Ancient Egypt Lessons
Building a Pyramid of Information
Overview!
Peaking an Interest!
Lesson 1-
Support Synopsis/Continued Explanation:
The attention of the students will then be placed on the SMART Board. I always like to make my students laugh. So, my students then watch a flocabulary clip called "Walk like an Egyptian." Although there is not a lot of educational depth to the video, the catchy and silly lyrics help them to remember a few important elements about Ancient Egypt, while also getting them excited about our unit. https://www.flocabulary.com/ancient-egypt/ At this point, I have my students think about if their prediction was close to the topic of Ancient Egypt.
After watching the clip, the students then work in groups of four and discuss what they know about Ancient Egypt and what they want to know about Ancient Egypt. Once they have come up with at least three of each, the students will create a group KWL Chart and post them around the room. As the students go through the process of learning about Ancient Egypt, they will add information that they learned onto their charts.
Exit Ticket:
On a piece of loose leaf, the students will explain if their prediction from the beginning of class was correct. If so, how did they come to that conclusion? If not, what conclusions did they come to about making connections between the images, the video and their predictions?
Research Away!
Later on in the unit, students work on gaining information about their focusing topic. Each person in their group has a different topic and later the students "build" a pyramid of information about Ancient Egypt. After building some prior knowledge in previous lessons, the students will work on researching their topic through approved online resources. Each of the students are responsible for finding information about their topic that they will be able to write into an informative essay. At the end of the unit, students will read their essay as a speech for a presentation grade.
Prior to starting research the students were given a project prompt that included the requirements for their project. The prompt included the the topics for the pyramid being the pyramids and the sphinx, Egyptian gods, Hatshepsut and Tutankhamen (King Tut). For each topic, the students needed to answer the following questions: Why is this topic important? What should people know about it/them? How did people view these topics in Ancient Egypt versus today? Are there any statistics we should know about? Students were also responsible for finding images that related to their topic.
Before beginning, we talk about how to use the websites, how to take notes on their topics using their research sheets and our effective use policy. During this lesson, students use my webpage as a way of finding information on each topic. Students responsible for King Tut can find a list of links that they can explore and record information from. Along with these sites, the class is given a "Note Taking" worksheet that requires them to record information regarding their topic and the source in which they used to find the information.
Exit Ticket:
Using a piece of loose leaf, students respond to the questions "Do you feel that you were able to find relevant, varied information regarding your topic? If so, why do you feel that way? If not, what might be your next step in order to better your research?" I will collect this information at the end of class and will read the student's responses in order to gage how they are doing in regards to their topics and research.
Support Synopsis:
The use of technology in this lesson is crucial because it helps students build their knowledge of finding credible sources and supporting their claim with relevant information about a focusing topic. This also allows for more independent exploration regarding their learning. This project is better with me acting as a "fly on the wall" who swoops in when needed. The students depend on their group to help them answer simple questions and explore new ways of researching their topic. Some of the links that the students were allowed to use are listed below.
The Pyramids and the Sphinx:
http://discoveringegypt.com/pyramids-temples-of-egypt/
http://egypt.mrdonn.org/pyramids.html
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egypt/great_sphinx.php
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egyptian_pyramids.php
http://www.historyforkids.net/ancient-egyptian-architecture.html
Egyptians Gods:
http://discoveringegypt.com/ancient-egyptian-gods-and-goddesses/
http://egypt.mrdonn.org/gods.html
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egyptian_gods_goddesses.php
http://www.historyforkids.net/egyptian-gods.html
Hatshepsut:
http://discoveringegypt.com/ancient-egyptian-kings-queens/hatshepsut/
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egypt/hatshepsut.php
http://www.historyforkids.net/hatshepsut.html
Tutankhamen (King Tut):
http://discoveringegypt.com/ancient-egyptian-kings-queens/tutankhamun/
http://egypt.mrdonn.org/kingtut.html
http://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_egypt/tutankhamun.php