By teaching history with merely dry facts and figures, students will absorb little of America's history because it comes across as rather boring. However, interactive activities bring not only the history of the revolutionary period to life, but help the students view figures, such as Thomas Jefferson, as a real person who made positive contributions to history and other fields of endeavor.
Bulletin Board
- After the students learn about Thomas Jefferson, as a class, plan a Thomas Jefferson bulletin board. Start by having the students find, either from books or online, a picture of Thomas Jefferson. Enlarge it to use as the centerpiece of the bulletin board. Group students and assign them to research and prepare a short essay on different aspects of Thomas Jefferson's life, presidency and other accomplishments such as building Monticello and drafting the Declaration of Independence. For first grade students, this may be just a sentence or two and research may include easy-to-read books like David A. Adler's "A Picture Book of Thomas Jefferson" by reading the text to the students.
Have students find a representation of each of their assignments. One group may print out a picture of Monticello, which Thomas Jefferson both designed and built. Another group may print out an illustration of the Declaration of Independence. Make sure the representations fit the sizing of the bulletin board. Arrange these representations of Jefferson's life around his picture. Connect them to his picture with colorful yarn. After the students present their reports, attach them in a row along the bottom frame of the bulletin board.
Write and Act Out a Play
- Have students choose one aspect of Thomas Jefferson's life and write a play about it. Since these are first grade students, allow the students to discuss ideas, while you do the actual writing. After the play is written, show them how to plan costumes and staging. Provide time to practice the play. Present the play to your class and maybe other classes.
Create a Timeline
- Help students set up a timeline across one wall for the time of Jefferson's life. It can help them better understand the time period, in relation to their own. Download or copy illustrations or pictures for different parts of Thomas Jefferson's life from birth to death, including his presidency and other historical events the students should learn. Let each student attach at least one of the illustrations to the timeline. When finished, the students will be able to "see" Thomas Jefferson's life story.
