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 Spring-Ford Intermediate School fifth-graders learned about famous Americans in a unique way this spring. The students joined with schoolchildren from throughout the state in a videoconference to share what they learned in their American history classes.
About 50 students in teacher Jennifer Donovan’s classes were involved in the project. The students researched a famous American, prepared presentations, and then voted in favor of the presentations they thought were best.
The top three vote-getters, Gabby Mullin, who researched Betsy Ross; Thomas Niggel, who studied Thomas Jefferson, and Dominick Falcone, who researched Paul Revere, were invited to deliver their presentations during the videoconference.
The Spring-Ford students performed in front of a camera so students from five other Pennsylvania schools participating in the videoconference could see them. Gabby put on a puppet show. Thomas, dressed as Thomas Jefferson, gave a speech. Dominick, with the help of classmate Daniel Jucker, imitated a television talk show format.
Based on the performances, the students watching had to guess which famous American the Spring-Ford students had researched. Spring-Ford students also watched the presentations from the other schools and named the Americans researched by those students.
Donovan said the videoconference, offered through the network MAGPI, fit in well with the students’ studies of the 13 American colonies and was an excellent opportunity for the children to experience technology.
“It was definitely a positive experience,” Donovan remarked. “The students gained more knowledge of famous Americans, and they also learned the importance of being prepared and responsible.”
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