Also, it was interesting to see what many of our other classmates brought in to represent their topics. Some other items brought in were pictures, rocks, feathers, dollar bills and other materials. I liked that even though members of the groups did not plan it, they brought in some of the same items. It shows a similar thought processing when choosing artifacts based on their topics,and i thought they applied very well. The artifact bag project is a great way to teach social studies in a meaningful way. It is really helpful to bring in physical artifacts that can be passed around throughout the group and discussed. In my group, we all brought artifacts relating to Lewis and Clark and the expedition westward. I thought that our group did a great job in collecting artifacts that connected to this topic, and it was really interesting to see the different approaches we took. Some of the artifacts that we brought include railroad tracks, moccasins, beads, among many other items. I had a lot of fun looking through my group members items, and trying to figure out what their items had in common with each other.
My only wish for this project is that we had more time to meet with the other groups. It was helpful to meet with my own group for most of the class to compare our items since we were part of the same topic, but I would have liked to see more of the other groups' items rather than a quick description at the end of class.
Here is a link to my PowerPoint, which includes additional pictures, as well as my book and article choices for this lesson.
Brian, your artifact bag was awesome! It would definitely engage students of all ages, especially the second graders we taught. I love how you included concrete objects, instead of printed out pictures of things like I had to. Making the bow also shows that you put a lot of work into your bag (and totally made your group members look bad..Thanks!)
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it would have been nice to be able to spend time with other groups. It would have been more challenging to discover their artifact bags' concepts because we did not have to learn about their topics as in-depth as we had to with Lewis and Clark and the expansion westward. But, it was still great seeing our own group's work and how we all had our own unique spin on the bags.
I loved your artifact bag, I think it was the most creative and thought provoking. I also loved the concrete objects instead of printed pictures like we did. I could tell you enjoyed this activity and when students know you enjoy something it helps them learn better. So good job (:
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