Demonstrating+Knowledge+of+Students

To demonstrate my knowledge of students, I chose a unit that really hooked and captivated them! || 1. We begin our unit with a story! This hook serves to draw in the class into a common crisis and unite them. H **(Schedule and ‘Timeframe’ given for the length of unit, including quizzes and final presentations.)** 2. Students are introduced to the site of our tragedy. The ‘land’ is pre-cut ½ inch plywood, cut to resemble the shape of an irrigated floodplain, common to typical ancient Sumerian farming villages. The class has already been divided into groups, and the land has been cut into enough pieces to give each group a plot of land, plus one large common area for the village center and markets. Each group will be given their first family assignment: complete your proposal for land use (Poster, including labels, etc.) to be presented to the village Elder (teacher). The best family proposal will get the first choice of farmland. They will be clear by the end of day two of the direction we are headed! W 3. We will complete the posters in family groups. By the end of this class, will be prepared to make their presentation. Links for students to research will be [|www.discovery.org] and Encarta.com. E 4. Students will be asked to log on to Wikispace and write journals at home. I will be posting journals at regular intervals. Text; McDougall Little, __World History: Ancient Civilizations__ **chapter 3, Ancient Mesopotamia, will be used: today, lesson 1, (including mapping exercise and short story. (pgs. 78, 79 together, assigned reading, pgs. 80-86.)**R 5. Our first community meeting will be held. This will be outside, role-played and set up to allow students to easily get into their roles. The village (Serenity) has one Elder, (teacher) who will decree that our community needs to establish systems to order our society. Families will need to each send a representative to serve on committees. W, H 6.  These committees will be responsible to put forth a recommendation to the community. Their proposal will be discussed, then all will vote. The system that is decided upon will be journaled about on our Wiki page. Text: **Homework, do the ‘Activity, Make a Diagram’ on page 87. **R E2 7. Physical construction will begin on our community and farm areas. Land will be taken from the ‘floodplain’ (plywood base). Families will divide the responsibilities according to ability. This will be a group decision, assigning duties according to need. (Project manager – leader, Construction manager - good with hands, Accountant - organizer, and laborers. Each role will be evaluated according to self-evaluation, peer-evaluation and journaling. Text: **Homework, read in Lesson 2, pages 89-91. **H, T, E2, O 8. Discuss the reading from the previous night. Assign group questions related to reading: “What were the five traits that characterize civilization?” __Harvest Feast evening__. This will be a ‘Thanksgiving’-type event, with students arriving for a __Servant meal__. (We team-build by serving each other food entirely. Each member of the community will bring one ingredient for the feast. H, R, T 9. Complete Lesson 2, pages 91-96. Questions from the lesson summary assigned for next day. These basic questions will be included in the summative evaluation. (Final exam) 10. Presentation of completed community to ‘visitors’. Each member of the class will act as an ambassador for their community. They will take a student or teacher from another class on a tour through our village, explaining the key words and concepts covered. Their character for this tour may be: a village Elder-in-training, the canal engineer, farmer, or market owner. R, E2, T
 * Learning Activities: O

||  Question: What would you do? There are so few villagers left, but the good news is that the survivors are grouped into ‘families’ of three and four members each! Many of the decisions that are to be made will be made in groups, starting with the first: Decide as a group what your family will do; either flee to the mountains, or stay and rebuild Serenity, our simple Sumerian farming village. Family decisions will then be discussed as a village, and a big group decision will be made. The ‘Village Elders’ will steer the decision towards staying, as that is the unit! Students will sign on to Wikispace to register and complete their first response.
 * Stage 3 Plan Learning Experiences and Instruction O ||
 * Day 1: Our first class begins with a walk to a quiet field, where students will be asked to close their eyes and imagine that they are in what remains of their village, in the year 3300 BC. The story is told, as attached.   (Schedule and ‘Timeframe’ given for the length of unit, including quizzes and final presentations.)

Day 2: Students are introduced to the site of our tragedy. The ‘land’ is pre-cut ½ inch plywood, cut to resemble the shape of an irrigated floodplain, common to typical ancient Sumerian farming villages. The class has already been divided into groups, and the land has been cut into enough pieces to give each group a plot of land, plus one large common area for the village center and markets. Each group will be given their first family assignment: complete your proposal for land use (Poster, including labels, etc.) to be presented to the village Elder (teacher). The best family proposal will get the first choice of farmland. They will be clear by the end of Day 2 of the direction we are headed! For homework: Students will read ‘Lesson 1’, pgs. 83-86 in their textbook __World History, Ancient Civilizations.__ || ||
 * Day 3: We will discuss the reading from the previous night. I will emphasize the ‘key terms’, such as //floodplain, semiarid, silt, agriculture, drought and surplus. //Students complete their charts and hand them in to the village ‘Elder’. (All posters will be ranked according to rubrics). The family groups will get to choose their land based on their ‘ranking’ in the posters. Students will log in to a Wikispace site and journal their first response. Homework tonight will be researched online through [|www.discovery.org]. Students will be expected to report back on several key components present in a simple Sumerian agricultural village. Quiz tomorrow at the beginning of class covering the key terms covered so far!
 * Day 3: We will discuss the reading from the previous night. I will emphasize the ‘key terms’, such as //floodplain, semiarid, silt, agriculture, drought and surplus. //Students complete their charts and hand them in to the village ‘Elder’. (All posters will be ranked according to rubrics). The family groups will get to choose their land based on their ‘ranking’ in the posters. Students will log in to a Wikispace site and journal their first response. Homework tonight will be researched online through [|www.discovery.org]. Students will be expected to report back on several key components present in a simple Sumerian agricultural village. Quiz tomorrow at the beginning of class covering the key terms covered so far!
 * Day 3: We will discuss the reading from the previous night. I will emphasize the ‘key terms’, such as //floodplain, semiarid, silt, agriculture, drought and surplus. //Students complete their charts and hand them in to the village ‘Elder’. (All posters will be ranked according to rubrics). The family groups will get to choose their land based on their ‘ranking’ in the posters. Students will log in to a Wikispace site and journal their first response. Homework tonight will be researched online through [|www.discovery.org]. Students will be expected to report back on several key components present in a simple Sumerian agricultural village. Quiz tomorrow at the beginning of class covering the key terms covered so far!
 * Day 3: We will discuss the reading from the previous night. I will emphasize the ‘key terms’, such as //floodplain, semiarid, silt, agriculture, drought and surplus. //Students complete their charts and hand them in to the village ‘Elder’. (All posters will be ranked according to rubrics). The family groups will get to choose their land based on their ‘ranking’ in the posters. Students will log in to a Wikispace site and journal their first response. Homework tonight will be researched online through [|www.discovery.org]. Students will be expected to report back on several key components present in a simple Sumerian agricultural village. Quiz tomorrow at the beginning of class covering the key terms covered so far!

Day 4: Quiz! Students will receive feedback on their first journal entry at the start of this class. We will also discuss the research that each student did the previous night. Students will summarize their ‘choices’ for best five or six components from the class discussion. This brainstorming will assist them in their construction. I will collect and evaluate their work from this exercise.

Day 5: Our first community meeting will be held to discuss some of the items of business that must be covered. The concept of systems of government will be introduced through a discussion on several of the problems that have ‘come up’. (Again, these are contrived and the students will play along!) Committees will be decided upon. Each person will have to sit on at least two committees, based on numbers. For homework, students will read ‘Lesson 2’, pgs. 88-95. Key terms will be reported to me on paper for the following class.

Day 6: I will collect ‘Key Terms’ homework assignment. Time will be spent within groups looking over their rubrics for the formation of their land. All of the constructs, items necessary and tasks will be listed in their posters, so students simply need to determine how the poster can be adapted to their irregularly-shaped land. The rubric must state the need for ‘specialists’. Each student will act as a ‘master’ in one of the following: manager, accountant, construction boss, or laborer. Each of these roles will be exclusive, with a rubric for each job. No family members can do another’s job. After these roles are chosen, students may start laying out the land and planning how and when to begin construction. Day 7: Systems committees will meet. The committee will choose a recommendation to the village then present it in the next community meeting. As committees are meeting, others will continue to work on layout and preliminary ‘Village Square’ design. Quiz announced for tomorrow’s class.

Day 8: Quiz today! Systems committees will continue to meet and finalize their recommendations. I will ask students to network with the Wikispace to put their individual opinions in print. I will use this as formative evaluation, and be able to speak to any confusion from the students.

Day 9: A Community Meeting will be held. Each committee will present their recommendation to the village. The floor will be open to discussion. Rubric for these presentations will include participation from the whole class, as well as the committees. The village will vote for each system of government. Three of four will be discussed on the first day of meetings. Wiki journal for this reflection on the process and their self-evaluation of participation.

Day 10: The next three systems of government will be discussed. As yesterday, the remaining time can be spent working on their individual farms. Have a bag of concrete outside, with adequate plastic bowls and bamboo skewers for mixing. We will use willow sticks for the supports, and Palm leaves for the thatch on the barns and outbuildings. The forms will be made from Lego blocks, as the size for the ‘mud bricks’ is about the same as a standard Lego piece. The blocks will be mixed and set to dry in the sun. Journaling will take place each day, or evening, depending on time. Day 11: The rest of the systems will be covered and voted upon. As we conclude, a pledge of commitment will be formed and signed next class. Students will continue to work on the construction of their farms and outbuildings. Those finished early may begin the markets and layout for Serenity Meeting Hall. Each family must build a market booth for the sale of their produce in the town square.

Day 12: CRISIS!! Our first test of our systems is introduced. There have been several thefts overnight and the culprit is among us! Discussion of this should take place individually, then with families, before our ‘Emergency Town Meeting’. Construction can continue after the meeting.

Day 13: Completion of the buildings and Town Square should take place in several days, but realistically, it may take 5 or 6 classes, owing to our meetings, etc. Day 15 or 16?: Students will act as ‘Tour Guides’ for other members of our school. They will individually bring in a teacher or small group of students from another class to explain our model. Their role in this exercise will be either an ‘Elder-in-training’, a canal engineer, a farmer, or a merchant in the market. They will know that I am evaluating them based on a rubric covering their presentation’s thoroughness, knowledge & understanding and enthusiasm. **I believe I was 'demonstrating knowledge of students' interests and cultural heritage, for all of my students were originally from the Middle East. They were an ALL BOYS class, so were especially interested in hands-on projects, also!** || ||