Daily Activities – Archibald Butt
The daily activities created for each of the Today in Georgia History segments are designed to meet the Georgia Performance Standards for Reading Across the Curriculum, and Grade Eight: Georgia Studies. For each date, educators can choose from three optional activities differentiated for various levels of student ability. Each activity focuses on engaging the student in context specific vocabulary and improving the student’s ability to communicate about historical topics.
One suggestion is to use the Today in Georgia History video segments and daily activities as a “bell ringer” at the beginning of each class period. Using the same activity daily provides consistency and structure for the students and may help teachers utilize the first 15-20 minutes of class more effectively.
Optional Activities:
Level 1: Provide the students with the vocabulary list and have them use their textbook, a dictionary, or other teacher provided materials to define each term. After watching the video have the students write a complete sentence for each of the vocabulary terms. Student created sentences should reflect the meaning of the word based on the context of the video segment. Have students share a sampling of sentences as a way to check for understanding.
Level 2: Provide the students with the vocabulary list for that day’s segment before watching the video and have them guess the meaning of each word based on their previous knowledge. The teacher may choose to let the students work alone or in groups. After watching the video, have the students revise their definitions to better reflect the meaning of the words based on the context of the video. As a final step, have the students compare and contrast their definitions to their textbook, dictionary or other teacher provided materials definitions.
Level 3: Provide the students with the vocabulary list and have them use their textbook, a dictionary, or other teacher provided materials to define each term. After watching the video, have the students write a five sentence paragraph based on the provided writing prompts.
Vocabulary/Writing Prompts:
Vocabulary Terms
Correspondent
Embassy
Distinction
Quartermaster
Titanic
Writing Prompts
1. Read an account of the voyage of the Titanic. Imagine you have booked passage on this historic ship. Write a letter to your friends and/or family about your hopes for the trip.
2. Imagine you are at the memorial for Archibald Butt and the dedication of the new bridge. Describe your emotions as you hear about the accomplishments of this fellow Georgian. What do you think his most interesting job would have been?
3. Archibald Butt took a trip to Europe to relax and take some time away from a stressful job. If you had the time and money, what kind of trip would you take to relax? Would you visit family and friends or would you go somewhere you’d never been? Would you go by yourself or bring someone with you? What kinds of activities would you do? Sit on the beach with a book? Visit museums or historic sites? Go hiking or enjoy other outdoor activities? Describe your perfect relaxing vacation.
Related Georgia Performance Standards:
Reading Across the Curriculum (Grades 6-12)
SSRC1 Students will enhance reading in all curriculum areas by:
c. Building vocabulary knowledge
• Demonstrate an understanding of contextual vocabulary in various subjects.
• Use content vocabulary in writing and speaking.
• Explore understanding of new words found in subject area texts.
d. Establishing context
• Explore life experiences related to subject area content.
• Discuss in both writing and speaking how certain words are subject area related.
• Determine strategies for finding content and contextual meaning for unknown words.
Grade 8 English and Language Arts
ELA8R2 The student understands and acquires new vocabulary and uses it correctly in reading and writing. The student
a. Determines pronunciations, meanings, alternate word choices, parts of speech, or etymologies of words.
b. Determines the meaning of unfamiliar words in content and context specific to reading and writing.
c. Demonstrates an initial understanding of the history of the English Language.
ELA8W1 The student produces writing that establishes an appropriate organizational structure, sets a context and engages the reader, maintains a coherent focus throughout, and signals a satisfying closure. The student
a. Selects a focus, organizational structure, and a point of view based on purpose, genre expectations, audience, length, and format requirements.
b. Writes texts of a length appropriate to address the topic or tell the story.
c. Uses traditional structures for conveying information (e.g., chronological order, cause and effect, similarity and difference, and posing and answering a question).
d. Uses appropriate structures to ensure coherence (e.g., transition elements, parallel structure).
e. Supports statements and claims with anecdotes, descriptions, facts and statistics, and specific examples.