Tia Reynolds Engaged Learning Project

Title of Project: Historical Figures & Activist

Subject(s): ELA & Social Studies
Grade Level(s): 4th Grade
Abstract:
Fourth grade students will become activist for their school and community. In heterogeneous small
groups, students will research an issue that affects their school and/or community and comprise a
solution for the issue by considering various perspectives from different stakeholders and community
members that the issue affects. Students will begin by engaging in literary work that depicts the lives of
key activist in the womens suffrage and abolitionist movement such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton &
Sojourner Truth. They will work to complete a graphic organizer to compare and contrast the life and
work of both activists. They will evaluate how the suffrage and abolitionist movements affected both
activists, the impact both movements had on communities during that time, the strategies that the activist
used to advocate for their causes, and the obstacles they had to overcome. After analyzing both activists
and their causes, they will brainstorm several school and community issues that could potentially affect
them, with guidance from the teacher. After each group votes on the issue they want to investigate, they
will interview several stakeholders within education and the community to examine different
perspectives on the issue. These stakeholders include and or not limited to; teachers, fellow students,
students in other classrooms, school administration, parents, staff members, as well members of the St.
Paul church across the street from the school-who are consistent partners to Peyton Forest Elementary
School. Students will also use skype to interview students from neighboring schools as well as a
partnered pen pal school in Boston. In addition students will interview Terrence Lester, a local activist
who owns and operates a non-profit organization which advocates and brings awareness to homelessness
in Atlanta. After students have gathered enough information to take a stance on their issue, they will
record their findings, opinions, and solution to the issue on www.kidblog.com.
Learner Description/Context:
Students in this class are predominantly African American in a Title 1 school. There are 28 students in
the classroom, 24 African American and 4 Hispanic. Of those students, there are 14 males and 14
females. Seventy-eight percent of the students are considered EIP or receive Special Education services.
Although many students receive supplemental support from EIP, Special Education, or daily tutoring,
this project will take place primarily in their general classroom setting. Since most students do not have
internet capability at home, the majority of their research will also be done in the classroom. Family will
be encouraged to allow their child to interview them at home regarding their issue/topic of choice. Since
most of the students in the classroom lack technological resources, they are welcomed to use any tool of
their choice to interview their families at home. Their interview could be recorded, video-taped, or
simply done on pencil and paper. Students will report their findings and interviews daily on
www.kidblog.com. All research and writing for this project will be done in class during the integrated
ELA and Social Studies block. They will complete their research on classroom computers, the school
computer lab, and school ipads. Students will be given advance notice of the stakeholders who will visit
our class for interviews. This will give them time to research important questions and seek guidance
from the teacher to assist with composing interview questions. Recorders and video cameras will be
checked out from the media center for students to use during their interviews of stakeholders at school.
Groups will be given time in the morning and afternoon to update their blogs. Since this project will
contain many different components, students will be heterogeneously grouped to better support one
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Tia Reynolds Engaged Learning Project

another. Groups will be compromised of about 4-6 students. Students will have their classroom teacher,
media specialists, and technology specialist to assist them in their projects.
Time Frame:
The project will take roughly four weeks & should be considered a cross-curricular assignment with
reading, writing, and social studies standards being addressed, students will have about 1hour each day
to work specifically with the project.
Standards Assessed:
CCSS-ELA-Literacy RL 4.1 Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says
explicitly and when drawing inferences from the text.
CCSS-ELA-Literacy RI 4.3 Explain events, procedures, ideas or concepts in a historical, scientific, or
technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text.
CCSS-ELA-Literacy W 4.1Write opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with
reasons
and information.
o W4.1a Introduce a topic or text clearly, state an opinion and create an organizational structure in
which related ideas are grouped to support the writers purpose
o W4.1b Provide reasons that are supported by facts and details.
o W4.1d Provide a concluding section or statement related to the opinion presented.
National Standards for Civics and Government
NSS-C. K-4.2 Values and Principles of Democracy
What are the Basic Values and Principles of American Democracy?
What are the most important values and principles of American democracy?
What are some important beliefs Americans have about themselves and their government?
How can people work together to promote the values and principles of American democracy?
NSS-C. K-4.5 Roles of the Citizen
What are the Roles of the Citizen in American Democracy?
What are important responsibilities of Americans?
How can Americans participate in their government?
ISTE Standards
1. Creativity and innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and
processes using technology.
a. Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
b. Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
2. Communication and collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a
distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
a. Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital
environments and media
d. Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems
3. Research and information fluency
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
b. Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of
Jo Williamson, Ph.D., Kennesaw State University

Tia Reynolds Engaged Learning Project

sources and media
Learner Objectives:.
Student are expected to:
a. Discuss biography Elizabeth Cady Stanton.
b. Explain the significance of Sojourner Truths address to the abolitionist and suffrage
movements.
c. Understand the values and principles of American democracy
d. Explain the responsibilities of American citizens and how students can participate in
government
Students will be assessed by daily exit tickets that will measure their understanding of these concepts.
They will also be assessed on their daily updates of research and interviews via their online blog.
The hook or Introduction:
I will start this lesson by using our Mystery Suitcase. I will place various items in the suitcase that will
help lead into the lesson. Items such as womens rights posters, a voting ballot, an old newspaper,
cotton, and a photo of slaves will be included in the suitcase. After pulling items out of the suitcase, I
will ask students to jot down what they think our next unit or topic will cover. After allowing students to
brainstorm, I will allow them to share their ideas aloud. After sharing, I will inform students that we will
focus on two very important movements in history; the Womens Suffrage & Abolitionist movement. To
introduce the lesson, students will view two short videos via brainpop covering Womens suffrage & the
Abolitionist movement
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/womenssuffrage/
https://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/ushistory/slavery/
After the video, the teacher will read aloud Battle Box and Just Passing Through which discusses
the lives of both Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth.
After the read-aloud & video, the teacher will lead the students in whole group discussion, discussing
the following questions:
1) What events in Elizabeth Stanton/Sojourner Truths early life might explain why she was so
committed to showing that women are equal to men?
2) What reasons did Elizabeth Stanton give for why she had as much right to vote as men?
After the discussion, students will work in small groups to compare & contrast the characteristics of
Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Sojourner Truth. The class will then discuss the results.
Process:
Week 1
During the first week of the project, the teacher will still provide significant background knowledge for
both the Womens suffrage & abolitionist movements by focusing on two important key figures;
Elizabeth Cady Stanton & Sojourner Truth since this is an important standard for 4th grade history. After
finishing the hook of the lesson, the teacher will display an interactive power-point that will provide
key notes on Stanton & Truth. Students will also be able to gain insight on important characteristics of
advocates as they begin their journey of advocacy. The teacher will show Sojourner Truths famous
speech, Aint I a Woman? Before getting started, the teacher will group students into heterogeneous
groupings of 4-6 students. The teacher will then explain to students that they will explore an issue in
their school or community that could potentially affect them. Some examples are; a four day school
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Tia Reynolds Engaged Learning Project

week, Saturday school, a change in the grading scale, or decrease in funding certain school activities.
The teacher will provide at-least five issues to provide direction and then students are to brainstorm a list
of issues as well. After brainstorming several issues, students will choose/vote on the issue they will
pursue with their group members. Students should be interested in this project because they will explore
an issue that they brainstormed/voted on that they feel directly affects them as students in their
community. Students will become advocates for a solution to the chosen issue. Their job is to compose a
solution and advocate for it using the research and findings they compile through-out the project. The
teacher will review project details, checklist, and rubric with students. Students will have the
opportunity to experiment with www.kidblog.com by writing their first entry on their blog.
Independent Task
1. Students will listen to Terrence Lester, a community activist and owner & operator of Love Beyond
Walls foundation to discuss his role, his work, and the importance of advocacy.
a. Have groups present their chosen issue/topic to Mr. Lester. Mr. Lester can assist students in coming up
with questions they will ask future stakeholders. Students could also practice asking Mr. Lester these
questions.
Aint I a Woman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq3AYiRT4no
Week 2
Students will actively engage in research with their groups as well as conduct interviews at home and at
school. Students will have daily use of computers to research their chosen issue and potential solutions
to their issue with their group. Teacher will go over procedures for interviews and allow students to
practice conducting interviews. Teacher will teach students to use the interview tools they will need to
interview stakeholders, such as voice recorders, video cameras, as well as interview templates. After
conducting research and interviews, students will record their findings and thoughts onto
www.kidblog.com
Independent Task
2. Distribute the Examine the Issue sheet. Have students fill in their ideas under Student.
3. Assign students to interview other stakeholders and record their opinions on the worksheet.
(Through-out this week, students will interview the Administration staff, various teachers, students in
other classrooms, community members from St. Paul church and their families.)
Week 3
During this week, students will have the opportunity to skype with their pen-pal school in Boston to
compare and contrast the perspectives of their local stakeholders to those of another community. This
can influence their solutions to the problem, reaffirm ideas, and allows them to see the issue through
multiple lenses. During this week, students will also begin to compile their interview recordings and
upload the audio/footage to their kidblog.
Independent Task
1. Allow students to skype students from a Boston Elementary school & a neighboring district school
that they have pen-palled with before on previous projects. This should provide students with a different
perspective as well. If possible, try to skype with community stakeholders in the Boston Elementary
school. This should give students a good idea on whether the issue they chose is an issue unique to just
their community or if it also affects people all around the world.
Jo Williamson, Ph.D., Kennesaw State University

Tia Reynolds Engaged Learning Project

Week 4
During this week, students will tie in all of their information. Based on their findings, students will take
a stance on their issue by proposing a solution to the issue. Teacher will review persuasive writing with
students by using a whole class graphic organizer. They will utilize the same organizer to organize their
persuasive blog where they will convince their audience that the solution they composed is the best
solution to solve the issue in their school or community. Students will compose their final blog post by
uploading their persuasive essay.
Independent Task
1. Students will use the persuasive writing graphic organizer to prepare their arguments.
2. Students will complete a minimum five paragraph persuasive piece.
Product:
The end product will be the students finished blog which will allow students to record their findings and
formulated opinion regarding the issue they examined. The blog can be a space for students to record
future civic issues where their voices can be seen by students and stakeholders around the world. The
blog will be meaningful to students because it specifically helps students to see links between ideas,
assist them with comparing/contrasting, while engaging and challenging them. The product is also
meaningful because it will serve as a medium for communicating their voice and opinion about certain
civic topics. Students will use ipads to create their product. Students will be required to use sound,
photos, and or videos in their blog. Students will be graded/assessed using a rubric.
Technology Use:
Students will use technology for their daily research of the issue they chose. They will also use
technology to view brainpop and skype students /stakeholders from other schools for interviews. They
will use technology to take pictures and record interviews of stakeholders for their popplet blog. Lastly,
they will use technology to create their end product which is their blog on www.kidblog.com
References and Supporting Material:
Websites students will use for support:
http://constitutioncenter.org/learn/educational-resources/we-the-civics-kids/
http://www.brainpop.com/educators/community/event/womens-suffrage/2016-11-12/
https://www.kidblog.com
http://www.skype.com/en/
http://lovebeyondwalls.org/

Jo Williamson, Ph.D., Kennesaw State University