Famous Last Words

After studying about famous people of the American Revolution, students used the Yakit app to pretend they were Crispus Attucks, Molly Pitcher, Abigail Adams, Martha Washington, or Peter Salem and tell us what these famous people would have to say for themselves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you build a crate strong enough for the Boston Tea Party?

Today students were presented with a STEM building challenge- Can you build a crate strong enough to protect your tea from the Boston Tea Party with a limited amount of supplies?!

Students did a GREAT job with this!! Some crates lasted over 45 minutes in water before the tea was damaged! Following the building and testing, students were asked to reflect on their building- what went well? What would you change? What was the biggest challenge? What do you think- How would YOU build a crate to withstand the Boston Tea Party?!

The Case of the Boston Massacre

Today our 4th grade detectives were presented with a new case to investigate! During the Boston Massacre, British soldiers shot and killed five colonists! BUT, was it self-defense or murder?!? It was up to our detectives to study the crime scene and evidence to find out!! They studied primary source documents of illustrations of the Boston Massacre from a variety of viewpoints, investigated different pieces of evidence such as snowballs and clubs, and took into consideration the scene of the crime (winter, night time). After close investigation at the scene of the crime, they came back to the station to listen to four eye witness accounts. Each account had a slightly different take on what actually happened, so students had to look for similarities and differences between the stories. Throughout the entire process, students kept notes in their detectives notebooks for both sides. At the end, they analyzed their evidence and made their decision.

What do you think- did the British soldiers commit murder, or was it an act of self-defense?!

The Crime Scene:

 

 

Ready to investigate!

 

Analyzing the eye witness accounts

 

 

 

Listen to one of our eyewitness accounts here!

Famous Last Words

If you were Abigail Adams, what would you have to say for yourself? What about if you were Martha Washington, Molly Pitcher, Crispus Attucks, or Peter Salem? Here's what the kids thought they would say...

Carissa and Hailey- Peter Salem

http://iyak.it/v/72BEh

Alyssa and Bryson- Peter Salem

http://iyak.it/v/q2BCN

Lauren and Kaden- Molly Pitcher

http://iyak.it/v/t2BCP

Izabella- Molly Pitcher

http://iyak.it/v/Q2BCR

Caroline, Emma Kate, and Evan- Molly Pitcher

http://iyak.it/v/d2BRb

Kayley and Cameron- Martha Washington

http://iyak.it/v/r2BRg

Brayson and Matthias- Crispus Attucks 

http://iyak.it/v/r2BSV

Collin and Boyce- Peter Salem

http://iyak.it/v/A2BSX

Sarah and Haley- Crispus Attucks

http://iyak.it/v/D2BRq

 

Road to the Revolution

Last week, students researched, summarized, and taught each other about the events that led up to the American Revolution. Together we created a timeline of important events and taxation acts that caused the American Revolutionary War. This showed students that it was not just one event that led to the war; rather, it was a chain of events (like a puzzle!) that would lead the colonists to fight for their freedom against the British. This activity set us up for next week's topics: the Declaration of Independence and the key battles of the Revolutionary war!

Below are examples of great work: