Reflection
I have always been interested in the Titanic, so I knew a lot about the topic before writing it. The information that I mainly knew was surrounding the night of the disaster and the days following. I got the opportunity to go to the Titanic travelling exhibit, organized by RMS Titanic Inc., and there I overheard one of the people working at the museum talking about the Titanic being owned by an American company. I was interested in this and decided that I wanted part of my project to focus on the history of the White Star line and the political climate that surrounded the creation of such a large ship because that was information that I did not know. I also learned about the maritime laws that changed due to the disaster and one item that I did not have any knowledge of was that the International Ice Patrol was created because of the Titanic. Through this project I also got to delve deeper into the events that occurred on the maiden voyage, there was a coal fire, the boat drill was cancelled, and that there were six warnings of ice received by the Titanic. One final piece of information that was new to me and rather shocking was that the Titanic’s bilge was only an inch thick compared to other ships built under White Star line which had bilges two to three inches thick.
I am very interested in using the Titanic to teach social studies in my future classroom and this topic covers three standards that I want to address here. The first standard is 2.H.1.1, which covers using timelines to show sequencing of events. From the time that the Titanic was being developed and built, up until the expeditions occurring today can all be traced on a timeline. The Titanic’s building and sinking are excellent example of a timeline that students can explore and I would use the resource RMS Titanic Inc., which provides an interactive timeline for students to explore and create their own timeline. The second standard is 5.G.1.3, which covers how technological advances have allowed people to overcome geographic limitations. Rail and sea were the two main ways that people traveled and with the opening of Ellis Island more people were entering the United States from other countries. I would use this project to teach students that many of the people traveling on the Titanic were going to New York to seek a better life. The final standard 6.H.1.2 has students summarizing the literal meaning of historical documents in order to establish context. I used two historical documents in my project, an ad and a letter, and I would use these documents in my classroom by allowing students to summarize them, or SCIM, and place the document in context with the event of the Titanic sinking.
This project has taught me a lot about the type of elementary social studies teacher that I want to be. I love looking at tangible objects or historical artifacts and figuring out what they mean and that is what I want to do with my students. I want to have artifact boxes that they will have to examine and determine what topics they might be learning about. In general I want my students to be active learners in my classroom. Through this project, I also realize that I cannot cover every minute detail or interesting fact about a topic. I love social studies and delving deep into a topic so I will have to learn how to teach in a way that goes deeper but does not lose focus of the big picture. Creating this project also taught me that allowing students to pick their own topics of interest to research is a valuable practice and that when students are allowed to choose they are more invested in the project. This project has given me insight into how broad and deep social studies goes and how every student should understand and appreciate social studies in their daily lives.
I am very interested in using the Titanic to teach social studies in my future classroom and this topic covers three standards that I want to address here. The first standard is 2.H.1.1, which covers using timelines to show sequencing of events. From the time that the Titanic was being developed and built, up until the expeditions occurring today can all be traced on a timeline. The Titanic’s building and sinking are excellent example of a timeline that students can explore and I would use the resource RMS Titanic Inc., which provides an interactive timeline for students to explore and create their own timeline. The second standard is 5.G.1.3, which covers how technological advances have allowed people to overcome geographic limitations. Rail and sea were the two main ways that people traveled and with the opening of Ellis Island more people were entering the United States from other countries. I would use this project to teach students that many of the people traveling on the Titanic were going to New York to seek a better life. The final standard 6.H.1.2 has students summarizing the literal meaning of historical documents in order to establish context. I used two historical documents in my project, an ad and a letter, and I would use these documents in my classroom by allowing students to summarize them, or SCIM, and place the document in context with the event of the Titanic sinking.
This project has taught me a lot about the type of elementary social studies teacher that I want to be. I love looking at tangible objects or historical artifacts and figuring out what they mean and that is what I want to do with my students. I want to have artifact boxes that they will have to examine and determine what topics they might be learning about. In general I want my students to be active learners in my classroom. Through this project, I also realize that I cannot cover every minute detail or interesting fact about a topic. I love social studies and delving deep into a topic so I will have to learn how to teach in a way that goes deeper but does not lose focus of the big picture. Creating this project also taught me that allowing students to pick their own topics of interest to research is a valuable practice and that when students are allowed to choose they are more invested in the project. This project has given me insight into how broad and deep social studies goes and how every student should understand and appreciate social studies in their daily lives.