What Are They Thinking (WATT)?
For this activity, I used the terms “Jamestown” and “History” to see “what they were thinking”. The terms were selected because the students are about to start their unit on Jamestown and the essential question of my unit is about history…why is it important to learn about past events. I did not want to use a lot of class time for this activity so I came up with the idea of a whole class interview. I created a quick word document with two text boxes, one with Jamestown at the top and one with History at the top. The students were given 5 minutes to write down what they knew, or write down the first thing that popped into their minds when they heard/saw the terms. They could write things down or draw them.
Me (as I show the sheet of paper): “Hi class, today I need your help on planning a lesson. I am going to give you a sheet of paper with two boxes on it. There is one box has the word "Jamestown" on it…I would like you to write (or draw) what you already know about Jamestown. The second box has the word "History" in it, I would like you to write (or draw) what you know about history. It could be why we study history, or why or why not it is your favorite subject. Just write whatever pops in your mind. You have 5 minutes for this activity.”
Some of the more interesting comments/drawings were:
YC: re: Jamestown - She drew a map of Virginia (complete with Eastern Shore) and labeled Jamestown on the James River
LB: re: Jamestown - She drew a picture of a ship on water with the comment, “they sailed” and then she drew a person with what looks like a gun, shooting people. Re: History – she wrote “I like to learn about History”. (Note: if doing a one-on-one interview, I would have asked why.)
AB: re: Jamestown – wrote “they are different then we are very different they do not have stuff like we do they have old fashion stuff. Re: History – she wrote, “I like history because you learn a lot about things that you never learned.”
JP: re: Jamestown – he wrote, “I know Jamestown make weapons out of wood and gold.” Re: History – “I know that history means long long ago.”
LE: re: Jamestown – she writes, “1607 settlers came. Named Jamestown after King James. Built a fort around Jamestown. Battles with the natives and settlers. Pocahontas lived there.” Re: History – she writes “I think that it’s good to learn about history because we them know how hard life was like many, many years ago. I like history a lot!! J
ND: re: Jamestown – she writes, “Jamestown is in Virginia”. Re: History – she writes, “It’s a little hard for me, it’s not my favorite subject, and I think about the past and when people from different places came to Virginia”.
CM: re: Jamestown – he writes, it has lots of cool stuff and it is very old”. Re: History – he writes, “I do not like history and it is hard.”
JB: re: Jamestown – he writes, “they hunt” and he drew a picture of an Indian using a bow and arrow to shoot/kill an animal. (I am guessing a deer, because of the antlers, and I say killing an animal because it has 2 “X”s for eyes and its tongue is sticking out). JB thinks History is really fun.
GA: re: Jamestown – she writes, “Jamestown was named after King James and is located on the James River. It’s a very important town in history.” She also draws a picture of a three-sided fort with trees along the outside and little houses in the interior. Re: history – she writes, “I like history. Sometimes it’s really fun. Sometimes is not as fun. History can be one of my favorite subjects.” (the underlines are hers)
MT: re: Jamestown – he writes, “Jamestown has some American Indians and the European settlers came there.” He also drew picture of an Indian shooting a settler. Re: History – “history is my 4th favorite subject.”
HN: re: Jamestown – she writes, “The people in Jamestown were the first settlers in Virginia. The people in Jamestown hunted and fished”.
BS: re: Jamestown – she writes, “Well the river, ‘the James River’ is important in Jamestown. It is part of history”. Re: History – she writes, “history is very important because you should know about like Christifur (her spelling) Columbus.”
For, this activity, I can see that for the most part, the class seems to get the King James – James River – Jamestown connection. They know that Jamestown was an early settlement in Virginia, and they know the native – settler connection, although somewhat stereotypical. I think in planning a Jamestown unit, this activity will help me guide the instruction and activities. To best guide the unit planning, this activity, or any of the WATT activities would need to be done fairly early in the school year to allow a teacher time to plan, or change what they may already have planned.
I think in going forward with unit planning I would concentrate on the Who, What, Where, When and Why of Jamestown, concentrating on the settlers and the natives (think giant Venn diagram), and work on reducing the stereotypes. I would also try to find a way to relate learning about history/historical events to current times/events.
These are some of the thoughts/ideas I have come up with:
Me (as I show the sheet of paper): “Hi class, today I need your help on planning a lesson. I am going to give you a sheet of paper with two boxes on it. There is one box has the word "Jamestown" on it…I would like you to write (or draw) what you already know about Jamestown. The second box has the word "History" in it, I would like you to write (or draw) what you know about history. It could be why we study history, or why or why not it is your favorite subject. Just write whatever pops in your mind. You have 5 minutes for this activity.”
Some of the more interesting comments/drawings were:
YC: re: Jamestown - She drew a map of Virginia (complete with Eastern Shore) and labeled Jamestown on the James River
LB: re: Jamestown - She drew a picture of a ship on water with the comment, “they sailed” and then she drew a person with what looks like a gun, shooting people. Re: History – she wrote “I like to learn about History”. (Note: if doing a one-on-one interview, I would have asked why.)
AB: re: Jamestown – wrote “they are different then we are very different they do not have stuff like we do they have old fashion stuff. Re: History – she wrote, “I like history because you learn a lot about things that you never learned.”
JP: re: Jamestown – he wrote, “I know Jamestown make weapons out of wood and gold.” Re: History – “I know that history means long long ago.”
LE: re: Jamestown – she writes, “1607 settlers came. Named Jamestown after King James. Built a fort around Jamestown. Battles with the natives and settlers. Pocahontas lived there.” Re: History – she writes “I think that it’s good to learn about history because we them know how hard life was like many, many years ago. I like history a lot!! J
ND: re: Jamestown – she writes, “Jamestown is in Virginia”. Re: History – she writes, “It’s a little hard for me, it’s not my favorite subject, and I think about the past and when people from different places came to Virginia”.
CM: re: Jamestown – he writes, it has lots of cool stuff and it is very old”. Re: History – he writes, “I do not like history and it is hard.”
JB: re: Jamestown – he writes, “they hunt” and he drew a picture of an Indian using a bow and arrow to shoot/kill an animal. (I am guessing a deer, because of the antlers, and I say killing an animal because it has 2 “X”s for eyes and its tongue is sticking out). JB thinks History is really fun.
GA: re: Jamestown – she writes, “Jamestown was named after King James and is located on the James River. It’s a very important town in history.” She also draws a picture of a three-sided fort with trees along the outside and little houses in the interior. Re: history – she writes, “I like history. Sometimes it’s really fun. Sometimes is not as fun. History can be one of my favorite subjects.” (the underlines are hers)
MT: re: Jamestown – he writes, “Jamestown has some American Indians and the European settlers came there.” He also drew picture of an Indian shooting a settler. Re: History – “history is my 4th favorite subject.”
HN: re: Jamestown – she writes, “The people in Jamestown were the first settlers in Virginia. The people in Jamestown hunted and fished”.
BS: re: Jamestown – she writes, “Well the river, ‘the James River’ is important in Jamestown. It is part of history”. Re: History – she writes, “history is very important because you should know about like Christifur (her spelling) Columbus.”
For, this activity, I can see that for the most part, the class seems to get the King James – James River – Jamestown connection. They know that Jamestown was an early settlement in Virginia, and they know the native – settler connection, although somewhat stereotypical. I think in planning a Jamestown unit, this activity will help me guide the instruction and activities. To best guide the unit planning, this activity, or any of the WATT activities would need to be done fairly early in the school year to allow a teacher time to plan, or change what they may already have planned.
I think in going forward with unit planning I would concentrate on the Who, What, Where, When and Why of Jamestown, concentrating on the settlers and the natives (think giant Venn diagram), and work on reducing the stereotypes. I would also try to find a way to relate learning about history/historical events to current times/events.
These are some of the thoughts/ideas I have come up with:
- How can I relate settling in Jamestown to families moving (i.e. military, job change, etc)?
- Are there current explorations (Mars) going on?
- Were there other settlement eras similar to Jamestown?
- Are there currently new settlements going on?