Last week, our fifth graders were learning about the thirteen colonies in early America.
I first posed the question: "What are the thirteen colonies?" And I got interesting answers... "Los Angeles?" "Florida??"
We finally worked through all of them, after lots of hints and prods. Ultimately, the list went:
2. New Hampshire
3. Rhode Island
4. New York
5. Connecticut
6. Pennsylvania
7. New Jersey
8. Delaware
9. Maryland
10. Virginia
11. North Carolina
12. South Carolina
13. Georgia
Next, I asked them to listen to the tune I would hum. They all immediately recognized it as, "Yankee Doodle."
We discussed the history of the old song, where we learned that the word "Yankee" referred to the colonists, "Doodle" was colloquial for foolish, and "macaroni" was a kind of wig.
What does this song have to do with the list of colonies we made?
We put the words on the board to the tune of Yankee Doodle!
After just a couple of run-throughs, the kids could sing it with their eyes closed.
To get this down-pat, I had one more activity in mind for them.
This is a music map. A music map is like a normal map--it shows you where to go.
I showed them my map, and then I had them make their own.
The idea was that this could be a visual for their study tool. It was very successful, and turned out to be another wonderful lesson!
Until next time,
Bianca
