Buies Creek, N.C.— To teach Civil War history to elementary and middle grade students, Campbell University student teachers will resort to just about anything, including a You-Tube video portraying the Battle of Bentonville. The video is one of a series of clues included in a lesson plan created by Campbell student teachers Shannon Batten and Lancy Whiteman. Hidden in geo-cache containers, the classroom students are required to discover the clues using GPS devices on loan from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. In the process of discovering the clues, students are forced to analyze and evaluate events of the Civil War and their impact on North Carolina history.
The lesson plan is just one of dozens created by Campbell University pre-service teachers in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction project, “Integrating Technology into the Social Studies Classroom.” They are posted on the DPI website at http://integratingtechnologyproject.webs.com/classroomresources.htm for use by other teachers as a learning resource. The project was also open to classroom teachers.
Sarah Steele, Curriculum/Media Librarian at the Campbell University Library, also worked with the student teachers on the project.
“For many of the student teachers, it was their first introduction to the GPS tracking system. After they learned how to use the system, they designed their own lesson plans using media and curriculum materials,” Steele said. “The student teachers were allowed to revise their lesson plans for publication on the website.”
Other treasures included in Batten’s and Whiteman’s lesson plan are a flag of the North Carolina’s 40th Brigade and pictures of Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and the Harper House which served as a field hospital for the 14th Army Corps at the Battle of Bentonville.
“Students are really excited about the GPS activity,” said Dr. Lorae Roukema, coordinator of Middle Grade Education at Campbell. “It actively engages their minds and their imaginations.”
Photo Copy: Sarah Steele, Curriculum/Media Librarian at the Campbell University Library, uses a GPS to find hidden academic treasure.
Campbell students’ work featured on Department of Public Instruction website