Overview:

The instructional delivery methods and tools are appropriate for the type of learning target, and the teacher facilitates a challenging and active learning environment and encourages students to make decisions regarding their own learning. The teacher selects questioning, discussion, pacing and grouping techniques that engage all students and elicit clear evidence of their learning. Excitement about learning is not only demonstrated in the instruction, but also by the engagement of the students in learning activities that are relevant and based on individual needs and learning characteristics.

Relevant Description:

SS.9.H.CL2.2 investigate the various components of culture and civilization including customs, norms, values, traditions, political systems, economic systems, religious beliefs and philosophies in ancient river civilizations.

SS.9-10.L.18 draw evidence from informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research.

In this lesson, the students participated in several activities about Egypt's culture, beliefs, and mummification with the ultimate goal of creating a news broadcast using the information they had researched and learned.  The students participated in a question and answer session with an Egyptologist, researched information to create scripts for the news broadcast using the internet and class notes, created props and PowerPoints to assist with the news broadcast, and the culmination of all their work was the presentation of their news broadcasts about the discovery of King Tut's tomb.

In the question and answer activity, students prepared questions to ask in the session. Then, they submitted their questions so that they could be viewed by me and the Egyptologist. We were able to do the question and answer session via Google Hangouts. Students were able to ask an actual Egyptologist questions ranging from mummification, the underworld, gods, and what the inside of a pyramid is like.

In the research section of the lesson, students used the internet, class notes, and information obtained in the question and answer session to create scripts for the news broadcasts. The students, depending on the size of their groups, needed scripts that involved at least four participants. Then, students created PowerPoint presentations and props to make their news broadcasts as authentic as possible.

To complete our lesson, the students presented their finished news broadcasts to their classmates. Through the news broadcast, they were able to give their own original take on the discovery of the tomb.

Reflective Analysis:

This lesson went very well for my ninth grade class. They loved talking with the Egyptologist so much, that they had me forward more questions to her to answer that they thought of after the question and answer session.  The use of Google Hangouts, as a means of speaking to an expert in a different state, was an unforgettable experience for all of us. The students used information they learned from the expert in their news broadcasts, along with information gained through online sources.

The students worked incredibly hard to make their news broadcasts as authentic as possible. Some groups added extra details like home made pyramids, multiple interviewees, group members wrapped in toilet paper, and even weather forecasts! PowerPoint was used as a background for the news teams, and as a backdrop for "on scene" interviews. I was so impressed with all the thought and effort they put into every detail of the project.

Plans for Improvement:

If I were to do this lesson again, I would like to give the students more time to create their news desks in class. It was a common complaint that they would have liked more time to work on the scenery as a group, since they were not able to work as a group outside of the school. I would also like to have the students be able to share their videos with others. I was so proud of how the news broadcasts were presented, I know that the parents/guardians would be just as impressed if they were to see the broadcasts on YouTube.