YouTube is probably the most popular social networking tool currently being utilized in history classrooms across the country. The vast majority of them are simply put, horrible. They reflect very little understanding of the medium by the student as well as their teachers. In my view it’s the clearest example of what is wrong with the way history teachers utilize social media in the classroom. While there has clearly been a push to embrace these tools over the past few years, many teachers have not thought enough about how they enhance students’ understanding of the past as well as the analytical skills involved. Once in a while, however, a video stands out. In this case two students offer a visual representation of the Seven Days Battles accompanied by a little ballad. It’s clever and fun.
The Seven Days Ballad
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Cute video.
Did McClelland plan to re-group at Harrison’s Landing and prepare to advance again? Or did he want to get out? I seem to recall that he was ordered to leave. Lee took his army north to threaten Washington, as I recall.
What wonderful teaching is going on in that classroom! And I wonder what it will be like when my 5 year old grandson is that age!
You can tell just from watching the video that this is a creative classroom environment. These students went through significant preparation before shooting this video and that’s what matters. They not only demonstrate competency with the content, but also created a useful tool to impart that knowledge to others. That’s the critical piece that is lacking in the overwhelming number of student-generated YouTube videos.
Thank you for this! You should know, we didn’t exactly follow the prompt, and most of our classmates didn’t write songs, just talked in front of maps. Our teacher is awesome, though, you’re right.
I called Zoe and she was really excited as well!
Hi Emily,
Thanks for leaving the comment. Congratulations on a job well done. I would have given this an A+