Smartboards in the Classroom

In researching through the Library of Congress's new exhibition on the Inauguration materials of eighteen US Presidents (see attached link), I came upon this image from 1848 and thought the following lesson I've just written might be useful for you as we get closer to Inauguration 2009.

Zachary Taylor, US President (1784-1850) Image by Thomas W. Strong, engraver,  Union. New York: Ackerman, ca. 1848, Woodcut on wove paper,  Prints & Photographs Division (17A), LC-USZC4-2713 [cph 3g02713] 

  Go to the attached link for better image clarity.

Learning Objective: To Develop a Greater Understanding of US Political History

• Compare and contrast the campaign posters of three previous Presidents and project them on the SmartBoard. Cite all sources.
  
• Describe each poster in detail, project them one at a time, draw an arrow to an item on the poster and write a sentence using the pens describing that item. Convert handwriting to text using the inking function.
  
• Write a brief biography of the President portrayed in the poster and project your essay on the SmartBoard. Present your biography.
  
• Research and make a chart of voting statistics using spreadsheet software.  Project your chart and present your findings.
  
• Write an opinion paper on what the poster tells us about US society at that time. Project your paper and present.

Learning Modalities Addressed: Visual, Tactile/Kinesthetic

Content Areas Addressed: Art, Social Studies, English Language Arts

Standards Addressed: see "Standards" category to right for pdf

ISTE - 1. Creativity; 2. Communication/Collaboration, 3. Research and Information Fluency, 4. Critical Thinking, 5. Digital Citizenship, 6. Technology Operations and Concepts. 

NYSED ELA - 1. Language for Information & Understanding, 2. Language for Literary Response & Expression, 3. Language for Critical Analysis and Evaluation, 4. Language for Social Interaction

Please give us your thoughts on this lesson in the comment box below.  If you use this lesson with your students, please let us know how they liked it.  Were they engaged?  Did they absorb the content?  Did their response surprise you?  Together we learn! 

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   Build Your Wild Self!

Sometimes, we all just need something to do to relax.  Here's a great website from the New York Zoos and Aquariums.

Here's a link to many wonderful websites.