Inside Tina Tinsley’s fourth grade classroom, the year is 1770. It’s a snowy night in March and there is a mystery to be investigated. A lesson about the Boston Massacre is underway, but you won’t find the students sitting at their desks with a textbook in hand. Tinsley chose innovation, interaction, and investigation to tell the tale of the massacre caused by one preliminary gun shot in the dark.
Caution tape created a perimeter around the scene at the front of the East Central Elementary classroom as students buzzed about, finding clues and searching for answers. Tinsley said she created the crime scene to include the victims as well as items that were present on the scene, including the snowballs, rocks, and sticks. She explained that she gave them some clues that they could investigate and find information on, like when it happened and what time of year it was.
“The question that I’ve posed for them is,” Tinsley said, “‘was it murder by the British soldiers, or was it just an accident?’ Because no one really knows who gave the order to fire. So, it’s very interesting for them when they start reading and piecing it together.”
Tinsley said she usually just spends a day or two covering the Boston Massacre, but this time she was in search of a lesson the kids could really dive into, something immersive.
“I did a lot of research to make sure that I had everything as accurate as possible from what we can tell,” she explained. “There’s a lot about the Boston Massacre that is kind of up in the air because there are a lot of different accounts.”
Tinsley said it has been so interesting to watch them go through the process of inquisition as they go from being so sure one minute to questioning that theory the next.
“They are coming to conclusions,” she said, “because they are coming up and saying, ‘we’re really not sure what happened,’ which is what they should be coming up with because there are so many different accounts.”
Tinsley said that the students are loving the unique lesson. She said she has even had students send her messages on Google Classroom telling her how much they’ve enjoyed the interactive lesson.
There is more at work, in this lesson, than crossing the caution tape to find clues. Tinsley has made sure that her exercise has reached the students across multiple levels of learning.
“They are also working on point of view, as well as comparing and contrasting,” she explained.
“Point of view is a reading standard for them. Comparing and contrasting is reading and part of our social studies standards as well. I’m trying to help out with those reading standards because they have so many to cover, so I always try to incorporate any type of literacy activity that I can. They’re doing a lot of writing with this activity as well, as they type their answers and investigations.”
Tinsley said that the motivation and enthusiasm from the students has truly made the exercise a success.
“I am so proud of my fourth graders. All four of my classes have worked so hard on this lesson,” she said. “I’ve been amazed and surprised at just how much they’ve loved it. I was hoping that would be the case when I first started setting it up, but they’ve blown me away with what they’ve said and what they’ve come up with while investigating all week. Our students just absolutely amaze me.”
