Moving Outside the Walls of My Classroom: An Archaeological Dig

Throughout the year, I am constantly looking for ways to get my students outside of the walls of my classroom. This week, I found a way to make that happen!

When teaching this lesson I asked myself the following questions:

• Can I go outside of my classroom to teach this lesson?
• Where would be the best place on campus to deliver this content? 
• Can I plant key items outside for us to discover?
• Can I give my students artifacts to touch and analyze?
• How can I make this experience as "real" as possible?
• Can I bring in a real archaeologist?
• What will lead to the most student engagement and understanding in this lesson?
• How can I consistently keep the students feeling involved?

 Here's what I did:

First, I decided that I would not be "Mr. Piedra" that day. Instead, I would take the role of Bob the Archaeologist, a substitute and friend of Mr. Piedra's who would take the kids on a "field trip." In order to make this feel a bit real and get some of the kids questioning it for at least a second, I dressed a bit differently. I wore a hat and tennis shoes, lost the tie and dress socks, and put on some eyeglasses and a substitute sticker name tag.  I also had to change my accent. I chose a southern, twangy country accent for this lesson. (It's hard to keep it going for an entire day).  When the kids come in, I show them this video:

I then take role like a substitute, pretending not to know the students' names and butchering many of them with my southern accent intentionally. After a few minutes of asking the students questions to see if they know what I, Bob the Archaeologist, do, I share a bit more about artifacts and Archaeology in general. Then, I tell the kids that I've been digging at an excavation site called Cactus Hill in southeastern Virginia on the Nottoway River. This is one of the Virginia standards they must know. I tell them that they will be joining me there today.

Little do they know, I've set up an area behind our school in the woods near a stream with a "Welcome to Cactus Hill" sign and postings for the Nottoway River. I also give a couple of students some shovels to carry down to the site. When we arrive at the site, we talk about American Indian views on land and land ownership. They notice some logs set up in a circle and I ask them what they think American Indians would be doing on the logs. They say things like "cooking meat over a fire" or "telling stories".  Their answers inform me of their prior knowledge and open the door for me to share more information about American Indians.

After exploring a little more, we come to a spot in which I had previously buried some artifact replicas. So as not to damage the replicas with the shovels, I decided to bury them in a treasure chest.  I give my students the freedom to dig in the area, taking turns. When the treasure chest is found, we open it up, discover a set of artifacts, and begin to analyze what they were used for.  I put them in groups of 2-3, assign an artifact, and ask them to consider and discuss what they think the item is and what it was used for. To my amazement, some of their responses are spot on. After passing around each of the artifacts to all of the groups, we debrief about their discoveries and head back to the classroom.

The best part of this lesson is that the next day, the kids welcome "Mr. Piedra" back, ask me how I am feeling, and tell me I look much better than the day before.