Days of Our Lives

As we conclude our Days or Our Lives unit, it is interesting to hear the children's perspective on history and the people who came before us. Most of the students understood our central idea; people in history have an impact on our lives today. They understood the importance of their families, inventors, and of course presidents. When discussing our questions posed at the beginning of the unit, only two remained unanswered! (How is metal made? & How did Luci die? This is the documented first person ever to have existed.) Both of these questions will elicit some research at home I suppose!

Our discussions in class, ranging from the definition of the term history to why someone is named they way they are, were meaningful. I learned perhaps just as much as the children. This unit last year sparked in interest in reading biographies for myself, and thus I have ventured into the lives of George Washington and Ben Franklin. These kids amaze me everyday! For this, I am thrilled that they are a part of my "Days of Our Lives" episode!

Finally, it is interesting to synthesize the information gathered from the parent interviews. When asked if anything significant has happened in your life that is important to history, the following resulted:

Challenger Explosion
Martin Luther King Jr.
Columbia Explosion
The creation of the Internet
Creation of the European Union
First space shuttle
Fall of the Berlin Wall (3 responded)
9/11 (3 responded)
Neil Armstrong on the moon (6 responded)

Thank you for adding to our classroom discussions. These ideas sparked many different conversations in our classroom community.