The Salem Witch Trials: A Google Search Story

Creating activities and units that effectively place students “in the shoes” of key characters in the past is what sets the best history teachers apart from the good history teachers.  Most people can describe events from the past to their students.  Many of them can even explain these events in a way that is meaningful and memorable.  Some teachers take it to the next level by introducing primary sources to their students, allowing them to see artifacts of the actual events so they can form a connection to the material they are learning.  The best teachers strive to create a bond between their students and the characters they are studying. 

Joann featured resources this week that do a good job of bringing the history of the Salem Witch Trials to life, and she will post more throughout the week on the Gateway Facebook and Twitter pages.  These lessons present the events in a meaningful and memorable way.  Even with well-planned lessons like these, it is nice to be able to modify certain parts for the particular learning styles and interests of your students.  One simple modification is to change or enhance the evaluation or summary activity at the end of the lesson.

A perfect concluding activity would “cement” the learning from the lessons, evaluate what learning has taken place, and form a lasting connection between the students and the historical characters they are studying.  This is a pretty tall order, and no single activity will be the best for every class, every year.  I have been researching some neat tools and ideas that I will share over the next few months as I try them out on my own and with students.

For a historical event such as the Salem Witch Trials, it might be hard for students to really empathize and connect with both the women being accused and the accusers. 

The mass hysteria that took place is almost unparalleled, especially in the timeframe of students’ personal experience.  Writing some type of a story involving the characters and events to share with the class is a good way to conclude a unit on these events.  A traditional story created by students on paper is always a valuable use of time.  It’s a creative outlet for your students and a good way to assess what they learned and can explain about the theme. 

If you are looking to bring some more technology into your classroom, you can probably find a good online digital storytelling tool to use with your students.  This will add variety to your classroom while still testing the same basic skills.  There are plenty of free online tools to help your students create stories in new ways.  These tools are are useful for other projects and demonstrations as well.  One very unique tool is the Google Search Stories Video Creator.  Until I tried it out, I had no idea how fun and educational it can be for students.  A Google Search Story basically tells the main ideas of a story by showing Google searches and results on topics within the story.  You will probably need to see one to really understand how it works.  The first time I saw a Google Search Story was during a 2010 Super Bowl commercial.  Do you remember this one? 

With the Google Search Stories Video Creator, students choose seven events to tell a story of what they learned.  This will help them think about the important parts of what they are studying and summarize their learning.  I attempted to create a Google Search Story from the viewpoint of an accused woman in Salem (if only she could have accessed Google!)  I am sure your students will be able to create even better stories when given the chance. I included my process so you can see how it works.  When you go the link, scroll down to the section titled “Make your own search story” to get started.

First I chose 7 search topics:

1.     Seventeenth Century Puritan beliefs

2.     Salem, Massachusetts devil possession

3.     Witchcraft

4.     Salem Witch Trials

5.     Proof of Salem witchcraft

6.     Salem Witch Trials Punishment

7.     Salem Witch Trials new findings

After seeing the results weren;t quite what I wanted, I changed my list to:

1.     puritan supernatural beliefs

2.     1692 salem girls fits

3.     17^th century devil possession

4.     salem witchcraft proof

5.     salem witch trials

6.     salem witchcraft punishment

7.     1692 girls affliction new evidence

I used the “tips” section to improve my search results.  This will lead to some good learning about Google searches.  I also made my video more interesting by changing if I was searching the web, images, or news.  The only caution I have is to monitor this so students aren’t accessing any inappropriate content.  Your school’s internet settings should probably keep it pretty safe. 

Here is my final product.  

I was happy with how it turned out, although I don’t think it demonstrates as deep of an understanding as writing a paper and pencil story from the perspective of a person involved in the events in Salem.  It would be really cool if students could select and highlight certain search results, too.  I do think it is a great tool, though, and might go well with some type of a longer presentation. 

Do you us any digital storytelling tools in your classroom?  Which ones do you like best?  Let’s talk about it all week on Facebook and Twitter.  I will be researching more tools, so please let us know what you want to know.  

~ Peggy's Corner - October 27, 2011 ~

Silly Rabbit…Programming is for Kids!

Much of the chatter among educators on Facebook and Twitter surrounds the idea of creating an authentic education for students in a world where technology is constantly changing. We discuss the importance of digital literacy and 21st century skills and we trade ideas about how to develop these skills while still covering the basic standards that are required each school year. Educators have the important job of creating students who know and understand the required content and who will succeed in society when they leave the classroom. It’s a tall order, but luckily we can connect online to a huge group of educators who share knowledge, tools, and tales of their successes and failures to guide us through the process.

Throughout the year, we have discussed and experimented with some digital tools that are great for student presentations and demonstration of knowledge. We have tried out several comic-strip generators like ToonDoo, created an Animoto movie, and designed a glog on Glogster, to name a few. All of these tools are available free to educators, and they have many applications in the classroom.

I was intrigued when I came across Scratch, because it seems more like a learning tool than a presentation tool. So, what is Scratch, and what can it do for your students? Scratch is a program developed by The Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab. Their slogan is “imagine, program, share,” and it allows students to use a graphical programming language to create interactive stories, animated movies, games, presentations, and more.

I’m not a computer programmer, and neither are my students, but I decided to read on to see what it was all about. The tutorials describe Scratch as a tool to mix different types of media clips together creatively, much as a DJ uses a scratching technique to creatively mix different music clips on vinyl records. You choose how your different media clips (pictures, sounds, etc.) interact by using programming “blocks” that snap together on the screen, much like LEGOs.

You can create your own characters or use characters on the Scratch site created by other users. These characters are called “sprites,” and you can control their actions with the Scratch programming blocks. For a basic idea of how to use the program, go to the support page that has plenty of tips to get you started. There are plenty of video tutorials, guides, and examples to help you along.

Since Joann discussed storytelling this week, I checked out the Scratch Tour called “Telling Stories with Scratch.” Once I downloaded a new version of Java, I was able to see the projects and discover some neat ideas for the classroom. The tour page is a good place to start to see some of the things people are doing with Scratch. You can download programs you like and even use the sprites they created in your own projects.

What are my students really learning when they work with the program? According to the MIT group that developed it, Scratch can be a good tool for developing programming and engineering skills such as design and problem-solving, creative thinking, systematic reasoning, and collaboration. Educators on the forums seem to agree that Scratch is a good tool for primary students through post-secondary students, even though it was originally designed for 8 to 16 year olds. It is easy enough to use for the younger students, but the flexibility and options make it a good choice for introducing programming to older students as well.

Younger students are creating simple programs and stories and older students are using their knowledge of the programming language to build interactive games and activities. We will continue to learn about Scratch and begin to create some projects of our own to demonstrate how it could work in your classroom. Take some time this summer to see if this free program would be a welcome addition in your classroom. If you or anyone you know has used Scratch, please let us know what you think. We would love to hear how you like it!

~Peggy's Corner - 7/15/2010~

Storytime

Once upon a time, there was a fabulous storyteller – which, alas, is not me. My grandmother, however, was a superb storyteller; her ability to keep scores of cousins engrossed in her tales was legendary. Her gift of timing, as well as her ability to use different accents and intonations kept us all enthralled. The oral tradition of storytelling is ancient; Homer’s numerous repetitions of the “wine-dark sea” in The Iliad and The Odyssey, for example, illustrate how the stories were memorized and passed down over the years until they were finally transcribed into print. Storytelling in the oral tradition is both a craft and an art, and something that deserves a resurgence in popularity.

Storytelling is not restricted to the oral tradition, however. Many authors are master storytellers, and the increased use of technology in schools has resulted in a happy melding of ancient art and modern methods of communication. Digital storytelling delivers narrative in a digital context, and can incorporate digital content such as images or sound. Digital stories can be as simple as a series of Powerpoint slides, or as complex as a film with music and live or animated action. There are a multitude of tools appropriate for classroom use, such as Photo Story, MovieMaker, iMovie, and others. Another tool that has gained popularity in recent years is Scratch, an easy-to-use graphical programming language from the MIT Media Lab that allows kids to create their own digital stories, games, art, and music. Tools such as Scratch present a terrific opportunity to integrate technology into the classroom and incorporate 21st century skills into the curriculum.

My picks this week focus on storytelling lessons and resources; all can be used as written or applied to a different medium if desired. As always, we’ll present a variety of additional resources and supporting information about this topic on our Facebook and Twitter pages throughout the week, so please be sure to take a look.

Ghosts and Fear in Language Arts: Exploring the Ways Writers Scare Readers
Subjects: Literature, Writing
Grade: 9-12
This lesson examines how storytellers and writers scare their audiences – how do they create suspense and fear? Students create their own scary stories using a variety of media, while learning about audience awareness and story elements. This lesson is from ReadWriteThink, which offers free resources in reading and language arts instruction. All lessons are reviewed by teachers and members of the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English, so you know they’re good. This lesson is aligned to NCTE/IRA Content Standards.

Round Robin Writing
Subjects: Writing, Language Arts, English
Grade: 4-10
In this lesson, students work in teams to write collaborative stories. Using photos or other images as story prompts, students begin a story on a computer, then are replaced by successive students on their team, each picking up the story where the previous student left off. I like the creative spirit of this lesson, where students have to think on their feet to create a story where the essential elements are not necessarily of their choosing. This lesson is a product of LearniT-TeachiT, a nonprofit dedicated to connecting business, industry, government, and other agencies to use the power of technology to prepare teachers and learners to develop 21st century skills.

Arthur: Group Stories
Subjects: Writing, Language Arts
Grade: 1-3
This guide provides numerous writing and reading comprehension activities. Students first learn about the elements of a story, and then create their own stories based on the characters from Arthur, the beloved books created by Marc Brown and also a long-running animated series on PBS Kids. I like that this lesson presents younger students with the challenge of creating their own stories, while still safely ensconced in the context of a known set of characters and settings – stimulating, but not daunting. This guide is a product of PBS, which in addition to educational television programming also provides educational resources for preK-12 students and teachers.

~Joann's Picks - 7/15/2010~