Our Classroom Journey

I’m excited to share an innovative project that brought our American History and Digital Media classes together in a unique learning experience. Our students embarked on a collaborative journey to uncover the true story of Thanksgiving, challenging common myths and creating an engaging educational video and mobile app prototype that goes far beyond the traditional narrative.

The project was designed to be much more than a simple assignment. Students dove deep into historical research, exploring the complex interactions between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, the role of Sarah Josepha Hale in establishing Thanksgiving as a national holiday, and Abraham Lincoln’s significant proclamation during the Civil War. But this was no ordinary research project.

What made this project truly special was the integration of STEM concepts into historical storytelling. Students chose from fascinating research areas like agricultural science, meteorology, food preservation, and data visualization. Imagine learning about 17th-century crop cultivation, exploring the climate challenges of the Plymouth colony, or investigating how Native Americans and Pilgrims preserved food for harsh winters – all while preparing to create an animated video or a mobile app prototype!

The Digital Animation class brought these historical insights to life through animation. Using professional software like Adobe Animate and Adobe Character Animator, students transformed their research into a compelling 23-minute animated video. They carefully crafted storyboards, designed characters, and added narration that brought historical facts into a format their peers could understand and appreciate.

Below are links to 3 of the 6 different sections of the final animated video.

THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

SARAH JOSEPHA HALE

STEM CONCEPTS

The Mobile Interface Design class enhanced the project by creating an innovative interactive companion app for the Thanksgiving animated video. Leveraging user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) design principles, students developed a mobile application that allowed viewers to dive deeper into the historical content. Through carefully designed interactive elements, users could tap on different scenes to access additional historical information, explore supplementary research materials, and engage with multimedia content that expanded on the video’s narrative. The app featured intuitive navigation, clean infographic-style design elements, and interactive timelines that helped contextualize the complex historical information. Students used the design tool Figma to prototype and refine their interfaces, ensuring that the app not only looked visually appealing but also provided an educational and engaging user experience that complemented the animated video’s historical storytelling.

VIEW MOBILE APP PROTOTYPE PROJECT HERE

Collaboration was key throughout the project. Students worked across classes, dividing roles and responsibilities, from scriptwriting to character design and editing. The final step required them to critically review their work, ensuring historical accuracy and creating an engaging narrative.

The result? A collection of educational animations and mobile app that challenge preconceived notions about Thanksgiving and provide a nuanced, research-backed exploration of this important historical event. Our students didn’t just learn about history – they became storytellers, researchers, and digital media creators.

This project exemplifies the power of interdisciplinary learning, showing how history, technology, and creativity can come together to create something truly remarkable.