contribution to academic
achievement:
Our fifth graders were surrounded by the
history of the United States! As the timeline was filled in with
pictures, America came alive. Students delighted in much of the
information. The presentations allowed my participants to share
what they had learned in a non-threatening manner, explaining their
choices of images and how they fit into the development of our
country.
Name_____________ Grade 5 Joint Project
Students,
You may have noticed the blue tape wrapping around the fifth
grade hallway. The tape will soon become a giant timeline that will
represent the history of the United States. It will begin with
George Washington’s presidency and end in 2009 with President
Obama’s. Each student volunteer will receive the name of one
president, then research interesting facts about that man and what
was happening in our country during his presidency. We will create
for Fenner School the history of America in pictures, as well as
develop a new game called “Presidential Trivia”. You are invited to
help.
Objectives:
Create a
Timeline of the USA with Pictures & Create the “Presidential
Trivia Game”
Your task:
After receiving the name of your
president, you will research to find 20 interesting facts about the
man & the events that took place during his presidency.
(Save
them for the Presidential Trivia Game.)
While you research, you
will search for and print interesting pictures from the internet
that show what was happening in America during your president’s time
in the White House.
(Display
them at your section of the timeline.)
No
grades! No homework!! Volunteers only!!!
Deborah
Pifer
Timeline of Lesson
6/3/09
Presidential Timeline Project
1.
April 30th: Created materials to be handed out to
participants. President name strips with president’s and vice
president’s names, political party, and dates in office were run
off. Each president strip was glued to a manila folder to be used
by students for collection of their facts and pictures.
2.
May 1st: May 2nd: Introduced the project to each
of the 5 fifth grade classroom. Asked for and received 42 student
volunteers in 4 of the 5 room. Each volunteer received the manila
folder created for the president chosen or suggested. A list of
presidents was attached to my door. As presidents were chosen, the
volunteer’s name was displayed.
3.
May 2nd: Put up a blue,2 -inch tapeline using
painter’s tape that surrounded our 5th grade wing. It
was measured and divided into forty-four segments, each 40 cm wide.
4.
May 3rd: Created cards displaying each
president’s name and dates in office. These were laminated and
taped above the segments.
5.
May 5th: Began the process of signing out a
portable laptop cart when available. The new 20 laptop cart is best
because students can save research to the server. This cart is
seldom available.
6.
May 7th: Assigned the Pre-George Washing era to
my teaching assistant to research and create a picture display, thus
modeling for students what they are expected to do. Discovered that
the only tape that will stick to our walls is painter’s tape due to
summer polishing.
7.
May 9th: Researched myself the 2 remaining
presidents that had not been chosen, Grover Cleveland and Zachary
Taylor, again to use as models. More taping problems!
8.
May 12th – May 30th: Reserved the
oldest laptop cart for the rest of the month of May and stored it in
my classroom for project use. We learned that students in all 5
rooms could take the laptops to respective classroom for research!
What an interesting idea, a laptops cart per grade level.
9.
May 12th – May 29th: Encouraged
students to research. Shared in their discoveries. Provided
construction paper, blue tape, etc. for student displays.
10.
May 29th: Met with all volunteers to discuss
our presentation of the timeline to classmates. Provided a form to
use to organize their thoughts.
11.
June 3rd: Sat all fifth graders in our hallway.
Volunteers sat below the president and era they researched to await
their turn to present. All students (our audience) were given a
“facts sheet” to collect information. Students were required to list
only one fact per president.
12. June
5th: Presented the remaining 14 presidents to the 5th
grade.
Collected facts sheets compiled by the presenters and
the audience.
13. Summer
2009: Fact sheets provided by researchers and audience
will be
used by me to create a “Presidents of the United States Trivia
Game
using a game blank kit.
List of
presidents
1.GeorgeWashington
2.JohnAdams
3.ThomasJefferson
4.JamesMadison
5.JamesMonroe
6.JohnQuincyAdams
7.AndrewJackson
8.MartinVanBuren
9.WilliamHenryHarrison
10.JohnTyler
11.JamesKnoxPolk
12.ZacharyTaylor
13.MillardFillmore
14.FranklinPierce
15.JamesBuchanan
16.AbrahamLincoln
17.AndrewJohnson
18.UlyssesS.Grant
19.RutherfordB.Hayes
20.JamesGarfield
21.ChesterArthur
22.GroverCleveland
23.BenjaminHarrison
24.GroverCleveland
25.WilliamMcKinley
26.TheodoreRoosevelt
27.WilliamHowardTaft
28.WoodrowWilson
29.WarrenHarding
30.CalvinCoolidge
31.HerbertHoover
32.FranklinD.Roosevelt
33.HarrySTruman
34.DwightD.Eisenhower
35.JohnF.Kennedy
36.LyndonJohnson
37.RichardNixon
38.GeraldFord
39.JamesCarter
40.RonaldReagan
41.GeorgeH.W.Bush
42.WilliamJ.Clinton
43.GeorgeW.Bush
44.BarackH.Obama
Name_______________ Timeline Project
Date
_______________ Presidential Facts
Below are
listed 20 interesting facts I have learned President
______________________.
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