Introduction to Artifact Bags:
An artifact
bag is a hands-on and minds on activity that could be integrated into any grade
and subject. A teacher can use an artifact bag for many different topics,
subjects, and units within a grade. Artifact
bags engage students in learning, along with them taking pride in their
discoveries based on the artifacts within the bag. In Mollie Moore’s article (2013) she states, “…the brightening in every kid's eyes when you tell them
that the artifact you've been holding in front of the class is going to be
passed around. It's even better if you've been handling it, explaining it,
giving it the care any historical relic deserves. There's just something about
holding it, respecting it; first graders can take pride in this just as much as
high school seniors. So, what’s stopping us from doing this more often in the
classroom?” (p.1.) Allowing the students to take charge and be a “historian”
for a day will make their day, along with learning new content. Throughout
elementary, middle and high school I never encountered artifact bags, however
after Dr. Smirnova teaching the importance and significance of artifact bags, I
do not see why my teachers would not use them. Artifact bags interest students,
especially if the artifacts are from years ago when they were not around because
they feel like they are holding something from the past that made an impact on
how we got here today.
The PowerPoint presentation Dr. Smirnova
presented allowed me to understand what an artifact is and why it is so
effective to use in a classroom. In class, Dr. Smirnova allowed the teacher
candidates to experience what it is like to be a “historian” to decode and
discover artifacts. I was partnered with Nicole and we were given three
artifacts based on Dr. Smirnova’s Russian culture. At first we opened a
certificate, but we were not sure what it was from or what it said because it
was in Russian. We used Google translator to decode this
language, therefore we can have a better understanding on what we may be
discovering. This first artifact was an International Teaching of Academy of
Science that Dr. Smirnova achieved in Russia. The second artifact we took out
of the bag was a picture, which Nicole and I concluded that it was Dr.
Smirnova’s grandmother. As we were collect data on this artifact, Dr. Smirnova
said that this picture was taken of her since it was her birthday and they were
very close. Dr. Smirnova, also shared some background information to us, such
as a ring she wears everyday to remind herself that her grandmother is always
with her. The last artifact we discovered was a Russian Lacquer Box with an
American Flag inside. At first, I thought this was jewelry box that she used
when she was in Russia, however after collecting data on all three artifacts,
Nicole and I came to the conclusion that this box displayed Dr. Smirnova’s
heritage. We believed the American flag was symbolizing her starting a new
journey in America and she wants to keep her Russian heritage close to her. Nicole
and I created a PowerPoint presentation to show our peers
what we found in our artifact bag. I found the artifact bag activity very
engaging and I felt like a detective trying to figure out what these clues
(artifacts) could mean. Although it was frustrating to decode the Russian
language, Nicole and I laughed as we were trying to figure out how to work the
“Russian keyboard” too. This artifact bag allowed Nicole and I to expand our
knowledge on Russian culture, but also taught us how important it is to collect
and analyze data. As a class we discussed how our artifact bags involved the
five elements of powerful learning. Dr. Smirnova then assigned us to create an
artifact bag activity that had to be based on our unit plan.
Planning my Artifact Bag
When given the artifact bag
assignment, I was very excited to create my own, however I had to think of what
event, act, or person I wanted to do my artifact bag. This took me sometime,
but then I came to the conclusion that I wanted to do mine on the Boston Tea
Party. The artifact bag lesson plan that
I created was based on the fourth grade American Revolution unit. The National
Content Standard I choose for this activity was “Time, continuity and change”
because the students were discovering what artifacts could mean from the past.
According to the National Content Standard, “Social
Studies programs should include experiences that provide for the study of the
ways human beings view themselves in and over time, so that the learner can:
Demonstrate an understanding that different people may describe the same event
or situation in diverse ways, citing reasons for the
differences in views.” It is important for the fourth grade students to
discover what each artifact means and how it relates to the past. Every fourth
grade student may have a different view, however history is about discovering
the past and what it may lead to into the future. Based on the New York State
Common Core Standards (2014), the students will be “gathering, interpreting and
using evidence.” Under this domain of
the Common Core State Standards (2014), the students will “Recognize, analyze and use
different forms of evidence used to make meaning in
Social Studies (including primary and secondary sources such as art and
photographs, artifacts, oral histories, maps, and graphs).” I also included the
geographic reasoning because it is important for students to know where an
artifact may be found and what it could represent based on the location. Implementing this lesson allowed the students
to connect the artifacts with one cause leading up to the American Revolution
that was introduced in previous lessons. The students were given the
opportunity to explore information based on the artifact bag they received.
This lesson will be taught by using the inquiry process. Implementing my Artifact Bag
Using technology in
classrooms with any grade, will usually keeps student’s attention and they
focus more, therefore I opened up my PowerPoint
presentation for the teacher candidates. I would
start the lesson by asking students what an artifact is and explaining the
inquiry process, along with modeling how to collect data and analyze data from
an artifact bag. After modeling and reviewing the inquiry process, the students
were divided into equal groups and were given fifteen minutes to explore what
they had in their artifact bag. I also provided the students with a
“Discovering the Past” chart, therefore when they begin to explore they can
collect their data. This chart will help students identify where the artifact came
from, what it is, whom it may belong to, and the connections between all the
artifacts. First the students already looked at the outside of the bag, and
made their hypothesis. The outside of the bag was made out of burlap and rope.
I purposely made it look like this because years ago they did not have pretty
bags, they used materials that they already owned to create anything they
needed.
I was doing my artifact bag based on the Boston Tea Party. I chose to
wrap the burlap in rope and each artifact with that because in order for the
Mohawks to lower the tea chests, they used rope to help them lower it down to
another level of the deck or into the water. The artifacts that each group was
given were the following: a map of Boston, tea in a jar, one red crayon, and
brown ribbon with feathers. I provided the students with four artifacts,
instead of three because I thought the more they had, the more conclusions they
can relate all the artifacts to. I was doing my artifact bag based on the
Boston Tea Party. The map of Boston was very old with burned edges and it had
some holes in the middle of the map. This map was significant because the event
was held in the Boston Harbor, however this could have been challenging because
“Boston” was not mentioned. The students only got to see the outline of Boston
and water, but if you look close enough in the water you will see “Tea Wharf”
which could be a clue to where this event was held. I wanted to include this
map because it is important for students to identify a map and understand the
geography of it. The one crayon was wrapped in the map of Boston, however this distracted
the students. I know one student thought it was used to keep track of the map
and to circle important places; however the red crayon was to represent the two
red marks the Mohawks had on their face. I made a headband that the Mohawks
would wear out of brown ribbon and feathers. I glued the feather to the back of
the ribbon. Since the Mohawks were an important factor in the Boston Tea Party,
I wanted the students to guess what group of people wore this. Even though the
red crayon was a hint to the Mohawks, I didn’t think they would get that right
away, therefore I decided to put this in their artifact bag too. I collected “tea
in a jar” from the Boston Tea Party, which is what I wanted the students to
think. I took a couple tea bags and soaked them in a jar of water. I put the
cap on the jar; therefore it looked like it could have come from this event.
The tea is significant in this event because the Mohawks were dumping the tea
into the Boston Harbor. I put tea in a jar to symbolize what the water may have
looked like in the Boston Harbor. I think that the tea in a jar is a big hint
to the Boston Tea Party; however the students still need to figure out how
everything else is related. Once the students collect enough data, they will
begin to draw conclusions on what the artifacts are related to. I provided the
students with other resources to help them create their conclusions.
For this artifact bag project, the students were
given two outside resources that they could use to help them figure out what
these artifacts mean. The students will be given a link to history.com to help them figure
out what event, act, or organization these artifacts belong to. This website
has videos, articles and many other resources that would help the students
analyze the information they collect. It is important to include technology
into a lesson as much as possible because in today’s society many students grow
up with technology and it engages them to learn. Students should also be aware
that they can use resources that are online. I picked history.com since it provided
many resources such as media, text, and audio for students to refer to for this
artifact bag project. This website could provide them many ideas that they
would have not developed if they were just analyzing the artifacts.
The
students will also be allowed to use “The Boston Tea Party” that I picked for
my artifact bag. Even though this is specifically for the Boston Tea Party,
this could give the students reason to explain their conclusion. If you go through
the pictures into the book, you will see the Mohawks wearing two red streaks
across their face, along with feathers in the back of their head. It also shows that tea crates were being
lowered with rope onto the bottom deck and into the Boston Harbor. This book
will provide the students images that they can see how the artifacts are
related. I thought that this book was a good resource because it explains to
the students what the Boston Tea Party is and why it is an important cause of
the American Revolution. I also thought these resources were beneficial for the
students to use for their independent practice. The students can see how I
picked the artifacts and how it was related to the Boston Tea Party. Once the
students were done with analyzing their data and conclusions, they shared their
findings to the class. The students were asked how they could use the inquiry
process they learned to answer questions in the future. The students were
assigned to construct a response on “Putting it Together” in which they will
follow the rubric that is given to them. For their independent practice the
students had to select an event, or act and list three to four artifacts that
they would put into their bag. The students had to explain how these artifacts
they select were related to the event, or act they chose. The students were
given the resources they had for the artifact bag they just did to help them
brainstorm ideas and reasoning. This independent practice is challenging
students to think of artifacts that are related to the American Revolution time
period.
 |
| You can see in this page of the book that some Mohawks have red marks on their face and they are wearing a feather behind their head. |
 |
| If you look close enough, you can see that some people are opening the boxes to physically dump the tea into the Boston Harbor. |
The artifact bag
project was very meaningful to
teaching the Boston Tea Party and how it was one cause of the American
Revolution. In my direct lesson plan I mentioned to the class how they should
imagine if the Boston Tea Party was in the Hudson River and what it would look
like and the causes it would make. By connecting this event with a River the
students live near, allows them to make outside connections and also have a
visual of how bad it could be. The students could simply picture tea floating
up and down the river, or the environment being destroyed by all the tea and
crates being thrown into the water. Relating history to something the students
are familiar with will allow them to remember the content more, since they may
be able to relate to it. The artifact bag project was integrated with Social Studies, Literature, and Science. It is very
important in teaching one lesson where you include other subjects within the
lesson. Students do not always see how all the subjects can be related and
relevant to what is being taught, therefore making a point to telling them is
helpful for them to see how all subjects are related. It is also helpful for
students to realize that they can apply everything they learned when doing a
task. For example, many students do science fair projects and there are a
series of steps that they must follow for the scientific method. For this project
the students used the inquiry process, which is the same as the scientific
method; however they are using it on a social studies matter. This sets a good
example for students that they should use strategies and methods they learned
to help them solve a problem. This lesson allows students to interact socially
and listen to each other’s ideas and opinions. The artifact bag project was value-based because it allowed students
to work together and build onto knowledge they already know. They got to
explore the artifact within a group and interact socially. Although this may
have been challenging for some
students, this artifact bag incorporated different artifacts that students
could have had various perspectives on. This allows students to expand their
critical-thinking skills by being historians to dig up information from the
past. The students were allowed to use resources, which could have been helpful
when it came to the map of Boston. The artifact bag project allowed students to
become actively involved and engaged
in exploring what each artifact meant.
The purpose of using
manipulatives allowed the students to understand the role of a historian and
how it could be difficult at time with finding information out. Having hands-on
and minds-on activities allows the students to want to learn and have fun.
According to Fuhler (2006), “A
combination of artifacts, children’s literature, opportunities to write, and
content area materials ties the curriculum together into a cohesive unit”
(p.658). In this project, all the students were
actively involved. Each student had an opportunity to hypothesize an argument,
synthesize this argument while building upon artifacts and then reflect
accordingly. All the five elements of powerful Social Studies were utilized
successfully in this inquiry lesson. I was never exposed to artifacts in elementary,
middle, or high school, therefore when Dr. Smirnova was explaining what it was,
I was very engaged as a teacher candidate. In my future classroom and student
teaching, I will use this artifact bag activity as a getting to know you, or
for a specific topic I will be teaching. Allowing the students to discover
artifacts, makes them feel important and teaches them the inquiry process.
Works Cited
Creating Historians Part Two:
The Grab Bag. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2015, from
http://community.lessonplanet.com/t/creating-historians-part-two-the-grab-bag/136
Farris,
P. J., & Nelson, P. A. (2006). Building literacy skills across the
curriculum: Forging connections with the past through artifacts. In C. J.
Fuhler (Author), The Reading Teacher (Vol. 59, Ser. 7, pp. 646-659).
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