Which Decade Do You Like?

Wow! We had a great time today in our Social Studies class. Our project was to research a decade and represent it in a fun and interesting way. My group chose to represent the 60's. The 1960's was a decade of change. The young people in that decade no longer were satisfied with going along with the norm of life; they wanted to be heard and have things change. These people who challenged the societal norms of this time were considered to be the counterculture. Some of the issues that were protested against causing a rift in American society were: The Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, the assasination of JFK, and the use of birth control. If you would like to learn more about the 1960's just click on the link http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade60.html  Many of the ideals and structure we see today are because of the 60's. Here is our visual representation of the 1960's.

The 1980's

Our classmates chose to represent the 1950's and the 1980's. The 1980's was the decade that I was a teenager in. It was a good times to be a kid. Both groups did a fantastic job.

The 1950's

Onomatopoeia

 I know, what a mouthful. This was the lesson I taught to my 5th grade class today. Onomatopoeia is pronounced o-na-mota-pea. It is such a fun word to say, but I have to admit in order for me to say it correctly I need to say it rhythmically. Onomatopoeia is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named, like sizzle. My students had a great time finding onomatopoeia in the novel The BFG. If I had more time I would have had my students make their own comic strip; instead they illustrated the onomatopoeia of their choice. Here is one of their illustrations....

Trade Fair

In my Social Studies class we had a trade fair. Everyone was to bring something to trade. I brought a dozen almost homemade chocolate chip cookies and a pack of Halloween pencils in a frightening Halloween bowl. I thought the ladies in my class did a fantastic job of showing their creativity by the things they made for the fair. Here is a list of some of the items that we were able to trade for: baked goods, name tags, a jeweled lanyard, jewelry, decoupage clipboard, a cupcake in a jar, books, and sticky notes.

I traded my wares for 4 yummy funfetti cupcakes, star sticky notes, and 3 books.
After everyone was done trading, we all got into a circle and talked about some concepts that could be taught using this activity. Some of the concepts discussed were: the relationship between the Indians and the French, scarcity, and supply and demand.

What Do You See?

In class we were asked to bring in items that we would grab if the house was on fire and that would fit into a shoebox. We then broke off into small groups to share the treasures of our shoebox with one another. We then put all of the contents on a table and was asked what did we see? What are some things that we can tell about the people who inhabit  classroom 106 during the 11:30 to 12:15 time period?
I learned that nearly all of us found photographs to be important items to take with us and that each item told a story about what that person feels to be important. I also learned that we all had some sort of symbol that signified a religious belief. Here is a picture of all the items that were brought in. What do you see?

Jumping In

Ready or not, here I come!
This is my first blog ever so please be kind. This blog has been created so that I can share my experiences in the Social Studies class I am taking at IUSB. I want to start out by sharing my thoughts about the documentary I watched called Paper Clips.This movie is about a middle school in rural Tennessee that began a study on the Holocaust. The students learned that 6 million Jews were murdered by Hitler and his Nazi soldiers. The students were having a difficult time comprehending the number 6 million so they tried to come up with a visual representation of what it would look like. They did some research and found out that the paper clip was used by the Norwegians as a symbol of resistance to the Nazi's. From then on the students began to collect paperclips to represent the 6 million Jews that were murdered. They ended up making a monument with a rail car that was used to transport the Jews to the concentration camp.It is filled with 11 million  paper clips and memorabilia sent to them by the Holocaust survivors, victims family, and many other people around the world. The students played a major role in this project and now teach the visitors about the Holocaust.
I feel that this project allowed the students and the community to think about the prejudices that they have and helped some to change their ways. This film is a wonderful example of how people can change and change can come about because of education.  I have included a link about the Paper Clips Project. http://blog.iamequalproject.org/paper-clips-project/