Remains of the Past

Most people think that there is no way to making Social Studies interesting at any age level. The people that think this way are sadly mistaken. Though Social Studies might not be everyone's highly taxed cup of tea, there are certainly many ways to offer a more engaging way of teaching this subject. For instance, you might want to learn about how to create artifact bags!

In order to create your own artifact bag, you must first explore some of these questions:

-What is an artifact?

Artifact: An object produced or shaped by human craft, especially a tool, weapon, or ornament of archaeological or historical interest.

-What artifacts will I put into my artifact bag?

-Do these artifacts have significant meaning to the topic that I am going to explore?

-Will my students be able to figure out the who, what, where, when, and why  for each artifact in order to come up with a conclusion for their artifact bags?

-What am I looking for in a conclusion? What is my BIG question?

A computerized version of my Artifact Bag

Artifact Bag Topic: Thirteen Colonies, One Country

BIG Question: Who am I? (Tell students before giving them the artifacts) 

Artifact List:- Students should figure this out on their own. You might want to give them books or computers to use for research. 

1) Map of Boston, Massachusetts 

2) Horse Figurine 

3) Hat 

4) "No Britain" Sign

5) Fireworks

6) Silver Teapot

WHO AM I? ... PAUL REVERE 

Justification: Paul Revere was born in Boston, Massachusetts (Artifact #1) on January 1, 1735. After his father died, he took over the family's silversmith shop (Artifact #6). After seeing how unfairly the British were treating the colonists, Paul Revere wanted to help the colonies pull away from British control (Artifact #4). He took part in the Boston Tea Party (Artifact #6 can also apply here) , where the colonists poured all of the British tea into the harbor in order to rebel against the tea tax. The British were so angry that they decided to attack the colonies, but Paul Revere rode on horseback (Artifact #2) throughout the night to warn the colonists that "The British are coming, the British are coming!" He continued to play a significant role in American independence and we were able to create an independent nation, which we celebrate with firework displays (Artifact #5) every 4th of July. (Artifact #6 can be justified in pictures or by researching colonial clothing).