All Aboard the Titanic!

    Some of the most effective lessons are those that incorporate your own interests. Kids love knowing all about you (every little detail) so when you let them into your world, your world beyond school, they are all over it. When I was seven, I went to see Titanic at the movie theatre. My life has never been the same since. I became so obsessed with not only the movie, but the history of Titanic that I was so excited when I had the opportunity to teach my students about it. I watch the movie at least six times a year. That's not abnormal, right? Anyways, it happened to be the 100th anniversary of Titanic's sinking, so I made sure I gave my kids the most exciting Titanic Day ever! It gets better…my Titanic Day worked so well with the other units we were studying that the cross-curricular aspect worked beautifully with our science and literacy units. 

    Our Big Idea for this unit was "Everyone can be someone else's hero". We looked at how fictional and historical figures are regarded as heroes due to making a difference in someone's life. In science we were beginning the Grade One Structures unit and the Grade Two Movement unit. It was the perfect opportunity to authentically tie these expectations into an engaging lesson. I had been building the kids up for my "all time favourite day" so when it finally came, they couldn't contain their excitement. I'm really not too sure who was more excited. I'm a tough act to beat. 

    Young students love when you give them things, whether it's a sticker, a picture, a toy to hold, anything. So I decided to make each student their own boarding pass and we shared our biographies for Shared Reading. I found a picture of a ticket online and made my own on PowerPoint. Then I used my school's risograph to make copies on cardstock, hung them on my clothesline and sprayed them with hairspray to prevent the ink from running. Click the picture for a FREE template I used to make the tickets

    The students loved sharing their biographies with each other. They thought it was hilarious when I had written that they were old men and women, or engaged to be married. It also gave them a good idea as to how many passengers were in each class on board the Titanic. 

    Titanic Day worked nicely with our heroes unit because we learned about which historical figures made a difference on that fateful night. Molly Brown, the mailroom workers, the engine room workers, the male passengers, the captain…there was so much to talk about! They made the hero of their choice a certificate for all his/her hard work.

    In math we were learning how to subtract by finding the "missing middle". I designed Titanic math questions involving the passengers and lifeboats to connect to our math learning. It also helped the students understand why so many passengers could not get on the lifeboats. Surely, it goes without saying that the numbers are not realistic. I had to make them doable for six and seven year olds.

    In science we considered the following higher order thinking question: "Do you think Titanic was a good structure? Why or why not?" Some students said that it wasn't because it sank on it's first voyage; others said that it was a good structure because it was built with strong materials and that any ship would have sank if it hit an iceberg. We got into a great discussion about this, and it was interesting to hear their recommendations as to how the ship really could have been built to be unsinkable. 

    For the Grade Twos, we looked at how the Titanic moved. The students were able to identify that it used propellors, which are wheels and axels; it relied on an incline plane to be moved from land to water; it burned coal into fuel to move as well, which touched upon our upcoming environment unit. 

    Overall, it was a great day. I came back the following Monday to hear that a student who had been a first class passenger on his boarding pass had dressed up in his suit and tie on the weekend and acted out his character at home. He brought in a picture for me to keep. I was re-invited to the student-run Titanic club this year by some of my girls from that year. This year I travelled to Ireland and told my class a little bit about the country, and one boy reminded me that the Titanic was built in Ireland, and his character had been from Belfast as well. When I see how a lesson has remained so positively with my students, I know I've done my very best as a teacher. I can only hope they'll continue to share their new knowledge with others, and perhaps spread the love of Titanic.