As part of his fifth grade Revolutionary War history unit, the grandboy elected to make a website about some of his favorite people of the era. Here’s the link to his site, which he constructed himself and wrote all the copy for. We helped out with spelling, punctuation, proofreading and suggestions for font style and narrative tightening, but the voice is pretty much just as he wrote it–we left in some of the quirkier turns of phrase because we all think they’re as cute as hell. He searched and installed the pictures and background wallpaper and set up the site from scratch.
And yes, the user name reflected in the URL is an abbreviated form of “Malcolm Reynolds,” apparently the full name had already been taken. Kid has good taste in TV and movies…
Wow, that’s kind of neat! Webpages weren’t an option when I was in grade five - I’ll bet history (or any subject!) assignments would have been more fun if they were more than just words on paper! I haven’t read everything, but I did laugh at how Ethan Allen was “rather mad” when his father died!
SmartAleq, with your and the Grandboy’s permission, I would like to share that with some of my students.
I teach computers/technology to K-5th graders, and am currently teaching my 4th and 5th graders web design. This is an excellent example for me to show them.
Oh heckity, feel free! I’m sure he’d be very impressed to know that he’s being used as an example. It would be especially cool if your kids were to email their comments to him and give their feedback–it’d be like an updated form of penpals. PM me if you want an email addy for him…
olivesmarch4th and mnemosyne: Thank you for your kind words–it really is a neat project, isn’t it? If I’d had stuff like this around when I was a kid I probably would’ve liked school a whole lot better than I did. Junior attends a very neat school–they really encourage creativity and innovation. It’s a shame it only goes to fifth grade, but we’re trying to get him into one of the arts or science magnet programs for his 6-8 grades.
It’s really fun after being a harried mostly single mom who didn’t have time to spare on monitoring my kids’ school work to be able to get involved with the next generation–it’s very nice to know that it’s never too late to make a positive difference in a child’s life. Another of the Revolutionary War projects is to dress in period costume for the presentation night so I finally had the right project for a chunk of indigo brocade I’ve been lugging around for fifteen years, I made it into a waistcoat. Poofy poet shirt in muslin, lace neckcloth, twill knee britches, hose and we’re modifying black loafers with shoe buckles–the only thing I can’t figure out is a tricorne hat, so if anyone has a web site with ideas how they were constructed I’d love to hear about it. I’m such a sucker for that kid, it takes an act of Congress to make me bust out the sewing machine these days!
I have a bump-date for the three of you who were waiting breathlessly for the denouement of the Revolutionary War project…
The assembly presentation was last night and all the projects looked great–some really creative work these kids did. Their presentation was fabulous, almost all the kids decked out in their best attempt at Colonial wear as they sang songs, narrated the timeline of the Revolutionary War, performed short skits and played instruments, all in a beautifully compact 45 minute time frame that kept our butts from going numb. The grandboy did a fabulous job reciting Longfellow’s “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which was a fairly massive job of memorization, and also did a funny turn playing Paul Revere during one of the skits, galloping across the stage on a hobbyhorse and bellowing “The redcoats are coming!” loud enough to reach the nosebleed seats sans amplification. Here’s a picture–Junior’s in the middle, with the hobbyhorse. as well as one of his diorama depicting the battle of Lexington and Concord.
The best part about being a grandparent instead of a parent became obvious after the whole show was over, as the fifty or so hyperactive fifth graders all piled out to the local Dairy Queen for a celebratory Blizzard–grandparents can kiss the kid on the cheek, tell him “Granny needs her rest, sonnyboy!” and bail home, leaving the poor parents to tough it out with the sugar rushed, excitable, overly exuberant offspring en masse. Bwahahaha!
Thanks for the update, SmartAleq!!! It looks like a lot of fun was had by all. I love these types of interactive presentations. My school had a Living Museum a couple of weeks ago, with the students acting as docents for each other and their parents. The whole school studied an aspect of South America, with each grade having a different area of focus; Kindergarten studied chocolate (tying into their life-cycle studies) all the way up to 5th Grade studying the Incas and the Spanish Conquistadors. Parents were suitably impressed, and not just the “my kid is so smart” type of impressed, a lot of “WOW!” type of impressed. It was a lot of work for the teachers, but well worth the result. Plus, I have an excellent head of school who buys the staff beer after these events .
I shared your grandson’s webpage with my 4th and 5th graders, and they thought it was really cool. It tied in perfectly with my lessons on web design. Tell him that a gaggle of 4th and 5th graders in Seattle were suitably inspired.
Will do, leafrog! I have to say the way they’re teaching this stuff to kids is really great–it brings it home to them and makes it so real. My daughter tells me that the kids have been overheard having playground arguments re Rev War battles and how they could’ve been won or lost by changes of strategy, etc. Sure beats arguing over whether or not the Hulk could kick The Thing’s ass or which JailBlazer has the most pot convictions… heh heh…
It was a lot of work for the teachers, but well worth the result. Plus, I have an excellent head of school who buys the staff beer after these events 
.
