Reflective Practice Ancient History Egypt

GRADE:

any (This one is grade 6)

MATERIALS/TIME REQUIRED:

30-40 minutes, 3×5 or 4×6 index cards

PROVIDE FOR INCLUSION – A You Question, Energizer, or Linking Strategy:

If you could time travel to Ancient Egypt, would you? Why/why not?

IDENTIFY THE OBJECTIVES:

Content Standard: Understand the major characteristics of civilization and how civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Indus valley

Collaborative: Think constructively, work on tasks together, listen attentively

Personal: Participate in the learning community. Share subject knowledge.

IDENTIFY THE STRATEGY:

Extended Nametag begins with the student’s name in the center and then other requested information in the four corners of the card. Students then share their names and bits of information from the four corners in various size groups. This strategy maximizes communication and sharing of information.

Example: The topic of study is “Ancient Egypt. After each student has written his/her name in the center of the card, have him/her answer the following questions:

Upper right: Write the name of a pharoah, and what he is known for…

Lower right: Write a level of society as well as the levels above and below …

Lower left: Write a significant statement about the Nile River and its influence on Ancient Egypt.

Upper left: Write a summary statement about the religious beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians.

Once this portion is complete, have students get into pairs and share answer for the upper right corner only. Then have students regroup in pairs and share answers from the lower right only. Next have students regroup into triads and share the lower left only. Finally, have students combine triads to form groups of six and they share the upper left corner. Have the students return to their seats and have a class discussion about what they learned from one another, or turn it into a journal reflection…”What did you learn…?”

REFLECTION:

Content: Which question was easiest/most difficult to answer? What do you know now, that you didn’t know before?

Collaborative: Was your role more of a teacher or a learner? Explain.

Personal: What did you like about this activity? How did it help you learn or support your learning/knowledge on the topic? What would you change if we were to do it again?

PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR APPRECIATION:

Invite statements, specific to listening/sharing knowledge.

AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT:

Use as a reflective practice: This can be a quiz, a class participation grade or credit (quickly checked by teacher), part of a social studies folder/portfolio on the unit, or a reflective study (if done before, during, and after the unit or topic)

Before studying the unit: Make the questions very simple, to find out what your students’ perceptions are, and/or what they think they know about the subject.

During the study of the unit: Have the students write facts from the text (or other source) to encourage reading for content skills. Use general categories.

After completing study of the unit: Use this strategy as a review for a test, or to create a test.

LEARNING COMPONENTS

Cooperative Learning
Reflective Practice
Authentic Assessment