Yeah!!!!!!!!!! I can finally start my unit! I had to wait until my student teacher was finished. I feel sooo behind. I started this past Monday by introducing my Treasure Box. It was a great way to peek my students interest. We sat in a circle around the Treasure Box. We had a great conversation on the items inside. I was so surprised at how many children were amazed at the buttons! The tea brick created some funny remarks as well.
I included all the items from the conference as well as additional ones. I have a copy of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and the Declaration of Independence. One student asked if it was the real one! I told him I would be in big trouble if it was! I also added photographs of the founders and signers from the Library of Congress. From previously teaching Pennsylvania history, I had lots of books to include to the box. My fourth graders liked to read the "Who Was..." books. So I added Benjamin Franklin to the list. My students love to read so they were very excited about the books! I have a map of the original 13 colonies and a current map of the U.S. for the students to compare as an activity in their notebooks. I have a file on bibliographies which include George Washington, Ben Franklin, John Hancock, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Roger Sherman.
In a future lesson I have planned, I will be reading from Signing their Rights Away to demonstrate that this process wasn't an easy decision for these men. That even though they wanted freedom that they knew it could come at a price. I want to include factual information for my left-brain students and allow my right-brain students to create a picture of these events for a particular signer.
"Pause and Ponder"....I like being able to connect my Treasure Box with my curriculum. We do cover these topics in First Grade but very briefly. I could tell from looking at my students faces that they will really enjoy this so much more than sitting in front of their text books alone.
