The fourth graders are beginning a project involving twenty historical figures required by the Social Studies TEKS. The famous people include Cabeza de Vaca, Francisco Coronado, Martin de Leon, Mirabeau B. Lamar, Audie Murphy, John Tower, Lorenzo de Zavala, Joseph Glidden, Rene Robert Cavelier, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, Anson Jones, Cleto Rodriquez, Barbara Jordan, Gail Borden, Patillo Higgins, Charles Goodnight, Lizzi Johnson, Richard King, and Jose Antonio Navarro.
To introduce the project, students will view the video of the power of one life (used with permission from the creator). They will then watch the following portions of It’s a Wonderful Life (4:11-11:38, 1:49:40-1:52:36, and 1:56:52 to the end) to understand the driving question of this project. A backchannel using TodaysMeet will capture students’ responses to the videos while allowing them to practice good digital citizenship and proper grammar and sentence structure.
Driving Question – What effect did the life of the historical figure have on Texas, and if applicable, on my own life?
Students will be placed in groups of three or four. Each group will draw the name of one of the historical figures listed above. The group will use guided research to find information to record on their data collection sheet. Click on the graphic below to access the websites for research.
The students will produce a short essay describing their famous person and answering the driving question. Students will collaborate in their groups using Google Docs. When the essay is complete, each student will create a talking avatar in Voki using the built in microphone feature of the Voki website to record themselves reading the essay. Each student will embed their Voki in their blog. The best Voki of each famous person will be selected and featured in a Moodle quiz over the twenty famous people.
TEKS Covered in this project:
Social Studies: 113.15(b)(2)(B)(E), (3)(C), (4)(B),(5)(B)(C), (17)(D), (20)(A)
ELA: 4.13(A)-(H), 4.15(A)(C)(F), 4.16(B), 4.17(A)-(D), 4.18(A)-(H), 4.19(A)-(I), 4.20(A)-(C), 4.21(A)-(F), 4.22(A)(B), 4.25(B)
Technology Applications: 126.A(b)(1)(A)(C), (2)(A)(C)(F), (3)(A)-(D), (4)(C)(D), (5)(A)-(G), (6)(B)(C)(D)(E)
You inspire by example. If a teacher reads this and does not want to be a better teacher, then it is time for them to retire. The students of White Oak Elementary are so fortunate to have you.
The first word that comes to mind? WOW