Korrie Berbereia

November 24, 2009

EDUC 431 PACT

Context Commentary

1. Briefly describe the following:

a. Type of school/program in which you teach, (e.g., elementary/middle school, themed
magnet, or charter school)
XYZ School is part of the XYZ Unified School District that encompasses
approximately 600 square miles and is located in the town of XYZ a small, rural,
agricultural community. The town of XYZ is an unincorporated area of the County with
a population of approximately 2,000. At XYZ School we strive to provide our students
with an environment conducive to learning and a quality curriculum, which keeps them
actively involved throughout the instructional day. We want our students to be able to
apply academic principles and critical thinking skills to solve real world problems
relevant to their lives. This includes the ability to work together, to communicate well,
and to share knowledge with others. Parents and community members are an integral
part of the school. The PTO, SSC, ELAC/DELAC and Migrant PAC are an active part of
the school community. They sponsor many events throughout the year that help connect
parents, students, and teachers. The school is fortunate to be embraced by a dedicated
staff and a caring community.
b. Kind of class you are teaching (e.g., third grade self-contained, sixth grade core
English/social science) and organization of subject in school (e.g., departmentalized,
interdisciplinary teams)
Self contained 5th grade

c. Degree of ability grouping or tracking, if any;

none

2. Describe any district, school, or cooperating teacher requirements or expectations that

might impact your planning or delivery of instruction, such as required curricula, pacing,
use of specific instructional strategies, or standardized tests.

All school sites benefit from district-wide resources such as instructional materials,
lottery, routine restricted maintenance, safety, and other funding. Some of the special
funding sources supporting student programs include:
§ Title I (NCLB)
§ Title II—Teacher Quality
§ Title III Consortium
§ Title IV
§ Title V
§ School Safety and Violence Prevention
§ Library Materials
 Berbereia 2

§ Special Education
§ Economic Impact Aid
§ Migrant
§ English Learners funding
BTSA

3. How much time is devoted each day to specific instruction in history-social science in
the class which is the focus of this task? 2-3 hours weekly

About the students in your class:

1. How many students are in the class 28

2. How many students in the class are:

English Learners 12
Redesignated English Learners 6
Proficient English Speakers 10

3. Please complete the following table about your English Learners’ latest CELDT scores
(if available):

# of Students
at Each
CELDT Level
in Different
Modalities
Score Level Listening Speaking Reading Writing Overall
Beginning 4 4 3 5 4

Early 8 3 5 3 4.75
Intermediate
Intermediate 3 5 7 6 5.25

Early 10 12 10 10 10.5
Advanced

Advanced 3 4 3 4 3.5

4. How many students have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) or 504 plans? 5
 Berbereia 3

5. How many students participate in a Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) program?
2

About the school curriculum and resources

6. Describe any specialized features of your classroom setting, e.g., bilingual, Structured
English Immersion, team taught with a special education teacher.
2 hours per day of bilingual instructional assistant, 1 hour per day of
collaboration with special education teacher.

7. If there is a particular textbook or instructional program used for history-social science

instruction, what is it? (If a textbook, please provide the name, publisher, and date of
publication.) Houghton Mifflin California Edition 2007 Edition

8. What other major resources are typically used for history-social science instruction in
this class? Houghton Mifflin Textbook Support Package California 2007 Edition

Lesson Plan

Content Standards::
5.5 Students explain the causes of the American Revolution.
1. Understand how political, religious, and economic ideas and interests brought
about the Revolution (e.g., resistance to imperial policy, the Stamp Act, the Townshend
Acts, taxes on tea, Coercive Acts).
2. Know the significance of the first and second Continental Congresses and of the
Committees of Correspondence.
3. Understand the people and events associated with the drafting and signing of the
Declaration of Independence and the document’s significance, including the key
political concepts it embodies, the origins of those concepts, and its role in severing ties
with Great Britain.
4. Describe the views, lives, and impact of key individuals during this period (e.g.,
King George III, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin
Franklin, John Adams

Resources and Materials:

See attached pages (Resources 2-3)
Copies of “Revolutionary Tea” and lyrics
1 clean plastic cup per student
Hot water and Caffeine-Free Tea Bags
Spoons
Sugar
Journals
Pencils

Objective(s):
 Berbereia 4

Students will describe the first continental congress meeting from the point of
view of a colonist by participating in the activities and writing about it in their journals.

Students will be able to explain at least one cause of the American Revolution by
participating in a simulation of two events and writing about their experiences in their
journals.

Academic Language: (key vocabulary words):

The Boston Tea Party
The First Continental Congress
Intolerable Acts
Tax
Boycott
Colonists
Colony
King George III
Democracy

Unit Overview:
Each day for a week, students will step into a time machine that takes them to a different
topic or event leading up to the American Revolution (called stations, see Resource 1).
The students will act as colonists and other characters-Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson,
George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and John Adams, during the simulations. The
teacher will act as King George III. Students will keep a detailed journal of their
experiences throughout the week which will be collected later for assessment.
The stations will be used as anticipatory sets. Each station will lead to bigger topics and
events which lead up to the American Revolution and the signing of the Declaration of
Independence. The lesson plan below reflects the station for Tuesday, Colonial Music.

Time Learning Activity Purpose

 Berbereia 5

Estimated Anticipatory Set: Students are excited to

10 minutes The time machine arrives in 1773, the year of eat/drink things in class
the Boston Tea Party! Speaking of tea, let’s (gets their attention)
have a spot, shall we? Pour everyone a small
cup of tea they can enjoy while listening to a Song/lyrics-
colonial song: Revolutionary Tea, and reading auditory/visual learners
the lyrics (Resource 2). (Get this approved by
parents ahead of time) Lyrics help with academic
language. Highlight
Step-by-Step Instructions of teaching: important words in the
After the students have tea, tell them they all lyrics.
owe a 3 penny tax for the tea bags, plus 3
pennies for each tea bag left unused.
Automatic responses will
Have students decide in their table groups be “No,” and “Why?”
5 minutes (colonies) if they want to pay the tax or not.
Let them refer to the song for ideas of what to
do. Concrete Operational
Thinking
Decide on plotting a Boston Tea Party. Talk -Piaget
10 minutes about what will be accomplished, what the Problem Solving Skills
risks are, etc. Watch Schoolhouse Rock- No
More Kings (YouTube, 3 minutes). Do a short Scaffolding, Bruner-
reenactment of the Boston Tea Party (all Students experience the
students march and protest by dumping event for themselves rather
remaining tea in the sink or trash bins.) than memorizing it.

Students write about their experience at the Helps build academic lang.
5-10 minutes Boston Tea Party in their journals. Teacher
puts prompting questions on the board to get Visual Learners/ Auditory
them started. Learners/ Kinesthetic
Learners
Teacher (King George III) puts up intolerable
10 minutes acts on the board. The acts state the colonies Zone of Proximal
can no longer have town meetings. Read the Development
acts together, sighting key vocabulary words. -Vygotsky
Students write proposals in invisible ink of
what they should do next and send them to the
other colonies, which decode the letters. Problem Solving Skills
(Resource 3) Students are forced to
come up with alternative
All students (except Georgia) should get plans and branch out from
5 minutes together in “Philadelphia,” to discuss their their original thinking.
letters and decide what they are going to do Students are in the same
about trade with England. This meeting is shoes as the colonists and
called the First Continental Congress (now can see things from their
1774). point of view.
 Berbereia 6

Closure: Students complete the lesson by finishing up their journal entries. Choose one
student per colony (or whoever wants to volunteer if time permits) to read something
from their journal to the rest of the class. Recap the chain of events that have taken place
and write a large timeline on butcher paper where everyone can see it in the class.
Include specific quotes from the journals on the timeline.

Assessment (formal and informal):

Informal assessment: Students will be assessed based on anecdotal notes teacher has
taken on participation and interaction with other students. Secret letters will be collected
and checked for realistic and in-context ideas. Journals will be checked to make sure
students are on the right track,
Formal assessment: Students will take a formal examination at the end of the week with
1-3 questions on main points taken from each day.

Planning Commentary

1. What is the central focus of the learning segment? Apart from being present in
the school curriculum, student academic content standards, why is the content of the
learning segment important for these particular students to learn? (TPE 1)
Students need to know about America’s struggle for independence against Great
Britain, which is the central focus of the learning segment. This unit is going to take 45
minutes to an hour per day for a week, which is longer than usually allotted for social
studies instruction. The unit is ultimately leading up to the writing of the Declaration of
Independence, which is arguably one of the most influential documents in American
History. Other countries and organizations have adopted its tone and manner in their own
documents and declarations. For example, France wrote its 'Declaration of the Rights of
Man' and the Women's Rights movement wrote its 'Declaration of Sentiments'. This unit
sets the stage for many other lessons and gives the students a good foundation for future
learning. This lesson is particularly important because it will stick in the students minds,
unlike some dates which are quickly memorized and then forgotten after the assessment.
They are eating, drinking, singing, wearing different hats, playing games and actively
participating in fun events throughout the entire week-long unit. The students get to
 Berbereia 7

experience what the colonists experienced through simulations of (in the lesson above)
the Boston Tea Party and the First Continental Congress. By writing in their journals,
they can reflect back on their experiences and have a memory to connect the event with.

2. Briefly describe the theoretical framework and/or research that inform your
instructional design for developing your students’ knowledge and abilities in both
mathematics and academic language during the learning segment.
Because we have a large number of students are English learners, I depended a lot
on Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development theory. Vygotsky maintained the child
follows the adult's example and gradually develops the ability to do certain tasks without
help or assistance. By writing short, uncomplicated leading questions on the board for
journal entries, I’m leading the students through their zone of proximal development.
Students may or may not wish to use these prompts according to their needs.
I kept Piaget’s cognitive stages in mind while noting that most of the students
would be in the concrete operational stage (During this stage, accommodation increases.
The child develops an ability to think abstractly and to make rational judgments about
concrete or observable phenomena. In teaching this child, giving him the opportunity to
ask questions and to explain things back to you allows him to mentally manipulate
information.) and allowing many opportunities for them to think abstractly and come up
with plans regarding what to do about the tax on tea, how they should react to the
Intolerable Acts, and what their next moves would be. I also allowed room for growth
into the formal operational stage, where students would be capable of hypothetical and
deductive reasoning. In this case, the student will be able to consider many possibilities
from several perspectives. By the end of the unit, most of the students should be able to
consider most of the perspectives of the colonists involved in the major events of the
American Revolution.
You’ll notice that most of my lesson plan, being a combination of active
participation and discovery activities and simulations, is focused on Bruner’s Education
Theory. Bruner maintains that effective teachers must provide assistance and guidance
by the process of scaffolding. This is how students build understanding. Ultimately,
scaffolding allows students to become independent learners. Bruner states the overall
 Berbereia 8

goal of education is that a teacher should guide their students so that they build their own
base of knowledge instead of being taught through rote memorization. This is where my
simulations come in. New information provided to the students would then be
understood and classified based on the knowledge they already have. Bruner says, “The
interconnection of the new experience with the prior knowledge results in the
reorganization of the cognitive structure, which creates meaning and allows the
individual to "go beyond the information given".” This is also re-stressed in the journal
entries. According to Bruner’s theory, the learner must instigate experiences, seek out the
information necessary to solve problems, and reorganize what they already know to
achieve new knowledge. I feel the students are accomplishing this through their
collaborative work in the First Continental Congress and in their secret letters. In order
to comprehend the material the learner must actively manipulate the information either
concretely or abstractly, and use inductive reasoning to draw inferences and make
generalizations. The students must then confirm or disprove these generalizations by
themselves through “discovery learning” or with the assistance of a teacher through
“guided discovery.” The students will see that the Boston Tea Party was somewhat
unsuccessful because of the Intolerable Acts, and with both discovery learning and
guided discovery, they will have to regroup and come up with another plan. According to
Bruner, this will allow students to identify an organizational structure and create a
“coding system” to mentally connect the concepts of the American Revolution together.

3. How do key learning tasks in your plans build on each other to develop students’
developmentally appropriate analytic reasoning skills in history or social science? How
do the learning tasks develop students’ mastery of related academic language? Describe
specific strategies that you will use to build student learning across the learning segment.
Reference the instructional materials you have included, as needed. (TPEs 1, 4, 9)
All of the tasks within the lessons build upon each other. Furthermore, all of the
lessons within the unit build upon each other (Resource 1). The timeline constructed in
the classroom shows how the lessons are in order by date, with each event leading up to
the Revolutionary War. The students will be familiarized with the key terms because they
will also be the spelling words for the week. There are many opportunities to learn the
 Berbereia 9

same material and to review the material, as it is learned first by song (Resource 2) ,
activity (Resource 3), video clip (Youtube.com, Schoolhouse Rock, No More Kings) then
again by simulation, and then revisited again in journals writings. The prompts for the
journals are at different developmental levels so students may chose whichever they feel
most comfortable with.

4. Given the description of students that was provided in Task 1.Context for
Learning, how do your choices of instructional strategies, materials, technology, and the
sequence of learning tasks reflect students’ backgrounds, developmental levels,
interests, and needs? Be specific about how your knowledge of these students informed
the lesson plans, such as the choice of text or materials used in lessons, how groups were
formed or structured, using student learning or experiences (in or out of school) as a
resource, or structuring new or deeper learning to take advantage of specific student
strengths. (TPEs 4,6,7,8,9)
Students will be placed in table groups, or “colonies.” There will be four groups
of 6 and one group of 4 (five groups in all). The group of four will have the child with
Autism. Being in a smaller group, there are less distractions and commotion to irritate
the child. Also, the Special Education Professional will sit at this table during the hour of
Social Studies instruction to help. The rest of the groups will be broken up into some
high, some low, and some middle performing students. Questions will be allowed
throughout the lessons to clarify. Redesignated English Learners will sit next to English
Learners to help translate. Also, a bilingual instructional assistant is periodically there to
help translate and better communicate the material.
I chose a catchy song with rhyming words to help auditory learners and also to
help students with ADD stay focused, but did not depend on just the song to teach the
material. The students have many opportunities to learn the same thing. There is also a
video clip for visual learners, and a lyrics and vocabulary sheet to refer back to. Students
will be collaborating with their peers throughout the entire lesson. I planned hands on
activities and reenactments so children with ADHD will have many opportunities to
move around. If students wish to move around more than I’ve provided opportunities for,
they may do so by visiting other colonies or past stations.
 Berbereia 10

I think each student will respond to having to pay 3 pennies for something they
didn’t necessarily ask for in the first place. The taxation without representation is sure to
strike a nerve with any background.
The reason for journal prompts and leading questions on the board is so students
of differing developmental interests and levels will have something to write about. There
will be many choices all leading to the same concept. Students may use these prompts or
choose to write something of their own, depending on their developmental level.
Students also may participate in the simulations as enthusiastically or minimally as they
wish, as long as they are understanding what is taking place. More outgoing students
may want to take the lead, and shyer students may wish to do less and watch the other
students. Everyone is expected to participate in the class collaborations, but the extent is
up to them.
Since I am lucky enough to have two bilingual instructional assistants, Students
may write their journal entries in their most comfortable language which can be
translated later. The point of this lesson is to learn about the Revolutionary War, not to
learn English, so I don’t mind at all if the students write in their primary language.
All of the accommodations I have made will help keep all students on task and keep the
ball rolling throughout the lesson. Students will feel more comfortable and prepared to
learn with these small alterations.

5. Consider the language demands of the oral and written tasks in which you plan to
have students engage as well as the various levels of English language proficiency related
to classroom tasks as described in the Context Commentary. (TPE 7)

a. Identify words and phrases (if appropriate) that you will emphasize in this
learning segment. Why are these important for students to understand and use in
completing classroom tasks in the learning segment? Which students?
The key academic language that I have identified for this particular lesson
includes the following words and phrases:
The Boston Tea Party
The First Continental Congress
 Berbereia 11

Intolerable Acts
Tax
Boycott
Colonists
Colony
King George III
Democracy
These words are important in understanding what is taking place in the song,
video clip, and simulations. All students should be familiar with this academic language
by the end of the lesson. Bilingual students and assistants can help English learners
understand some of the words by explaining to them in their native language. While
we’re acting words out (such as the boycott) in simulations, or pretending to be colonists,
all students will better be able to grasp the definitions.

b. What oral and/or written academic language (organizational, stylistic, and/or

grammatical features) will you teach and/or reinforce?
I plan to use the above vocabulary words as academic language. Students should
feel comfortable enough with these key words and names of events to use them in
conversation, during simulations, and in their journals. I will remind them while writing
their journals to correctly use their academic language.

c. Explain how specific features of the learning and assessment tasks in your plan,
including your own use of language, support students in learning to understand and use
these words, phrases (if appropriate), and academic language. How does this build on
what your students are currently able to do and increase their abilities to follow and/or
use different types of text and oral formats?
Students will be familiar with the vocabulary since it will appear in their English
weekly vocabulary lists as well. There will be signs around the room to help with
understanding. During the simulations, the teacher, who puts up the Intolerable Acts and
instates the tax on tea, will wear a sign around her neck that says, “King George, III, of
 Berbereia 12

England.” Maybe she’ll even be wearing a crown and speak with an English accent to be
perfectly clear. While the simulation of the Boston Tea Party is taking place (students all
going over to the sink and dumping their tea out, throwing the remaining tea bags in the
trash, and parading around saying “No way, we won’t pay!”), there will be a sign on the
board that says The Boston Tea Party, and other words describing the actions, like boycott
and protest. There will be a similar sign saying The First Continental Congress when that
simulation takes place. In the student’s materials, (station handouts, activities, and
Revolutionary Tea lyrics) important words and phrases will be highlighted and talked
about in depth. The teacher will use the same academic language she expects her
students to use.

6. Explain how planned assessments would allow you to evaluate the students’
learning of specific student standards/objectives and provide feedback to students on their
learning. (TPEs 2, 3)
Informal assessment:
Students will be assessed based on anecdotal notes the teacher has taken on
participation and interaction with other students. The teacher will be able to tell through
this assessment if the students are comfortable using academic language and if they’re
grasping the key concepts or just following the other students around.
The students’ secret letters will be collected and checked for realistic and in-context
ideas. The teacher will notice if students are aware of the event that is about to take place
(The First Continental Congress) by collecting the letters from the students and checking
to see if their proposals are valid. Journals will be checked to make sure students are on
the right track and have a deep understanding of the two major events that were simulated
and discussed in the lesson.
Formal assessment:
Students will take a formal examination at the end of the week with 1-3 questions
on main points taken from each day. The teacher will be able to tell if the students have
mastered these key points by their simple write or wrong answers. In this format, the
teacher can ask questions specific to the standards to see what the students really
understand. This assessment will show if adjustments need to be made when the unit is
 Berbereia 13

taught in the future.

7. Describe any teaching strategies you have planned for students who have
identified educational needs (e.g., English learners, GATE students, students with IEPs).
Explain how these features of your learning and assessment tasks will provide students
access to the curriculum and allow them to demonstrate their learning. (TPEs 9. 12)
As I explained in question 4, students will be placed in table groups, or
“colonies,” made up of four groups of 6 and one group of 4. The child with Autism will
be seated at the group of four as well as one or both of the GATE students who might
need special attention. Being a smaller group, there are less distractions and commotion.
Also, the Special Education Professional will sit at this table during the hour of Social
Studies instruction to help. The rest of the groups will be broken up into mixed
beginning, intermediate, and advanced students. Questions will be welcomed throughout
the lessons to clarify. Redesignated English Learners will be dispersed throughout the
groups and will sit next to English Learners to help translate. Also, a bilingual
instructional assistant is periodically there to help translate and better communicate the
material, especially key vocabulary words.
Revolutionary Tea is a catchy song with rhyming lyrics to help auditory learners and also
to help students with ADD stay focused, but did not depend on just the song to teach the
material. A vocabulary list also comes with the song to help clarify confusing old phrases.
The students have many opportunities to learn the same thing. There is also a video clip
for visual learners, and of course the simulation. Students will be collaborating with their
peers throughout the entire lesson and their discussion may help clear up any
misconceptions. I planned hands on activities and reenactments so all children,
especially those with ADHD, will have many opportunities to move around. If these
students need to move around more than I’ve provided opportunities for, they may do so
by visiting other colonies or past stations, or working out another conclusion with the
teacher.
Also stated before, journal prompts and leading questions will be written on the board so
students of differing developmental interests and levels will have something to write
about. Students may write their journal entries in their most comfortable language which
 Berbereia 14

can be translated later. The point of this lesson is to learn about the Revolutionary War,
not to learn English, so I don’t mind at all if the students write in their primary language.
However, I do expect them to use the correct names of important events as well as the
key vocabulary words in their writings.
 Berbereia 15

Resource 1

Time Machine Station Descriptions and Follow Up Questions

(anticipatory sets for each day)
Station One: Colonial Games
Find various examples of games that people played during colonial days, such as playing
cards and puzzles made of iron. Allow students to play.
Follow-up Questions
Which game did you enjoy the most? Why? Would you have enjoyed playing these games
during colonial times?
Station Two: Colonial Music
Perfect for audio learners. Using a tape or CD player, have students listen to a selection
of music from the American Revolution period (can be found in your local music store).
Provide lyrics so that visual learners can read along. Also, if you have any colonial
instruments, such as a fife or tin whistle, allow students to examine these as they listen to
the songs.
Follow-up Questions
What did the music during Colonial times sound like? What kinds of instruments do you
think were used? What was the song about? Did you enjoy it?
Station Three: Colonial Food
Provide a few samples of foods eaten during colonial times. Ideas might include cheddar
cheese, fresh grapes, dried prunes, chicken liver pate (a challenging thought), currants,
chilled mussels, mashed sweet potatoes, Indian pudding, corn chowder, pie and cider.
Follow-up Question
Did you like the food you tasted?
Station Four: Colonial Hats
Purchase several different examples of head coverings worn during the American
Revolution, such as straw bonnets, cocked hats and mob caps. You may want to add some
decorations to the hats, provided that they are historically accurate. Display them and
have students try them on. You may even want to take a few instant photos of various
students and display them at the end of the period. Often times, the companies that make
the hats provide literature about the different styles and their purpose. This fits easily into
the activity.
Follow-up Questions
Which hat do you like best? Who looked best in a hat today, and which one did he or she
try on? (examine photos)
Station Five: Colonial Pictures
Provide pictures of colonial villages, homes and examples of colonial life. You can take
them yourself or use photos from books. Have students interpret the pictures as to what
they teach us about colonial life.
Follow-up Question
How is colonial life different that modern day life? What do you learn about their
lifestyle from these pictures?
 Berbereia 16

Resource 2
Lyrics and Vocabulary for Revolutionary Tea
Revolutionary Tea
There was an old lady lived over the sea
And she was an island queen.
Her daughter lived off in a new country
With an ocean of water between.
The old lady’s pockets were full of gold
But never contented was she,
So she called on her daughter to pay her a tax
Of three pence a pound on her tea,
Of three pence a pound on her tea.

“Now, mother, dear mother,” the daughter replied,

“I shan’t do the thing you ax.
I’m willing to pay a fair price for the tea,
But never the three-penny tax.”
“You shall,” quoth the mother, and reddened with rage,
“For you’re my own daughter, you see,
And sure ’tis quite proper the daughter should pay
Her mother a tax on her tea,
Her mother a tax on her tea.”

And so the old lady her servant called up

And packed off a budget of tea;
And eager for three pence a pound, she put in
Enough for a large family.
She ordered her servant to bring home the tax,
Declaring her child should obey,
Or old as she was, and almost full grown,
She’d half whip her life away,
She’d half whip her life away.

The tea was conveyed to the daughter’s door,

All down by the ocean’s side,
And the bouncing girl poured out every pound
In the dark and boiling tide;
And then she called out to the island queen,
“Oh, mother, dear mother,” quoth she,
“Your tea you may have when ’tis steeped quite enough
But never a tax from me,
But never a tax from me.”

Vocabulary (for words in the lyrics, not for the lesson)

Line 8,pence:British money, roughly considered a penny in the United States but not a
 Berbereia 17

totally negligible amount in the 18th century

Line 11,shan’t:old contraction for shall not, which in 21st-century English usually takes
the formwill not
Line 14,quoth:old form for quoted or said
Line 20,budget of tea: a quantity for a particular use
Line 28,conveyed:transported
Line 30,bouncing:lively
Line 31,boiling:angry
Line 34,’tis:it is, it’s
Line 34,when ’tis steeped quite enough: when the tea leaves have released sufficient
flavor into the water

(http://school.discoveryeducation.com/lessonplans/programs/revwar1/)

Materials Needed:
CD or Tape with “Revolutionary Tea”
1 printout of lyrics per student
1 printout of vocabulary per student
 Berbereia 18

Resource 3
WRITE A SECRET LETTER

During the Revolutionary War, British and colonial soldiers frequently intercepted enemy
mail, so the combatants used various ways of disguising messages that traveled across
enemy lines. Here’s how to write a secret message in invisible ink:

Mix 4 teaspoons of water with 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.

Stir until smooth.
Heat and stir over a hotplate for several minutes.
Dip a toothpick into the mixture and write a message on a piece of paper.
Let the paper dry.
Dip a sponge into a solution of 1 teaspoon of iodine and 10 teaspoons of water.
Carefully wipe the paper with the sponge. The message should turn purple.

(http://www.educationworld.com/a_lesson/lesson175.shtml)

Materials Needed:
Water
Cornstarch
Hotplate
Spoon
Toothpicks or Q-tips
Thick Computer Paper
Small Sponges
Iodine
Paper Towels for clean up