Historical Documents

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This post will take three days to complete. Today is Wednesday, and the comment for this post is due by the end of the class period on Friday. Each student in the fifth grade will need to post their own comment.

You will be using a tool that you have not used before. It's called Trackstar. It will guide you through a series of websites. Each website will have some notes at the top from your teachers. You can navigate using a menu on the left of each website. (We'll show you how this works in class before you get started.)

Please remember to take some great notes as you study. You will be able to use your notes when you write your comment for this post.

As you move through the Trackstar, feel free to take your time and ask questions as you go. Your teachers will be around to help and answer questions as you work.

Once you have taken notes and spent a couple of days learning, you will spend the last day drafting your comment. Your comment needs to prove that you know what the three documents are. Your comment needs to demonstrate that you understand why the documents are important. Your comment needs to let the world know that you have really pushed your thinking. You can use the "Pushing Your Thinking" chart from writer's workshop to help you as you draft your comment.

Here are some questions your comment should answer:
1. Why is each document important?
2. What do you think are the most important parts of each document?
3. How would our country be different if we never created these documents?
4. What new things did you learn as you completed this job?
5. What do you think it would have been like to be one of the people who wrote these documents?

As always, it is a great idea to draft your comment in a document and save it in your computer. Then, when you're all finished, copy and paste it into a comment here on the blog.

Please ask questions as you work! The reading is not easy. If you can't understand something, please ask for help! The more questions you ask, the better your comment will be in the end!

If you finish early and your comment is approved, go ahead and comment to some of your classmates about their ideas.

Hint: This is a three day job. Your comment should probably be at least a few great paragraphs long.

Here is the link to get started.

Show us how great you are! Work hard Dragons! Push your thinking!

~ Mr. Moore and Ms. Vander Velde