Lesson Three - Observing a Civilization in Action
Description
Students view a video about an ancient civilization, then use an organizer to compile information about the civilization. In their groups, they retell what they have learned.
Expectations
– describe the physical features and climate of two or more regions where early civilizations developed (e.g., the flood plains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Nile River Valley, the inland delta of the upper Niger River, the mountainous islands of Greece, the fertile plains of China, the rain forest of the Amazon, the deserts of the United States);
– use graphic organizers and graphs to sort information and make connections (e.g., Venn diagrams comparing governments, subject webs illustrating physical needs, year-round calendar to show agricultural cycles, bar graph for temperature data);
Teaching / Learning
Introduction:
1. Divide students into their museum groups.
2. Give each student a copy of the handout titled "Video Advance Organizer." Tell students they are to use this handout to guide their note-taking as they watch the video during this subtask.
Research:
3. Briefly review how to make point-form notes. Model: use of a bullet or dash to begin a line, use of sentence fragments, selection of most important words, use of short forms, etc.
4. Tell the class to take point-form notes as they view the video.
5. Introduce and view a video about an ancient civilization.
6. Pause the video when there is a fact mentioned that is important for students to note. It is a good idea to pause more frequently at the beginning of the video to help students see the types of facts you want them to note. Model taking point form notes on a chart of the handout "Video Advance Organizer."
Retelling:
7. Following the video, invite students to share one interesting fact that they noted.
8. Copy the facts onto the chart of the "Video Advance Organizer," using proper notation as you do so.
9. Using the chart as a point of reference, summarize the facts from the video. Generalize the facts to relate them to other ancient civilizations and, when possible, to Canadian civilization.
Adaptations
To accommodate the needs of students with learning difficulties, in this subtask the following accommodations could be incorporated into the lesson plan:
* stop and start the video and write the information on the board for students to copy;
* take notes on the video during your advance viewing time, and give students a copy of these notes to supplement the notes they take as they watch.
To accommodate the needs of students identified as gifted, in this subtask the following accommodations may be incorporated into the lesson plan:
* students may wish to view a second video by themselves, perhaps one about their museum civilization, then create a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the two civilizations.
Assessment
- use anecdotal recording to note how effectively students take point-form notes. Are the notes clear? Does the student use a bullet or hyphen to mark the beginning of a new idea? Does the student use his/her own short form as needed? Does the student include the key components of an ancient civilization in their notes about their civilizations in the video?
Assessment Strategies
- Observation
Assessment Strategies
- Anecdotal Record
Resources
Video Advance Organizer
Lost Civilizations Education Edition Videos - Alexandria, Virginia: Time Life, 1998. 27 min.
overhead of Video Advance Organizer
overhead projector
television and vcr
Notes to Teacher
Student understanding of the elements of a civilization lays the groundwork for their future research. It is important to take the time to book a video for this subtask well before beginning the unit. Many school boards require a few weeks to get videos to a school, and high-demand videos sometimes need to be booked months in advance.
Points to model during note-taking exercise:
- use important words only, no sentences (helps speed up note taking and stops plagiarism)
- use capital letters only for proper nouns
- record only one fact per line (keeps information clear)
- begin each new fact with a dash (to show that it is not a sentence)
- spelling should be perfect when using text (copying)
