Exploring Maryland on-line Lessons

Maryland with PRIDE contains twelve richly illustrated Teacher Aboard Logs written by Maryland educators traveling for a week each aboard Pride of Baltimore II in fall 1999. The initial two logs were prepared in the first weeks of the 1999-2000 school year by Jerome Bird, Director of Education for Pride of Baltimore, Inc. The remainder were prepared by classroom teachers drawn from the state's 1999 Blue Ribbon Elementary Schools. The travelling teachers were selected for the honor of sailing aboard Pride II by their principals and teaching colleagues.

The Blue Ribbon Teachers were all new to sailing aboard a tall ship. The describe their experiences with a freshness and wonder with which target level students can relate. They describe life aboard Pride II as well as highlights of the historic Chesapeake Bay towns they visited during the ship's Chesapeake Tour. Places described in the logs include St. Mary's City, Annapolis, Chestertown, Havre de Grace, Solomon's Island, Baltimore, Alexandria, and others. These historic places are staring attractions in any Maryland Studies program. They are portrayed here with richness, insight, and vividness that make them places of historical interest as well as places that students will want to visit.

Using the Teacher Aboard Logs

Teachers using the logs on-line have found that they make an excellent large group or whole class activity. Many used a large TV display monitor in their media center so that the whole class could participate at the same time. Students enjoyed reading portions of the logs aloud. This provided teachers with an excellent directed reading activity.

Alternatively, some teachers assigned individual or small groups of students to read and digest individual logs, and report to the class on their contents. Still other teachers, with limited computer/Internet access, printed out the logs and made them available in print format so that more students could share them than could be accommodated on line.

Your Thoughts

Each log concludes with five "Your Thoughts" questions. These are thought and action provoking stimulants based on the logs themselves. The questions purposefully range from easy (immediately answered) to the more difficult (requiring research and thought). Thus they provide classroom teachers with pre-fashioned assignments to insure that the logs are purposefully read and digested. We recommend that the teacher pre-screen the "Your Thoughts" questions and be prepared to assign them to individuals or groups depending on student abilities and time constraints.

Although these logs bear specific calendar dates, their content is essentially timeless. The historic places visited and described with great respect and appreciation in these logs will continue to hold a central focus for Maryland Studies, regardless of the calendar date.