Mrs. Slaviero's Blog

Teaching in the 21st Century never ceases to amaze me.  As stated in a post last year, I utilize Twitter in my classroom  through a classroom Twitter account several times a week. I find it to be an incredible way to allow parents and our community to witness the work that goes in my History and Study Skills classes and to showcase school events and the amazing young people I teach.  While posting a reminder about our school football teams' games on Wednesday a top hashtag caught my eye: #AskAnArchivist was trending.  I follow the United States National Archives   on Twitter and their latest post advertised an hour-long session in which a team of Archivists would answer questions tagged with this hashtag. I had less than 45 minutes before this window of opportunity closed. My third hour class took advantage of this teachable moment and it turned out so well! Student Historian groups came up with questions they hoped to receive answers for, ...

Students created a persuasive analysis and used primary source documents to prove George Washington was or wasn't our nation's greatest president by creating a Spark Video. These Historians researched the Mount Vernon archives as well as the National Archives to locate letters, documents, and other items that should explain why he was or wasn't the greatest president. We have used this technology once before and it's clear students knew the ins and outs of this app much better this time. Here are two excellent examples:

Student Historians will utilize a fantastic site tomorrow (I'm hoping eventually students will be able to download the app on their iPads--we will use the Smart Board tomorrow instead). DocsTeach is a National Archives site and is rich with primary source materials. Teachers can create activities to share with other teachers (I have made a few) and the National Archives has created activities, as well. Tomorrow's activity is called  "Road to Revolution: Patriotism or Treason?". Students will practice OPVL, then analyze some of the viewpoints and perspectives related to events leading to the American Revolution.  http://docsteach.org/activities/19/detail?mode=browse&menu=closed&era%5B%5D=revolution-and-the-new-nation