Kinecting History

Specific Literacy Strategies Used

CATI
- Adapted from an Expeditionary Learning technique, this is a close reading strategy that is HIGHLY useful for getting students to process and analyze reading. This has been used to individual readings, whole class assignments, or group work.

It Says - I Say
- This is an annotation and note taking stragegy that asks students to pull source information, summarize, and analyze it before incorporating it into their own work. This is useful to teach students how to spot relevant information and how to summarize it.

Frayer Model
- This is a graphic organizer that focuses on vocabulary acquisition. We love it because it encourages students to familiarize themselves with new or complex vocabulary in ways that are favorable to many types of learning and processing.

Thesis Paragraph Mad-Lib
- This is a pre-writing strategy that we used for our students to help teach thesis writing. All students were asked to fill in the mad lib as their writing prosepctus and formulate their thesis using the mad lib as their self-made reference point.

Overview

This project was an exploration of US history through the study of Constitutional Amendments. Students learned about US history and government, then chose a constitutional amendment as a topic of individual study. Students wrote op-eds that analyzed the historical context, impact, and modern significance of their chosen amendment and created a 'rolling ball sculpture' that represented key events in the history of their chosen Amendment.

Learning Goals

Familiarize students with the events of the American Revolution
Understand the fundemental purpose and philosophies of government
Write an analytical piece that incorporates source information with author perspective and interpretation