Lauren Gorda

10/09/14
ELED 434
Compiled Draft of Lesson Plan
1 TITLE OF LESSON: Travelling Through the Moneymakers of Mali!
1 CONTEXT OF LESSON
In order to know that my students were prepared for this lesson on the Mali Empire, I will
begin by giving them an oral pre-assessment asking them about what they already know about
the Mali Empire. This lesson fits in with the curriculum sequence since prior to learning about
the Mali Empire, the students will have learned the week before on the ancient civilizations of
Greece and Rome in SOL 3.1. I have observed my cooperating teacher teach the students social
studies content, and I have noticed that the students enjoy learning about social studies through
hands on activities because they are more engaged with the material. They display more of an
interest in the material when it is presented to them in a fun and engaging manner such as
through games, visual displays etc.
At the beginning of the school year they learned about how Americas government
operates in terms of its local, state, and national levels. Also, they learned about the geographical
features of the United States. This lesson then builds off of how a civilization functions in the
past, and so students can use their prior knowledge of how a civilization operates today in order
to compare it to ones in the past. Then, they can then learn about names of explorers, and the
reason and result for their travels in order to elaborate about the early history of America, and
their impact on the Native Americans. (SOL 3.3)
As we know through learning child development, children learn from simple to complex
concepts. According to Jean Piagets cognitive development theory (Huitt, W., & Hummel, J.

2003, p.1), children first form conceptual understanding of ideas to then being able to think
abstractedly. Therefore first they learn how governments in a civilization operate presently in
order to build a conceptual understanding of this idea in order to then know how to abstractedly
piece together information of ancient civilizations in order to understand how they functioned in
the past.
1 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Time Allotted for this lesson: 35 minutes during her social studies content block
Understand what are the broad
Know what are the facts, rules,
Do what are the specific thinking
generalizations the students should specific data the students will gain behaviors students will be able to
begin to develop? (These can be
through this lesson? (These
do or practice as a result of this
difficult to assess in one lesson.)
knows must be assessed in your lesson? (These will also be assessed
lesson.)
in your lesson.)
The students will understand how The students will know what items The students will discuss with a
an economic system contributes to a were traded such as gold, salt, and partner what they already know
about the early Mali empires
civilizations prosperity.
books.
economy before being taught
information on it through a Prezi
The students will understand how The students will know that they
an economic system operated with a traded goods so that their economy presentation.
leader in government in the early
could survive and traded with other
The students will observe how the
empire of Malis culture, in order to people in other sections of the
understand how the economy of the empire such as Timbuktu, the salt economy worked and what type of
United States today is different
mines in the northern part (Sahara goods were traded, and with what
and/or similar.
Desert) of Mali, the gold mines in certain locations they traded with.
the southern part, in the early Mali
The students will play a game in
empire.
travelling centers where they will
engage in different roles and travel
The students will know that
Timbuktu was considered a major around the room to different cities
in Mali, and pay a certain amount of
trading city in the early West
goods to the king of Mali by
African Mali empire.
computing math problems to know
how much to trade, and to
understand how the early empire of
Malis economy worked.
The students will think about what
is traded in our economy in order to
make connections between early
Malis economy and ours in the
United States. (thinking about

economic systems as a cultural

universal)
The students will complete an exit
slip on the three main items the
empire of Mali traded with, and
then write down any additional
information they learned from the
lesson.

1 ASSESSING LEARNING:
What will your students do or say, specifically, that indicate every student has achieved your
objectives? Rememberevery objective must be assessed for every student!
Task:
Diagnostic features:
Support:
-The students will turn to a
- I will be looking for anything the - If a student does not feel
partner and discuss with them students are saying in regards to
comfortable sharing his her ideas
anything they know about the the items they traded, names of
with the class, then he/she does not
economy of the early empire leaders involved, what was
have to. The students have support
of Mali.
significant about their economy in from their partners with helping
their empire etc. I will be walking how to come up with ideas on the
around the room and monitoring to subject. None of the children will
see if they are discussing things
be cold called on, and feel like
about the empire, and ask a few
they are put on the spot to
groups their ideas. Then, I will
answer. The students are working
have some of the groups share
are drawing on their prior
what their ideas were.
knowledge, and this gives me an
idea of how much they already
- I will be looking to see that they know about the early empire of
- The students will watch a
are paying attention to the Prezi,
Mali before I teach my lesson.
Prezi presentation on how the and not being distracted by
ancient empire of Malis
anything or anyone seated near
-If a student is not able to see the
economy worked, and some
them, and when I ask I them what Prezi, I can read the items to he/she
general background
they have learned, they will need that are being traded, the different
information on the empire.
to answer what they originally
regions of Africa they traded with,
While watching, they will be thought about their idea prior to
the rulers during the time period,
thinking about what they and watching the Prezi, so that I can
the name of the significant trading
their partner discussed about see if they were connecting their city, and they kept the economy
what they already knew, and two ideas while watching it.
structured. Text will also be
compare it to what they learn.
included on the video as well for
those who may not be able to hear
it.

- I will be looking to see if students

understand how much of their
good they must pay to their king of
-The students will work on an Mali and understand why they
economy game, where they
must pay a certain amount of their
will compute math problems good to him. Based on what they
in order to know how much of know/have learned about the
their good needs to be paid to United Statess government, I will
their King in taxes, to
be asking them while I am walking
understand how the economy around and making sure they are
of the early empire of Mali
staying on task and are not
worked.
distracted.

-The students will be given an

exit slip asking them what the
three items they mainly traded,
and then they can write any
words about the early empire
of Mali. Their words can be
anything they learned from the
lesson today.

-This task will allow me to see

what they learned such as the
names of the items traded, names
of leaders of the empire, name of
the trading city in the empire,
anything on how an economy
operates, prospers/develops, and
comparison to how our
economy/government in the
United States is similar or different
to their early economy/form of
government by what words they
put down for their word splash so
that I can see what terms they did
or did not understand.

- The students will get to work

hands-on on an activity that
physically shows them items that
were traded by travelling through
the cities of ancient Mali, and gives
them scenarios in which they are
pretending to be certain roles in
each of the cities and they have to
trade their goods on account of
having to pay for taxes to the king.
Also, it shows how a leader
enforces rules so that an economy
can operate. It is something that is
fun and creative for them in order
to give them a brain break from
learning lots of content. If he/she
cannot participate hands-on, then
he/she will have to tell me verbally
how I would solve a problem, and
why I have to pay taxes to the King.
- The students generally get to
choose what they want to write, and
only have to write down words and
not complete sentences, since many
of them still get worried when
writing complete sentences because
they struggle with them, and
therefore think they are writing
them incorrectly. They are able to
explore and write about different
parts of the lesson, and how they
understand several details from the
lesson. If a student cannot write
them, I will have/she state them to
me verbally. The activity is one
they can keep to themselves, and is
something I can look at to see what
they learned from my lesson.

1 RELATED VIRGINIA STANDARDS OF LEARNING (and NATIONAL STANDARDS

required)
SOL 3.2: The student will study the early West African empire of Mali by describing its oral
tradition (storytelling), government (kings), and economic development (trade).
*My focus is simply on discussing the economic development or trade aspect of this standard.
1

MATERIALS NEEDED
-Copies of the Mali game (each good) at each center from the VA SOL book (18) one for each
person (provided by me), and copies of the problems associated with all of the centers
-Labels of each city name at each center with each of the game parts at each center (provided by
me)
- Her laptop/internet connection) to show my Prezi presentation online on generally how the
early empire of Mali operated (provided by my cooperating teacher with her consent)
-Construction paper (18) copies for the students to write their word splashes on (provided by me)
- Extra stop station with differentiated problems where the students have to figure up how to
split up equal groups of their good in order to pay a section of it to their King (one for each
student-18 copies), if they finish that an additional activity with the smartboard they can work as
a group or with a partner depending on who finishes with them (Mali matching cause and effect
statements to one another about the Mali empire) activity with worksheet for hem to record their
answers on (provided by the classroom),
_Copies of their passports since they are travelling to Mali (One for each of the 18 students
provided by me)
- Music for them to transition to each center with (provided by me with my teachers consent)
- Tissue box with a picture of a crown on it for the students to pay their taxes to their King with
(provided by me)
Resource for my game:
-Lawson, S. B. (2001). The west african empire of mali: A virginia sol activity book. Fun Stuff
Publications.
1 PROCEDURE
Activity Element Procedures and
& Time (in
management
minutes)
Step-by step procedures
including questions and main
points visualize what you
are going to say to the
students. It might be helpful
to script out what you are
going to say, although during
the lesson you do not need to

Students
Describe what the students
will be doing as a result of
your instructions

Academic, physical,
social & linguistic
differentiation,
resources, and
support
How will you support
ALL students by
differentiating aspects
of your lesson based on
readiness and interest,

use this language verbatim.

Introduction
(3 minutes)

Good morning

class! I would like for

everyones eyes and ears
up towards the front
looking and listening at
me. Thank you, boys and
girls. Today we will be
learning about the ancient
empire of Malis
economy. What is Mali?
(have my Prezi up and
show the first slide with
the map of Africa on it).
We will learn how it
works, its importance to
world trade, and what
types of goods were
involved through
travelling through Mali,
and paying taxes to our
king.

Also, in order for us

to move from one activity
to the next boys and girls,
you will listen for the
Mali music so you will
know when to move to
each center. Then, finally
you will move to the
carpet after you visit the
other three centers, so that
we can all come back

and according to
content, process, and
product? It isnt
always necessary to
include differentiation
in logistical aspects of
the lesson such as
transitions.
The students will be
sitting on the carpet
listening attentively to
my introduction, while
thinking about what
they already know
about the ancient
empire of Malis
economy, and looking
at my introduction slide
as a visual.

The students
will be up out of
their seats, and can
stand in the back of
the carpet if they
choose, and be
comfortable while
listening to what I
have to say. I will
be telling them
information, while
also showing them
a visual of what
ancient Mali, and
aspects of its
economy looks
like.

together and discuss what

you worked on. Ask:
So what will you do
when you hear the
music?, and they will
repeat it back to me. So in
order to get started we are
going to do a three claps
and whoosh, remember
that from my science
lesson? Ready, 1-2-3,
whoosh and we will learn
a little about Mali first,
and I will begin my first
task.

Event 1
(3 minutes)

Take 30 seconds and

turn towards a partner,
and tell them anything
you know about the
economy of the ancient
Mali empire, and if not

that then anything you

know about it in general.
(after 30 seconds- Can
anyone raise their hand
and tell me something
that they discussed with
their partner that they
already know about the
ancient empire of Malis
economy? Then, I will

show them my Prezi

presentation after they do
their turn-tos tells them
a brief idea about Mali
such as what its
government was like,

The students will

turn to a partner for 30
seconds, and each tell
them something they
know.

Then, that way

when it comes time for
me to ask them what
they know, they will be
ready to respond what
they shared with their
partners, and we can
move into learning
about its economy.
The students are
also looking at my Prezi
and taking it new
information while
comparing it to what
they previously knew

The students
will all not have to
share their thoughts
out loud, but can
rather just share
them with a partner
if thats what
makes them more
comfortable.
The students
have an option to
share their
thoughts, or they
can sit and listen to
others.
They are
hearing and seeing
the information
being presented to
them on Mali, and

geographical location, and

its economy. I will repeat
terms such as items they
traded, the major kings
name, and what continent
the ancient Mali empire
was in, in order to
reiterate these important
details about Mali and
more specifically its
economy since that is the
focus of my lesson. The
students will be told that
they can visit the extra
stop which has extra
problems involving them
dividing up a quantity on
their own, so that they can
think about how to group
the quantities equally in
order to know how much
to pay to their king in
taxes to be used for their
economy. (and which
would be used for trading
between the different
areas integrates math, and
has them practicing with
multiplication) They
could also have the option
to work on the smartboard
cause and effect activity I
have on the board in a
group of like 3 or 4
people where they drag
pieces about the sun king
that ruled prior to Mansa
Musa that they have
learned about, and has
facts about their economy
and how they became one

about Mali.

are being asked to

repeat information
I say in order to
reiterate important
concepts from the
lesson that I want
them to take away
from it.

of the wealthiest ancient

empires.

Transition
(1 minute)

Event 2
(21 minutes, 7 for
each center)

Alright now, we are

going to begin working in
our centers, remember
what do we do when you
hear the music playing?
They will reply to move
to their next center. I will
begin playing the music
and the will move to their
first center.

The students will

travel to each of their
three centers, with the
music transitioning in
between so that they
knew how to move to
each center, and at
each center they will
be trading the three
main products from
their location such as
gold (south part),
books (for the main
intellectual city of
Timbuktu known for
its university and for
scholars studying
there), and salt (for the
north part in the

They will know

each time the music
is played, and be
listening for it in
order to know when
they have to
transition to the
next center.

The students will

travel to each center,
and compute math
problems on the
three major trade
items that they
traded in the Mali
empire as part of its
economy, and had to
pay a portion of it to
the king in a tissue
box with a crown
labeled on it. This
way they will learn
the important items
they traded along
with where they
were traded from
since the centers
will be set up with

The students
will hear the music
being played, and
physically be able
to move to their
next center, and
will be able to see
their classmates
moving in order to
know when to
move if they
cannot/ are not able
to hear the music
when it is played.

The students
are actively
participating in the
activities, and
learning what items
were traded, and in
what locations they
originated from.
They get to see and
hear if necessary
where the locations
are and can work
with a partner if
they need to or
have a teacher read
to them the
directions. If the
students finish
early (the high and

Sahara Desert) for

each of the centers.
They have to compute
math problems and
figure out how much
they have to pay to
their king in taxes in a
tissue box with a king
crown emblem labeled
on it.

signs indicating
each item with
where it came from
geographically.

middle to high
students that might
finish the required
problems very
quickly) can work
on additional
activities at the
extra stop
location that I will
have set up for
them, where they
will have more
difficult problems
to solve (they can
work with a partner
if it would be easier
for them) to where
they have to make
equal groups first
out of their
quantities in order
to know how much
multiple people
could give to the
king equally for the
amount that they
have overall of the
good. They can
also match cause
and effect facts that
are mixed up and
colored for blue for
the causes and
orange for the
effects on a
smartboard as a
group so that that
are thinking
critically about
events that
happened in Mali,

and can have the

support of their
group in order to
reason through it
since it is more
difficult about the
Mali empire that
also allows for
them to think
deeper into this
new topic.
Transition
(1 minute)

Conclusion:
(6 minutes)

The last section

transitions with music
playing after they moved
to their last center, and
they move to the carpet
for a final discussion.

There they will be

asked things such as what
were the major items that
were part of the economy,
and to write one
interesting fact they
learned about the Mali
Empire.

They will be asked to

record their answers as a
sort of exit slip on the

They will know

each time the music
is played, and be
listening for it in
order to know when
they have to
transition to the next
center.

The students will be

able to first
participate in a
discussion with
what they want to
say about what they
learned, and if not
they can be thinking
about what they
want to write for
their exit slip.

The students
will hear the music
being played, and
physically be able
to move to their
next center, and
will be able to see
their classmates
moving in order to
know when to
move if they
cannot/ are not able
to hear the music
when it is played.

The students
are only required to
write three terms
that were traded
that were reiterated
to them throughout
the lesson, and if
they cannot write
them they will be
asked to tell them
to me. They also
have the freedom to

back of their math

problem sheet in order for
me to assess what they
learned from my lesson,
and to see how they knew
how much to pay to their
king for each center
that they travelled to.

choose one fact,

and they can either
draw or write that
idea.

1 DIFFERENTIATION:
In order to establish differentiation in my lesson in regards to learning styles I have
incorporated a Prezi presentation in order to cater to visual learners so that they can visually get a
sense of how the economy operated in the early Mali Empire. I have also included a game where
the students can travel through the major cities that were a part of the early Mali Empire, and
they will engage in roles of different merchants that sold certain useful goods that benefitted their
economy. This game helps cater to both kinesthetic (through movement around the centers) and
then tactile learners through playing the game in where they sell their goods to their kings by
placing them into an empty tissue box marked with a crown.
In regards to learning abilities the Prezi helps both the visually and hearing impaired
children because it projects information through sound (through my voice) and visual pictures to
the students, and the transition exercises in between the different events incorporate both sound
and visual cues (where I will show a physical rotating symbol with my hands for them to move
to their next center). Also, for the different centers for those who are physically disabled their

information on each center can be brought to them, or if they have a chair in which they can be
pushed around to each center then that can be done as well. In regards to English language
proficiency there are visual cues at each of the centers as well as text, for things such as the cities
they are travelling to and the goods that they are trading to pay to the king.
In relation to childrens cognitive capabilities, there are ways that children can be both
challenged and simply stimulated by the learning presented in this lesson. In order to help
challenge those students with gifted abilities, there will be a station where the students will have
to think about how we trade goods in our economy, and any other facts they know about our
economy such as types of goods we trade for, and who enforces it. The children who are simply
slightly below or one grade level learners will be able to interact with the material in a fun
engaging way so that they are not overwhelmed with memorizing factual information read to
them about the empire. More so, the math problems are both more elevated in thinking for the
gifted children since they involve fractions which is a new concept to them, however they also
have visuals that help those students who struggle with math. The children who are gifted
learners will be further asked to compute more difficult problems where they have to figure out
how to divide up their goods evenly into equal groups in order to figure out how much to pay to
their King. This activity thus supports a variety of different learning styles and abilities in order
to help support a variety of children.

1 RATIONALE
The ancient empire of Mali is important historical knowledge that students should acquire since
it teaches children how a civilization functions. It shows students how things such as a
government, an economy, and oral tradition (such as in this case their storytelling of their

customs that were significant to their civilization) are three important characteristics that help
form the framework for a civilization to operate. Specifically, my lesson focuses on the
significance of the economic trading system that the empire had. My lesson teaches children
how leaders and citizens within a community help a civilization to work, since they will watch a
Prezi presentation about how significant rulers helped run trading cities like Timbuktu. Leaders
help run the trading system at the national level, but citizens as well at the local level help run
local small businesses that all contribute to the sustainability of the national economy for a
civilization. The students will learn how their economy operated, what goods were traded, and
with what countries they were traded with through watching a Prezi presentation on the ancient
empire of Malis economic system. For example, they will figure out how much of three
different goods they traded in the West African empire of Mali they need to pay to their King in
an economic game. The game is based on a lower economic scale, (such as with farmers and
small businesses trading items with one another within a community in the ancient empire of
Malis civilization), so that they can see how economic endeavors at the local level matter as
well in order for countries/civilizations to have a national economy. The students will learn about
each individual within a civilization and/or country contributes to a civilization/country as a
whole. This lesson provides students with the opportunity to inquire about how an economic
system works, and what their role is within one. This lesson involves them using their
mathematical skills they learned in school to play the game, and apply it to learning about real
life information that takes place outside of school such as with national economic systems (and
compare it to our own in the United States), and how citizens (such as ourselves in our country)
at a local level can help shape its function.

1 WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH THIS LESSON AND WHAT WILL YOU DO ABOUT
IT?
Things that could go wrong with my lesson would be that my Prezi presentation might
not load, and so I will have a it backed up on a USB drive and saved to my email in case the link
does not load. If it still does not load, then I will have a list of terms I have pulled out from the
Prezi presentation that are important that I will draw examples of, and have them tell me what
they know about them, and they will discuss them with a partner their ideas on each of the terms
before sharing their ideas with me.
Some of the students may not understand how to compute the math problems at each
station, and so if this happens I will walk them through how to solve them. If multiple students
are struggling, I will stop and redirect them as a class.
Some of the students may horse around while working at each of the stations, and may
not focus on the tasks at each center. Therefore, they will first be given a warning to focus and
complete what needs to be done, and then if the student persists to not listen then he/she will
have to complete the problems by themselves at his/her desk.
Time may run out towards the end of lesson depending upon how long the students take
at each of the centers, and therefore the exit slip activity may have to be cut out. Then, in order to
assess what theyve learned I will ask them to stop where they are at each of their centers, and I
will ask them to write down one word of what they learned from the lesson in order to move on
to the next activity.
Lastly, some of the students may struggle with writing what they learned down, for their
exit slip depending upon the amount of time remaining. Therefore, I will tell them that they can
draw a picture(s) of what they learned.

Lesson Implementation Reflection

As soon as possible after teaching your lesson, think about the experience. Use the
questions/prompts below to guide your thinking. Be thorough in your reflection and use specific
examples to support your insights.
I. How did your actual teaching of the lesson differ from your plans? Describe the changes
and explain why you made them.
My actual teaching of my lesson plan was not as structured and specific as my write-up.
The actual implementation time I had in order to teach my lesson was about twenty-five minutes,
which is ten minutes shorter than I had originally planned for. The lesson was also at the end of
the day, and the literacy part of the school day curriculum ran late, and overlapped into my
lesson time for the day. Therefore, I made some changes to the lesson in order to adapt to the
decrease in my time. The first center that they travelled to received about seven to eight minutes
for them to get a feel for what was expected of them to complete at each of the stations, since
they would be doing essentially the same thing at each of the stations, however just with different
goods for each location of Mali they were travelling to. The other two center rotations had to
be cut in terms of time to about only three to four minutes for each. Also, I did not have time to
give them their exit slip I had intended for them to complete at the end of the lesson. Therefore,
after the students all packed up I simply asked them in the form of a verbal assessment the three
major trade items that were significant to Malis economy that we practiced with in the lesson in
terms of figuring out how much to pay to our King in taxes of each good.

II. Based on the assessment you created, what can you conclude about your impact on student
learning? Did they learn? Who learned? What did they learn? What evidence can you offer
that your conclusions are valid?
Based on the verbal assessment I conducted with my students they all shouted the three
major items the Mali Empire was known for with its economy. Several students also remembered
other details about the Mali Empire such as that it was an ancient civilization, the name of the
famous King Mansa Musa that ruled during the Mali Empire, and that it was located in West

Africa. Also, many of the students could figure out the correct amount of goods that were traded
based upon their slips of paper I collected in my tissue box which was where they paid a certain
amount of their goods in the form of taxes to their King in order to know how the economy
worked in the ancient empire of Mali since thy have not learned he conceptual understanding of
fractions. (only some of the students were familiar with it that had the understanding from
possibly siblings, or were able to see the parts of a whole within the visual I provided for them so
that they could figure out how much one fourth of each good would be that they would have to
pay to the King)

III. Describe at least one way you could incorporate developmentally appropriate practice in a
better or more thorough way if you were to teach this lesson again.
If I were to teach this lesson again I would make sure that I knew how to transition
smoother from each of the centers. Before we first transitioned I forgot to tell them where each
group would start, and where they would travel next after their first one. This would have helped
lessen the confusion the students had about where they were expected to go after they finished
their first station. Also, if I would have known that my phone had to have been on loud in order
for me to turn up the music on my Bose sound system that I brought in for the students to
transition to, then they would have known better when they were supposed to be actually
travelling, and when to stop since once the music stopped it was their cue to begin working at
their center.

IV. Based on the assessment data you collected, what would you do/teach next if you were the
classroom teacher?
If I were the classroom teacher, next time I would teach them a little more background on
Mali since the entire civilization was new to them. I would also compare and contrast their
economy to ours today possibly through a smart board activity where they would drag parts of
each to which side it belonged to, and put in similarities between their government and ours
since they had already learned about our government in great detail prior to my lesson. Also, it
would make my lesson a little more interactive, and they would gain more about the economy as
a big picture as opposed to more specific information about it such as some of the main items
that they traded. I could use my lesson as more of an introduction lesson to the Mali Empire
since that is what it was intended to be. Then, I could just simply expand on it specifically
focusing on its economy in more detail, and bring in the other parts of the SOL through tying in
information about their government, and possibly information about their oral traditions in more
detail by showing them examples of some, and explaining how through these oral traditions
people today know about the ancient empire of Mali.

V. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had reinforced
about young children as learners?

Prior to implementing and planning my lesson, I knew that young children learn
information well when there is a purpose to them learning something, and they can connect to it
in some way in order to see the purpose. As a learner myself, this is something that I too look for
when I am presented with new material to learn from others. With that being said, I tried to

reinforce this within my lesson by having my students be able to act as if they had jobs that were
compatible to the empire of ancient Malis economy during that time period. They also needed to
figure out how much of each of their goods that they needed to pay to their King in taxes, and
then were told that if they lived in that time period they would trade the rest of their goods with
other traders in order to earn a living. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, I also
learned that children learn more when they can actively learn material that is both hands-on and
minds-on. Therefore, they were first introduced to information about Malis empire through an
interactive Prezi presentation that was minds-on engaging for them, and then they travelled to
centers in order to participate hands-on with the material that they previously learned
throughout my presentation in order to actively engage their learning with the material.

VI. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had
reinforced about teaching?

After planning and implementing this lesson, I saw how crucial it is that as a teacher I put
lots of time and effort into planning my lesson, and thinking about specific information such as
how the children will know the context for where they were travelling in this case since they
were not familiar with the ancient empire of Malis civilization. Also, I found that lessons that
are cross-curricular also help with making them more interactive and engaging for children. In
this case I incorporated math with social studies into my lesson so that they could think about a
portion of their items being paid in taxes to their King, and then having to think about trading the
rest of their good in order to bring in the role of government into their learning of how the
economy of the ancient Mali empire worked so that they could make that connection. It helped
enhance their learning of Mali economy since math is involved with trade, and so it helped them
understand it better. In terms of incorporating social studies content, they were able travel back
in time through the allusion I created of them doing so and I gave them a print out of a passport
to show them how we were going back in time in order to see how the economy of ancient Mali
worked through learning about its ancient civilization. Finally, I also feel that it is definitely
better to over plan since many of my students visited my extra stop location, and then I had the
cause and effect smart board activity that although no one visited was still available just in case
some of the students needed something to do. As a result of over planning, none of my students
were left with nothing to do, and my teacher had a smart board activity on the Mali Empire she
could use with them later on if she wished.

VII. As a result of planning and teaching this lesson, what have you learned or had
reinforced about yourself?

In terms of myself after teaching and planning this lesson, I have reinforced my passion
and love for teaching. I thoroughly enjoy planning detailed lessons that I know will be interactive
and engaging for my students to participate in. Looking back on my elementary school years I
remember the lessons I was taught where I was actively involved with the material. It masks the
idea of learning so that it is more interesting for them to retain. I have seen how in turn my
students can enjoy and experience a love of learning that I hope to instill within them by
providing them with these same learning experiences.