We are steeped in American History here in our Social Studies classes! TAXATION ROLE PLAY One of the causes of the American Revolution was the fact that England was taxing the colonies without them having any say in it. "NO TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION" was a common cry in the 1770s in the colonies. To help the children understand how the colonists felt, we role played having to pay taxes to England... Of course we had to have a King! And members of Parliament! The tax collectors read aloud which of the new tax acts they were enacting (Stamp Act, Sugar Act or Townshend Act) and how many Skittles each colonist had to pay. As they paid more and more taxes, the colonists got angrier and angrier. One group even refused to pay their taxes...they lost ALL their Skittles and ended up in jail! This activity really helped the students understand how the colonists felt when they didn't have any say in how their money was being used. MUSEUM IN A BOXAnother activity that really helped bring social studies to life was the Museum in a Box activity. These are boxes are artifacts or replicas sent from Ohio History Connection in Columbus. We had 2 boxes to look at...Pioneer Life and Tribes of the Ohio River Valley. This was a fantastic, hands-on way for children to see, feel, touch, and, yes, even SMELL, how these people in our state's history lived. Here are some of the items we got to pass around. THANK YOU HARMAN PTO FOR FUNDING THE MUSEUM IN A BOX GRANT! READER'S THEATER Students LOVE presenting reader's theater! This time we had scripts for The Boston Massacre and The Boston Tea Party. What a great way to really understand these two events that played an important event in leading to the Revolution. MENTOR TEXTS
Our mentor texts for the past weeks also focused on the American Revolution. The Scarlet Stockings Spy was from the viewpoint of a young girl who spied for the Patriots, Katie's Trunk told of a Loyalist girl and how the war impacted relations with her neighbors. It was great to get perspectives from both sides.
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AuthorAnne Kenney Archives
May 2016
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