Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

School will be starting in a few weeks and it's a good idea to begin planning ahead for a smooth transition. You may be thinking about what to bring and wear to school but this post is to help students focus on being mentally ready for the new school year.  These last moments of summer are a great time to: Start going to bed a bit earlier each night. If you've been getting to bed really late it's wise to move your bedtime up slowly to get your body adjusted to your school bedtime. (Remember: teens need 8-10 hours of sleep a night!) Trying to go to bed much earlier than you have been the night before school starts probably won't be beneficial. This site is full of great information: https://sleepfoundation.org/sleep-topics/teens-and-sleep  Write a short-term (first quarter) and a long term (year-long) goal. They can be related to school, sports, friends, family--anything! Setting goals is a terrific way to start the school year with a plan.  Catch up with a...

Summer is a time for rest, relaxation, and reflection. As I reflect, I've realized one of the most successful changes I've made in my classroom over the years was to change the desk configuration to tables two years ago. It may seem like a small change but, as I've stated in previous posts, I now have 5 mini-classrooms of 6 students. I can get to know students and monitor their understanding of the subject matter so much better than with my previous setup of mini-rows, with students facing one another.  I now truly feel like I have a  community  of learners in our room (we have, in the past, made table coats of arms and mottoes to emphasize this concept). This setup also means that students have the opportunity to interact with one another more than ever before.  Increased student interaction has motivated me to work with, not against, the numerous student conversations that occur when students are facing each other. My plan: increase the use of classroom statio...

Student Historians completed their thematic historical research project (see previous post) this week. The timing was excellent--my 8th Graders needed to turn in their iPads Friday; they submitted their iMovie trailers to me on Schoology Wednesday and we started analyzing them on Friday. The trailers had many components and I believe the project objectives were accomplished--student groups needed to study one year of the war, decide upon and rank the top three events they believe directly led to the Union victory, and include at least one primary source document for each of the three events. Midway through the project I added another task--groups needed to find out who Matthew Brady was (he was the preeminent Civil War photographer--a photograph of his is shown below) and include at least one of the photographs he took during the war in their trailer.  photo: http://www.ohiohistoryhost.org/ohiomemory/archives/1575 Reflection is essential to deep learning--each student ...

Student Historians began Civil War era research today, with a twist. My goal was to create a thematic investigative project. Upon reflection, Civil War projects at the beginning of my teaching career centered on various historical groups and topics but I noticed how these projects were actually more like a research report than an opportunity to delve into deep thinking and learning. I needed create something to help this year's students continue to hone the analytical and technological skills they've developed this year and I think we are really going to like the results. Six groups of students will each focus on 1 year of the war, from 1860-1865. (I included 1860 because the Election of Lincoln and secession of South Carolina were huge events that directly led to war.) Each group will rank three events that had an impact on the end of the war, as well as locate and analyze a primary source document for each. They will compile this information into an iMovie trailer pr...

Practicing historical perspective is an essential social studies skill. Historical perspective is being able to step into a historic situation and examine the motivations, biases, and beliefs of a person or group of people. Students have to revert to the beliefs of a group of people even if those beliefs completely contradict the views we have today. They must weigh decisions based on the situation of the time, not necessarily how situations are viewed today. The C3 Framework for Social Studies states that "Historical understanding requires recognizing this multiplicity of points of view in the past, which makes it important to seek out a range of sources on any historical question rather than simply use those that are easiest to find. It also requires recognizing that perspectives change over time, so that historical understanding requires developing a sense of empathy with people in the past whose perspectives might be very different from those of today." http://www.so...

I must govern the clock, not be governed by it.  ~Golda Meir Time is one of the biggest challenges we face in the classroom and class projects often aren't assigned by teachers because they take a lot of time for students to complete. I prefer to prove that these projects are clear examples of time used wisely but one area I usually tend to spend less of our time on is debriefing. Two activities we completed in class today proved to me that debriefing is as truly as valuable as the project itself. Student Historians created fact-based skits today related to Northern factory life during the American Industrial Revolution. The skits needed to answer the question "If you were a 13 year old in the North in the early 1800s would you have worked in a textile mill?" Students prepared for this project by analyzing primary sources, reading anecdotal stories, and viewing clips. Each group needed to write scripts (one per person) and practice before performing. I did not ...

Biographical line graphs put students in the role of historical biographers. The critical thinking and reasoning needed to justify and debate decisions make these graphs one of the most powerful activities we do in US History. The topic for this line graph is Andrew Jackson. I selected 7 life events and gave students the task of combing through previously analyzed documents and readings to write highlights and low lights of the events. Students created line graphs based on their notes. The graph's range was from -6 to +6 and reflects both positive and negative life events. When line graphs were complete each student needed to prepare for a graph justification discussion. This discussion is powerful both academically and social-emotionally. Students are doing the work of historians when they present and discuss their findings. One needs only to search major historical people and events to discover complimentary and disparaging works on the same subject--the ...