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Re-Making History


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Keywords: history, communities, podcasting, slideshow, photography
Subject(s): English/Language Arts, Social Studies, Technology, Music, Photography, Podcasting
Grades 3 through 6
School: Northside Elementary School, Benson, MN
Planned By: Julie Carroll
Original Author: Julie Carroll, Benson
In studying communities, students need to gain an understanding of what makes a community. Focusing on the main principles of where people live, work, and play, students will create a podcast and slideshow. They will show how our rural community relates to those three principles in comparison to suburban and urban communities.

First, students will learn what makes up a community and through discussion, will come up with the three principles of a community. Then students will explore other communities that are urban and suburban and compare. While they will find many differences, they will conclude that they fit into the categories of communities. Using Google Earth, they will make physical comparisons of the communities.

Next, a representative from a local museum will share the history of the town. Students may also have other resources such as historical socieities, books, etc. to tap into and learn about their community and its early beginnings and development.

Students will be given clues and then go on a scavenger hunt in our town, looking for some of the important historical sites mentioned by the museum representative. Their job will be to take a picture of the site for use in a slideshow and to document that they "found" the site that matches the clue.

A storyboard will need to be made, outlining their podcast information. Students should decide on what is being said and who is saying it. Using ToolFactory podcasting or another podcasting software, students will record how their community lives, plays, and works. They will introduce new vocabulary learned in the unit and share the comparisons they made with other communities. Students will add sounds and music that they have created to create their podcast.

The slideshow should contain the pictures of the community and text should depict why that site is/was important to the history and development of their town. Students can also create a timeline showing significant events and place in the slideshow.


Cross-Curriculum Ideas
In music, students may create the tunes/sounds for podcasting.
Links: Google Earth link
Materials: Mobile Labs, Podcasting, xD Memory Cards, Digital Voice Recorders