Reflection
Having reviewed the North Carolina Essential Standards, we noticed that a majority of the Fourth Grade Curriculum focuses on the historical significance of the state of North Carolina, as stated in Essential Standard 4.H.2 "Understand how notable structures, symbols and place names are significant to North Carolina," and the curriculum also relates to Essential Standard ELA-Literacy.RI.4.3 "Explain events, procedure, ideas, or concepts in a historical, scientific, or technical text, including what happened and why, based on specific information in the text." One important event being the Wright Brothers first flight in 1903. As elementary students we recall learning about the Wright Brothers first flight and its significance of being the first powered aircraft. However, it was interesting to map out the sequence of events leading up to December 17, 1903 and the impact afterwards.
During our research we discovered many interesting things about the Wright Brothers and their journey to the first powered flight. For example, both brothers left high school before graduation, became owners of their own printing business and opened their own bicycle shop which led to experiments in aviation. Even at a young age, the brothers showed they had a passion for innovation. After doing much research, it was curious to us that such successful men never got married. This had us dig deeper and interestingly there is research stating the brothers showed signs of Aspergers Syndrome, a high performing form of Autism. However, this was not a noted syndrome during this time. We can use the lesson on the Wright Brothers to not only see how far we've progressed in technology with aviation but also in the medical field.
To contribute to the website, we both met on a weekly basis to develop and format the information. We researched many different sources, both primary and secondary to be sure we were presenting the most accurate accounts. After researching together, we spent time individually filling each page with content. Each time we met, we read through to be sure our pages were cohesive. As the website progressed, we began to add in images and make use of font, color, and graphics. Together we did a final run through making sure all necessary portions were incorporated and did a final grammar and spelling check.
Throughout the semester, we have learned the importance of having multiple accounts when studying history, and we took this into consideration as we developed this website. With technology and all the resources available to educators, we should use these resources to expand our students minds and facilitate higher order thinking. Even while we were researching the Wright Brothers, we became intrigued in things we had never been taught about them before. This led us to want to dig deeper and look into multiple accounts for as many details as we could get. As teachers, we want our students to get involved into the research and have the "ah-ha" moments of discovering things on their own. This project has shown the value and positive outcomes students can receive when learning through multiple sources and getting involved in the research themselves. Students should be involved in the learning process.
During our research we discovered many interesting things about the Wright Brothers and their journey to the first powered flight. For example, both brothers left high school before graduation, became owners of their own printing business and opened their own bicycle shop which led to experiments in aviation. Even at a young age, the brothers showed they had a passion for innovation. After doing much research, it was curious to us that such successful men never got married. This had us dig deeper and interestingly there is research stating the brothers showed signs of Aspergers Syndrome, a high performing form of Autism. However, this was not a noted syndrome during this time. We can use the lesson on the Wright Brothers to not only see how far we've progressed in technology with aviation but also in the medical field.
To contribute to the website, we both met on a weekly basis to develop and format the information. We researched many different sources, both primary and secondary to be sure we were presenting the most accurate accounts. After researching together, we spent time individually filling each page with content. Each time we met, we read through to be sure our pages were cohesive. As the website progressed, we began to add in images and make use of font, color, and graphics. Together we did a final run through making sure all necessary portions were incorporated and did a final grammar and spelling check.
Throughout the semester, we have learned the importance of having multiple accounts when studying history, and we took this into consideration as we developed this website. With technology and all the resources available to educators, we should use these resources to expand our students minds and facilitate higher order thinking. Even while we were researching the Wright Brothers, we became intrigued in things we had never been taught about them before. This led us to want to dig deeper and look into multiple accounts for as many details as we could get. As teachers, we want our students to get involved into the research and have the "ah-ha" moments of discovering things on their own. This project has shown the value and positive outcomes students can receive when learning through multiple sources and getting involved in the research themselves. Students should be involved in the learning process.