War of 1812 and Battle of New Orleans by Mr. York and Mrs. Barnhill

Students in Mr. York’s 8th grade History class were studying the War of 1812 and the Battle of New Orleans.  One of his objectives was to help students gain an understanding of the importance of the War of 1812 on securing the United States as an independent nation and how the Battle of New Orleans was the last significant battle of the war. Students were asked to listen to the song, “The Battle of New Orleans” by Johnny Horton. The song was written from the perspective of an American soldier and tells the tale of the battle in a comical version compared to what actually happened.  Students were then asked to create a comic strip analyzing the song from a historical point of view retelling the story.  

For the comic strip, students were to write the comic strip in 1st person, but also had to write a narration at the bottom in 3rd person. Students had to create 2 panels on each verse.  Many of the words in the song were unfamiliar to the students. Students had to take strides in making sure they understood the events that were taking place in order to correctly portray the song. Students were also tasked with finding images that properly represented the events of the battle.  Interestingly, several students used imagery in a way that was unexpected, yet was quite creative. Allowing students to use their creativity in this manner certainly increased student engagement.

Once the comic strips were completed, students, using iMovie, combined their comic strip with “The Battle of New Orleans” song to create a seamless video. During the creation process of both the comic strip and video, students gained perspective of the history behind the battle that inspired the song. 

Upon reflection of the project, Mr. York has already began tweaking the project for next year.  This was his first attempt at a project of this magnitude and realized a few changes would be necessary for the project to reach its fullest potential.  One realization was that the panels during the song were a little long forcing the comic strip to move a little slow throughout the song.  To correct this, students in the future will create a panel for each stanza of the verse rather than 2 panels for the entire verse.  

Another option in the future is to have students actually create their own video to go along with the song rather than adding a self-created comic strip to the song.  The comic strip project could be used in another fashion allowing even more creativity for the Battle of New Orleans project.

Overall, students were highly engaged in the process of creating both the comic strip and the video.  Critical thinking was required in order for students to synthesize their understanding of the song and correctly portray the events of the Battle of New Orleans. What a great way to bring history to life!

Student iMovies:

https://youtu.be/txa8zvUhQhI

https://youtu.be/-lX0TnLuOC8