Fun with Artifact Bags

  

An artifact bag is an activity that goes along with an inquiry lesson. An artifact bag is like a mystery bag that students have to figure out what is inside. Inside is a multitude of artifacts that students have to investigate to figure out what they are and why they are significant.  In the end, the students are responsible to come to a conclusion about the artifacts inside the artifact bag. The students are encouraged to use the 5 W’s when trying to figure out the importance of the artifacts which are: Who, What, When, Where and Why. 

            Prior to taking part in the artifact bag activity, I had never heard of it or had any idea of what to expect. After taking part in the activity I was amazed at how enjoyable the activity was even as a college student. It gave me a better sense of the importance of artifacts as well as primary sources. For me, it showed the true difference between primary and secondary sources and reinforced how genuine primary sources are as compared to secondary sources. Being a college student, this activity also furthered my knowledge of historical skills. During this activity I got the chance to put certain skills into use. Taking part in this activity you have to be ready to use skills such as reasoning, deductive skills and effectively coming to conclusions. What helped in gaining new knowledge were the connections that one has to make when discovering and investigating the artifacts. You have to use your skills to make connections between the artifacts and their significance.

            An Artifact bag is a great activity to go along with a social studies lesson, but it gives the students the opportunity to learn and grow in many other areas. According to an article written by Carol Fuhler (2006), artifacts give students motivation to want to learn and investigate more. By having something in your hands, students become intrigued and want to find out more about the item. Students can begin to make connections between the artifacts and discuss possible ideas of where these artifacts could have come from. Students can make connections between the past and the present. During this lesson, a teacher can even put students into discussion or literature circles and integrate reading with social studies (Fuhler, 2006). Artifact bags open up a whole new world of possibilities for students where they become so curious. Students take on new roles of being investigators to find out more about the artifacts, but the fun does not even have to stop there. So many other activities can be roped into an artifact bag lesson to give children even more of an opportunity to investigate and make connections.

            Using an artifact bag is a great idea for any grade level and really gets students involved in the lesson with a hands-on activity. I created my artifact bag for second grade which I would use to go along with my unit plan which was “Choosing our Country’s Leader’s”. The artifact bag activity aligns with the national standards to have students examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected local regions. As well as the national standard of recognizing different forms of evidence used to make meaning in social studies including primary and secondary sources, such as art and photographs, artifacts, oral histories, maps and graphs. This activity is great for any age, but second graders would thrive on the investigation and conclusion aspect of this activity. An activity like this would certainly engage and fascinate students at this grade level and make for a memorable experience for them.

In my particular artifact bag the outside was decorated with stickers and print outs that followed the theme of America, which related to my unit plan. There were many flags, red white and blue ribbons and sayings that said “USA” and “God Bless America”. After investigating the artifacts, the word that the students should have concluded was voting. Inside my bag I had three artifacts. The first artifact was an “I Voted Today” Button which people are given after they vote. I chose this artifact because it was simple and helped to get the point that someone just voted. My next artifact was an American Flag. I chose the American flag because it is a symbol of our country and you must be a citizen in order to vote. My third and final artifact was a voter registration card. I chose this artifact because before someone can vote, they have to make sure they are registered to vote.  All three of these artifacts went together very well and made it clear that the bag and artifacts were symbolic of voting. In a classroom I would use the artifact bag after teaching the students the vocabulary words of the unit, voting being one of them. This would give the students another opportunity to learn about voting but through a different style and approach.

Along with my artifact bag I had a book and a website that went along with the theme. I chose

the book “Vote” by Eileen Christelow. This is a wonderful children’s book that would be perfect for second graders. It goes through the process of voting and helps to make it very clear to the readers the steps that one goes through to vote. In the book they are voting for a new town mayor. The reader’s get an inside look into the campaign and the voting process. In my classroom I would read this book to my class after they have completed the artifact bag. The students would have the general knowledge from the previous lesson where they learned about the word vote. Therefore, the book would be another reinforcement to allow the kids to become more familiar with word and the overall process of voting. A website I would use would be extremely helpful to give students even more of an insight into voting and the whole process. This extraordinary website gives students the chance to see what a difference one vote can make, step into a virtual voting booth, cast a vote and see how they can become part of an election. This website provides so many learning opportunities for children and is an excellent way for them to learn even more about the voting process and how important it is to vote. Since students are not old enough to vote in an actual election, they can vote on other issues on this website. In a lesson I would use this as an extension activity and for students who finish early. This way students can have what seems like a break from learning on the computer, but they are really furthering their knowledge on voting and the process.

            Artifact bags provide an experience unlike any other for both the students and the teacher. This may be the first time students are getting the opportunity to uncover and detect artifacts. All teachers should incorporate artifact bags into lessons because it really helps to provide a different form of instruction to students. The artifact bag activity also helps to develop student’s pedagogical and content knowledge. This lesson helps students to further their skills through the use of a hands-on, motivating and engaging activity. Students need to develop reasoning skills and goals during this lesson as well. They need to be able to reason with each other and come to conclusions about the artifacts. It would also be useful to teach students about primary vs. secondary sources before this activity if it had not been previously discussed. Students will then get experience with the difference between primary and secondary sources and can see how the bias changes depending on what source they are using.

            The artifact bag also plays into the importance of the five elements of teaching. These five elements are meaningful, integrative, active, challenging and value-based. The artifact bag contributes to each of these elements in a different way. First of all, the artifact bag is active because it is hands on and students are taking on another role of investigating. In this activity the students are constructing their own knowledge independently. It is meaningful because the students are making connections, examining artifacts and are can even bring personal experience and impressions into their ultimate end conclusion. This activity is value-based because it is contributing to their overall knowledge and connects to standards and what students should be learning. It is also an integrative activity because students are piecing together the artifacts they are finding; it is not one simple task that they are completing. This activity can also be paired up with a multitude of other resources, content areas and forms of technology to further students learning beyond belief. This activity provides almost a limitless amount of opportunities for students. Lastly, the artifact bag activity is challenging because the answers are not given to the students. The students are given clues and they have to use their prior knowledge to uncover the meaning behind these artifacts, make connections and find out their significance.  Students must use the inquiry process in order to uncover the final answers from the artifacts. Therefore, students have to use their past knowledge of the inquiry lesson and build on to it with this activity.

            Although this particular artifact bag is geared for a second grade lesson, it can be adapted to align with other grades and the standards. This lesson can be modified for older grades and have more artifacts. The artifacts for older students could also be more in depth and not as straightforward as the artifacts would be for younger students. Field trips can also be paired up with this activity. Students can uncover replica artifacts in their bags and then after the lesson is completed the class can take a trip to a library or museum to see the real artifacts.

            Overall, the artifact bag is an excellent activity that can fit into many lessons. The bag also opens the door for other opportunities and other content areas to be intertwined with it. Artifact bags are a genuine activity that not only motivates but engages students as well. Every teacher should incorporate artifact bags into their teaching platform. Students simultaneously have an enjoyable time while constructing knowledge and furthering many of their skills. Since the artifacts are tangible, it is a lot different than most work that students are used to such as looking through a textbook or doing something online. Artifact bags are definitely something that I would use in my classroom because the possibilities are endless. This activity would leave a lasting positive impact on students and be something they remember throughout their school years.

Here is the PowerPoint I made to accompany my artifact bag to show my classmates. 

Resources

Fuhler, C. (20016) Building literacy skills across the curriculum: Forging        connections with the past through artifacts. The Reading Teacher. Retrieved             on April 7, 2016 from https://drive.google.com/a/my.msmc.edu/file/   d/0BwC7OGFCEPfydmZyOVREOXNDSUE/view

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State         School Officers (2010). Social studies common core standards. Retrieved on          April 7, 2016 from http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/sscore1.pdf