Friday, 11 April 2014

Elizabeth Marr - Adapted Teaching Activity




Lesson Name or Number:

 Medieval times in Europe

  Date: 
April 11, 2014

Name:
Elizabeth Marr

Subject:
 Social Studies

Grade(s): 4

                                                                                                                                                                            
Rationale:  
        This lesson allows students to learn about our history and how we can learn from it and how humans effect on the environment has changed.

Prescribed Learning Outcome(s): 
·         A1. Application: Past and Present Societies
·         A2. Inquiry: Ways of Life and relationship with the Environment
·         A3. Understanding Context: Characteristics of Early Societies

Instructional Objective(s):
  • Examine the basic feature of medieval society, such as trade, transportation, design and technology, government, culture and beliefs
  • Compare a medieval community (housing, social structure, recreation, land use, geography, climate, food, dress, government)
  • Compare environmental causes of pollution in medieval times and today

Prerequisite Concepts and Skills: 
 Medieval – relating or belonging to the Middle Ages (500-1500 B.C.E.)
Modern – of or relating to recent times or the present, now
Materials and Resources:
    Teacher
      Students
·         Whiteboard and/or Smart board
·         Markers
·         Whiteboard and/or Smart board
·         Markers
·         Paper
·         Pencils

Lesson Activities:
    Teacher Activities
      Student Activities
Time
Introduction:
·         Have the students sit in a circle and have each student tell one thing they think they know about medieval times

·         Get students to brainstorm, ask questions to assess their knowledge and engage them:
o  What would you like about living during the medieval times?
o  What would you not like about living during the medieval times?
o  What kind of jobs did people do in the medieval times?
o  Was there money during the medieval times? How did people buy things?
o  Were there cars during the medieval times? How did people travel?
o  Were there tall buildings during the medieval times? What kinds of buildings were there?
o  Were there telephones during the medieval times? How did people travel?
o  What were some (weird) things the people believes? What do we know now that people in medieval times did not know? (i.e., earth=flat, witches…)
o  What does modern mean?
o  What do we have now that people did not have in the medieval times? (cars, electricity, factories,…)
During this discussion, point out that our modern lifestyle creates much more waste products than a medieval lifestyle

Body:
·         Split the class into small groups of around 4 students, and assign half the groups with modern and half with medieval and then instruct them to write a story of what one day for a boy named “Luke” would like in their assigned time periods.
Encourage students to include small details


After the students have finished sharing their stories, ask them which Luke will have less impact on the environment?

·         In the middle of the board write: Transportation, Home, Companies, People
On the left side write the heading Medieval, and on the right side of the board write the heading “Modern”
After students have finished writing their answers on the board, aid them in figuring out the different kinds of pollution based on their answers (water, air, soil)
Elaborate on the differences between then and now

·         Get students to come back together as one group and ask them:

o  What things do you see around the class that would not be around during medieval times?
o  What things do you see around the class that would be the same as medieval times?
Write their answers on the board. Then ask them further questions:
o    What kind of material do you see in the 2 lists? What materials did not exist in Medieval times? (plastics)
o    What objects have changed and why? (eg toys that were made of wood are now made out of plastic)

Closure:
·         Provide questions if students need help beginning:
Think about the story of Luke, How can we live more like medieval Luke to help the environment? What if someone in Medieval Times was living in Modern Times, what trouble would they have? If  you could travel back to Medieval Times, what would you tell the people there?

·         Share one thing they think they know about medieval times


·         Answer questions, raise hands before speaking

























·         Students on one side of the class will the story of a boy’s life in modern times and the students on the other side will tell the story of a boy’s life in medieval times. One recorder in each group can write down their stories and then each group will read their story out loud to the class.




·         Students will go up to the board and on either side write examples of causes of pollution during that time
Afterwards, students will have to determine the 3 different types of pollution
Students will also create their own list in their notebooks, using both the examples on the board and their own.


·         Answer questions, raise hands in order to have a turn to speak













·         Write a report on what they learned and how they can apply it to their lives.
5-10 min




10-20 mins







































10-30 mins












10-30 mins










10-30 mins





















10 mins or take home if need more time




Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Differentiated Instruction (DI):
    There are many students in my class who struggle with keeping focused on their work, whether or not they have been classifies as having ADHD. By changing the size of groups they are working in, even that little change in the learning environment can help them from getting too easily distracted.
    By including class discussion as well as writing down information this aids more students with different learning styles to learn and understand the material. As well, the creative side of making up a story allows other students to showcase their abilities.
    There is also another student with and IEP. She would not be able to write the report because she has intellectual disabilities and physical exceptionalities, so instead she could match up pictures to either medieval or modern times. The small groups allow her to feel like she is part of the class and spend time with her friends without being too overwhelmed in the large group. As well, she spends large portions of time outside the class so as the activities are broken up instead of just one large activity it is easier to work her schedule around the small group work.

Organizational Strategies:
    There is a special corner of the classroom by the whiteboard that is used whenever students are brainstorming as a group. The students all have assigned seating on the carpet so they can quickly find their spots without wasting time of trying to decide where to sit. For the small group work they sit at tables of either 3 or 4 students, so it is easy and efficient to make groups. During the activity where students write their answers on the board, the smart board will be used as it is in a better spot for all students to see when sitting and making notes at their desks.



Behavioural Management Strategies:
    By using the brainstorming corner, which rules have already been outlined t to the students (eg. assigned seats, raising their hands, being respectful when someone else is speaking, etc.) the students already know what behavior is expected of them during the brainstorming process. When the students are split into their smaller groups, there is also a small conference room across the hall they are allowed to use if the noise level in the classroom is getting too loud, and possibly in the hall so they can better hear their group members. Spacing out the groups also decreases the opportunities to be distracted by friends in other groups.

Assessment and Evaluation:
    The assessment will be formative, and based on the students’ reports at the end of the lesson. Students will get marks for summarizing what they learned, and how medieval and modern societies and the causes of pollutions differ. Half of the marks will also be based on if they apply what they learned to their lives and come up with ways they can decrease pollution using what they learned about medieval times.

Extensions:
    In the future, students could use their knowledge of life during the medieval times and compare it to another period in history that they learn about. Their knowledge of the causes of pollution could link to a future science class on the environment and additionally their attitude towards decreasing pollution could result in a class project to take their ideas and come up with a plan the class can follow to decrease the pollution they cause.




No comments:

Post a Comment