ED 6330 Instructional Activities Template

Student: Zach Ward Integrated Unit Title: Development of Mesopotamia Social Studies Subject: Ancient Mesopotamia Lesson Title: Books? Those Are Like Ancient Lesson Activity #1
1) Common Core Standards: Gather relevant information from multiple print sources;

assess the credibility of each source; and quote or paraphrase the data and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and providing basic bibliographic information for sources.
2) Instructional Objective: My goal is for students to practice researching using books. 3) Instructional Activity: Book report for Ancient Mesopotamia. Teacher needs to rent 5-7 picture books on Mesopotamia from the library. Students get into groups of 2-4 (each group chooses 1 book), and complete the book report followed by the choice board of projects (to be completed individually). When answering each question, students must cite the page number where they found the information. Great Language Arts tie-in 4) Rationale for Activity: I am doing this with my students because they need to know how to research and find information that they do not know. Children in the 21st century are aware how to use the internet for research, however, using books is a foreign concept to most of them. In the upper grades, as well as in college, students will need to know how to cite information from a variety of sources. 5) Blooms Taxonomy: This activity falls on the Analysis level of Blooms Taxonomy. 6) Instructional Materials: Writing utensils, book report paper, and Mesopotamia books 7) Instructional Methodology: The book report will take students approximately 120 minutes (about 3 class periods). This lesson is student led. Monitoring student progress is the only job for the teacher. Student group size is 2-4 students. 8) Assessments: Formative: Teacher monitors student progress by walking around and observing if the students are able to complete the assignment correctly. Summative: At the end of the third class period, collect all book reports and grade them for correctness. 9) Differentiation and Accommodation: Students will be grouped such that high students will work with low students. Also, I will be available to support students who need additional support in some way. Books of all different reading levels will be provided. 10) Student Choice: Students are able to choose their group members, and they are also able to choose their upcoming project.

ED 6330 Instructional Activities Template

Student: Zach Ward Integrated Unit Title: Development of Mesopotamia Social Studies Subject: Ancient Mesopotamia Lesson Title: Timeless Stories In No Time Lesson Activity #2
1) Common Core Standard: Different perspectives on a topic can be obtained from a

variety of historic and contemporary sources. Sources can be examined for accuracy.
2) Instructional Objective: I want students to practice taking a perspective different than their own. 3) Instructional Activity: Students will pretend to be alive in Mesopotamia and write a narrative of their daily lives (based on research that they have done in the previous lessons). Students will have to describe what it is like living in the first civilization under Hammurabi and his code of 282 laws. 4) Rationale for Activity: This activity challenges students to step outside of their own lives and gain empathy towards people who lived in the past. Doing a narrative ties in well with Language Arts because narrative writing is one of the four main types of writing that students will be expected to be proficient with. 5) Blooms Taxonomy: This activity falls in the Synthesis level of Blooms Taxonomy. 6) Instructional Materials: Students will need plenty of paper, pencils, graphic organizer for prewriting/brainstorming, Mesopotamia picture books to refer to in case they need perspective, and at least 5 class periods for completing all steps of the writing process. 7) Instructional Methodology: This activity will take 5-7 class periods to complete. The activity is student led, and all the teacher must do is help students with writing needs as they arise, and teach a few mini-lessons if observations show that many students are struggling with the same piece of content (i.e. grammar, voice, ideas/content, etc.) 8) Assessments: Formative: The teacher will walk around and observe students during the writing process and be prepared to teach writing mini-lessons based on student misconceptions gathered through observation. Summative: The narrative will be collected and graded on the six traits of writing, as well as the depth of the historical perspective contained in the narrative. 9) Differentiation and Accommodation: Students who struggle with the physical act of writing will be allowed to type their papers, or will be given necessary support to write their narrative. 10) Student Choice: Students will be allowed to write their narrative in a variety of formats (i.e.: comic book, picture book, song, poem, speech, story, etc.)

ED 6330 Instructional Activities Template

Student: Zach Ward Integrated Unit Title: Development of Mesopotamia Social Studies Subject: Ancient Mesopotamia Lesson Title: Ancient Modern Scrolls Lesson Activity #3
1) Common Core Standard: Different perspectives on a topic can be obtained from a

variety of historic and contemporary sources. Sources can be examined for accuracy.
2) Instructional Objective: I want my students to gain experience analyzing primary sources, specifically the Code of Hammurabi. 3) Instructional Activity: Students will be given a sheet that contains approximately 8 of the laws written in the Code of Hammurabi. Their challenge will be to analyze the laws and translate them in to modern English. They will then create a scroll using paper towel tubes and paper to create a scroll of Hammurabian laws for the present day. 4) Rationale for Activity: This is an activity where students have to analyze primary historical sources. The analysis of primary sources is hugely important in the Common Core (and even more critical in the PARCC Assessments beginning next year). It also gives students an insight as to what types of laws Mesopotamians believed to be important. Thus once again, helping students understand different perspectives. 5) Blooms Taxonomy: This activity is on the Evaluation level of Blooms Taxonomy. 6) Instructional Materials: Students will need the handout with Hammurabis laws on it, writing utensils, paper, two paper towel tubes, some sort of adhesive (glue, tape, etc.), and cardstock or parchment to attach to the scrolls. 7) Instructional Methodology: This assignment will take 2-3 class periods to complete and will primarily be student led. The teachers primary role will be to provide instruction on how to make the scrolls. The teacher will also be available to help students translate the laws to modern English if students should need support. 8) Assessments: Formative: The teacher will walk around and observe students translating the laws. Also, at the end of class period number one students will submit an exit slip/self-assessment evaluating their success with the translation process. Summative: Summative assessment will occur when I collect the finished scrolls and grade the translations for accuracy. 9) Differentiation and Accommodation: 10) Student Choice: Students will have the choice of working independently or in a small group setting. They will also be able to choose how they decorate their finished scroll.

ED 6330 Instructional Activities Template

Student: Zach Ward Integrated Unit Title: Development of Mesopotamia Social Studies Subject: Ancient Mesopotamia Lesson Title: Mapping Modern Mesopotamia Lesson Activity #4
1) Common Core Standard: Globes and other geographic tools can be used to gather,

process, and report information about people, places, and environments.

2) Instructional Objective: Students in this lesson will begin learning about mapping skills and become familiar with the geography of Mesopotamia. 3) Instructional Activity: Students will find a list of places/landforms on a current map of the area formerly known as Mesopotamia and label them on a blank map of a different scale. 4) Rationale for Activity: This activity challenges students to use cardinal directions to locate a list of locations that were politically important to Mesopotamians. 5) Blooms Taxonomy: This activity is at the Application level of Blooms Taxonomy. 6) Instructional Materials: Students will need a copy of a modern physical and political map the Middle East, a blank map of the same area, and utensils to write with. 7) Instructional Methodology: This activity will take 1-2 class periods (60-120 minutes). The activity is student led with the teacher serving as a supervisor by walking around and observing. The teacher will address any problems that arise by providing direct instruction to either small groups or, if needed, the entire class. 8) Assessments: Formative: The teacher will walk around and observe students working. Based upon those observations, the teacher will provide any large group direct instruction, small group support, or individual support that is needed. Students will complete a pre-assessment of latitude and longitude. Summative: The map will be collected and graded based upon the correct labeling of all the geographic locations. 9) Differentiation and Accommodation: Students who struggle with reading maps will be given support by a peer or by me. Students who excel with maps will be challenged to use the map scale to plot the distance between the landmarks/cities. 10) Student Choice: Students will have the choice of working independently or in groups. Students will also be able to choose in which order they map the cities/landforms.