Be sure to check our blog for updates and pictures of our 5th graders working hard in their classes as well as on their many upcoming trips!
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The following article was on the NPS website yesterday. Was 5th Grade This Cool for You? In May, the first class of Star-Spangled Banner Trail Stewardscelebrated their achievements -- a long, long list of achievements -- with an Historic Field Day. Throughout the 2012-2013 school year, all 5th graders at Patterson Park Public Charter School learned about the War of 1812 and used Star-Spangled Banner Trail sites and learning tools. Patterson Park, across the street from the school, was known as Hampstead Hill during the War of 1812, and was the site of a successful defense of the city of Baltimore in 1814 from invasion by British troops on land. The 5th graders made a film, starring them, depicting that land battle 200 years ago. The British arrived by boat, so the kids built a boat. They sewed British and American flags and uniforms in art class. They learned how to operate tools so they could cut lumber and fashion it into the muskets they would need. They went on site visits and studied primary documents relating to the War. They created their own versions of historical markers to place at Patterson Park. And they learned to play the fife and drums. Most importantly, they remained engaged throughout the school year on a project that crossed disciplines and taught them about the historic city in which they live and study. You can read the blog by teacher Ryan Kaiser and watch the film on YouTube. Make sure to keep watching so you see the second part, the behind-the-scenes look at how the film was made. Congratulations to all the 5th graders of Patterson Park Public Charter School, to teacher Ryan Kaiser and his fellow educators, and to the parents of these remarkable students! The article below is about our entire Star Spangled Banner Trail Project. Please click on the link to see the excellent story they did on us for Ch. 77! “At first I knew nothing about wars, so now I learned the War of 1812 and the Revolutionary War,” said Jonathan, a fifth grader at the school. Patterson Park will be added to the Star Spangled Banner Trail National Historic Trail, which stretches 560 miles in DC, Maryland and Virginia and follows the paths that British and American soldiers traveled during the War of 1812. Research the students conducted about what happened during the war in the park will be used in markers along the trail. “I’m extremely impressed,” said Abbi Wicklein-Bayne from theNational Park Service. “ What the kids have done here and what the teachers have put together is just amazing. They really embrace the history as their own history and their community. It was really cool.” On May 17, 2012, Patterson Park Public Charter Schools hosted a Historic Field Day that served as the culminating event around the students’ work to commemorate the War of 1812. The student exhibits featured handcrafted mukets, uniforms, posters of their research, a drum and fife performance, and a canoe, a life-sized reacreation of ones used in the early 19th-century. The project connected math, reading, science and social studies. “I’m really good with math and I like math a lot. And I plan on being an architect when I grow up,” says Alexander from Patterson Park Public Charter School. “For them to put that all into one project, to save for the next 100 years, if not longer, it’s quite phenomenal,” said Mr. Kaiser. Councilman James B. Kraft, Wicklein-Bayne, and Amy Rosenkrans, in the Office of Humanities at Baltimore City Public Schools, all came to congratulate the students. “I’m proud to know that the city of Baltimore had such a strong army that really cared about our city to protect it enough,” Kentiera said. Brianna, a fifth grader, said “I’m very proud of my school, myself, and my teachers and my classmates.” If you thought the Historic Field Day this year was exciting, wait until next year! We plan on expanding to ten schools, each with their own station in the park. The date, as of right now, is May 16th. Mrs. Gutting and I had the pleasure of sharing the hard work the students did this year for the Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail with other teachers from Baltimore City and Baltimore County at Ft. McHenry last week. Everyone loved the energy and excitement our students showed throughout the entire project. I can't wait to see what every school has to present at next year's presentation. The Battle of Baltimore NPS marker our students helped create should be ready then, too! Today we were able to add three more stamps on our Bicentennial Passports! We visited the Fells Pt. Visitor's Center, The Baltimore Visitor's Center and The Flag House. That brings us to a total of five. We will get two more next week at Ft. McHenry and The Maryland Historical Society. Get the last three on your own and join us June 18th at The Maryland Historical Society as the Mayor presents our own PPPCS students with the War of 1812 Commemorative Coin! A big thank you to David Richards for another fantastic tour of Gettysburg! I learn something new each and every time we go there. Mrs. Gutting took some detailed notes to have an even more comprehensive tour next year! The students learned about Pickett's Charge, Devil's Den and of course Little Round Top and how those events and places within the battle turned the course of history for the United States. But we didn't just learn about history. We were able to study landforms, rock formations and we were even able to see the dinosaur Raptor footprints in two rocks! Enjoy the beautiful pictures taken by our very own Ms. Costas. They are amazing! We had an exciting kickoff to our Civil War theme this week. After visiting the "Pratt St. Riots" on Monday we turned our attention to Antietam. All of our field trips are done in chronological order. Antietam took place a few months after the Pratt St Riots in September of 1862. Students conducted research on not only the battle itself but also observered Science "in action" all around us. Ecosystems, soil coservation, physical and chemical weathering and the water cycle are just some examples. Ask you children about the different rocks they saw in Antietam and Gettysburg, as well! A huge thank you to Mr. Phil McLaughlin for another fantastic tour of Antietam! Read the article this morning from the Baltimore Guide. There are some excellent quotes in here from our fifth graders! Our movie is now online! Check out our PPPCS created "Battle of Baltimore" movie complete with behind the scenes footage! What an amazing day! Our fifth graders should be so proud that they are the first students to do the research for the historical marker for the Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail. Can you believe our event was an offical stop and "stamp" in the Bicentennial Passport? I will have the video and movie we created on the website soon! We are looking forward to working with the National Park Service more and having an even bigger event next year! |
Welcome to the 5th Grade Blog!
This blog is dedicated to the fifth grade at Patterson Park Public Charter School in Baltimore, MD. Our hope is that this blog will keep students, parents, and anyone else interested up to date with all that we have going on during the school year. Let us know what you think! Archives
September 2015
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