Ben Franklin Meets Social Media

A Social Studies and Literature Cross-Curricular Bulletin Board

Indiana State Standard: 5.1.9 Evaluate the contributions of political and religious leaders in colonial America.

Objective: Students will have the opportunity to learn about Benjamin Franklin and his impact of colonial America.

Activity Description:

This bulletin board features Benjamin Franklin put into the social media world. The "Facebook" or what we would like to call it if it existed in colonial times, "Silhouette Gazette", board contains information about Ben Franklin. The "Twitter" board is an interactive bulletin board. Students are able to read about Ben (from the selection of books), and then "tweet" him a comment or question. The "Pinterest" activity above the bulletin boards is a quiz called, "Name That Invention...On Pinterest". Students will also play tic-tac-toe. The tic-tac-toe game is done with a partner and there are choices of activities to complete!

Examples of exemplary literature to include:

Here is the QR Code used on the board: http://bensguide.gpo.gov/benfranklin/index.html

Instructions Posted for Bulletin Boards! 

The Silhouette Gazette Board:

1) Investigate Ben’s Gazette page.

2) Play the Scavenger Hunt TIC-TAC-TOE game with a partner.

3) Put the completed game in the box to become eligible for a prize drawing.

Here is a picture of the Tic-Tac-Toe Scavenger Hunt Worksheet:

Twitter Board:

1) Look at the books about Ben Franklin.

2) Use the marker to write a “tweet” on the white paper to Ben about something you

learned or about a question you may have. 

Name That Invention on Pinterest (above boards):

1) Look at the pictures of inventions made by Ben Franklin.

2) Using the books provided or the website, guess the name of each invention!

Materials:
Cut Out letters
Construction paper
Laminated white strips of paper
Dry Erase Marker
Print out of images on computer paper (searched for them on google)