The American Revolution

The following pictures are from lessons or bulletin boards I created during my student teaching placement for seventh grade Social Studies at Danville Middle School.

In order to introduce the key "players" of the American Revolution and give an overview of their importance, my co-op and I staged a skit that resembled an ESPN commentary.  We dressed up in my Red Sox jerseys, made popcorn for the kids and used magnets to flip over each name and contribution as we mentioned them during the commentary that I wrote.   I made up a player "roster" for them to use as note sheets and the students seemed to enjoy the show.  Upon reflection, I believe the pace of the commentary was a bit too fast for those students who had processing problems or previous note taking issues.  That could easily be adjusted by pausing longer after each player is addressed.

Interactive Bulletin Board
The bulletin board below is on the Declaration of Independence.  It was used with a lesson where each part of the document was taken out and explained to the students.  We examined things like the influence of the Enlightenment, What acts of Parliament was referred to in the list of grievances, as well as some little known tidbits and clarifications.  Many of the excerpts were folded over for the students to guess which act was responsible and at the end the students were given the opportunity to "pass" or "reject" the document by tacking a feather pen near the "Yes" or "No" prompt.