Variations on a Canadian History Theme

I should have known better than to publicly set a goal of "posting the next day." Oops. :)

The blabbers took a bit of work, but were ultimately a success. Some of them did not record completely the first time, and had to be redone, but they are so easy to do that it wasn't that much of a problem. The finished products are incredibly popular and are being watched by a wide variety of people. Check them out here!

Another project that has been ongoing is the fifth grade Canadian history research project. Students are investigating different areas of Canadian history. I have two fifth grade classes, and they are approaching this topic slightly differently. The first class to start this research is taking a more traditional approach. Students chose which segment of Canadian history they were most interested in, and they had to gather information on several topics within their chosen timeframe. Then, once they have gathered their information, students will create a vodcast to tell an interesting story they uncovered during their research. They need to give the big picture, too, in their vodcast. This project was mostly designed by the classroom teacher. I provide as many sources as possible - but there really are not a lot available on some of the topics. I also created a pathfinder of websites and databases. My goal was to organize the information so that the students could easily locate sources. I didn't want them to struggle to actually find information because the information itself is sometimes quite dry - not to mention complex. My thought was that the students should be expending mental energy on understanding what they are reading rather than how to actually find anything. I definitely think this project could be improved, but it also serves a purpose. It is the first "big" research for fifth graders and it does help that they are fresh and focused on the content. It is not an inquiry project, but at least they are creating something at the end that has a real purpose in the classroom.

The other fifth grade classroom teacher was not interested in having her students do a big project, but I wanted them to have a similar experience before the holiday break to keep them in line with the other class. With this group, I selected major events and personalities from the timeline of Canadian history and assigned topics based on ability and resources. Students were working in groups of two. I know - ew! Assigned topics and assigned groups? Hear me out! The goal for this project is to have students practice gathering information in order to give an informal oral presentation on a very specific topic. I wanted the research to be short and focused, and I wanted the students to track their sources and take notes appropriately. I also wanted students to have an authentic purpose. Since they are responsible for sharing their information with the class, their audience is their peers. The classroom teacher came right on board when I proposed this modified project, and she will allow them to present during class time as each topic comes up.

Overall, I'm happy with the way the fifth graders have performed on this research project. They worked very hard and were very focused. I always strive to design inquiry-based projects, but it doesn't always match the goals or style of the classroom teacher. There's always another project coming up.... :)