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Adaptor Grants Home:
Teachers Network: Adaptor Grants: Through the Looking Glass: Life in Colonial Times

Original Project by Miriam Gomez

Adapted By:
Danielle Taylor & Rebecca Sacra
P.S. 261

New York, NY
Principal:
Zipporiah Mills

Danielle Taylor is in her fourth year of teaching as a fourth grade teacher.  She has a Masters degree in elementary education.  Rebecca Sacra graduated in 2004 from NYU with a Masters in Childhood Special Education.  Rebecca is a fourth grade CTT teachers at PS 261.


Modifications

We created several worksheets and homework sheets for students to copy research information from the websites.  We read A Journey to the New World: The Diary of Remember Patience Whipple as a shared reading.  We did a historical fiction unit in book clubs where the students read Dear America and My America books.  We watched video clips on the laptops.  We also read the New York Studies Weekly, a student newspaper.

Instructional Objectives

Students will:

  • Gain an understanding of the New World

  • Discover life as a colonist through their way of life

  • Use the laptops to help students do research


Technology Integration

During the four week unit, students used the laptops twice a week with a partner.

Assessment

Students were evaluated based on their worksheets, homework, journal entries, and work with their partners. 

Tips for Teachers


I had a lot of difficulty accessing certain links.  The other difficulty I encountered was that during many lessons students were just expected to read pages and pages of information.  I created guidelines and worksheets so that students were active while reading.  I supplemented this unit with a read-aloud and the students read historical fiction books from that time period.  Some of the worksheets were also difficult so I re-created them.


Teacher-Created Worksheets

Download (Word documents)

Worksheet 1

Worksheet 2

Worksheet 3

 

Student Work Samples

Click on each thumbnail to see a full-screen version.

 

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