Eyewitness History: Lesson Plan

Designer: Thomas Palmer

 

 

INTRODUCTION:

 

This lesson plan is designed to inform 7th and 8th grade social studies students about the history of the "African" continent. The time period studied will cover from 5000 BC up to 1600 AD. This plan will incorporate many of the topics and subtopics of the Eyewitness-History of the World software package. This particular lesson is the first of a three-part unit on the continent of Africa.

 

The features of this program will be described and demonstrated for one week prior to the beginning of this lesson plan, so that students are able to maneuver easily through the various menus and templates that are used to acquire the requested information. If the students should still be in need of help, the teacher will be present to assist them.

 

This lesson plan is divided into five separate sections that the students will examine in groups of four. Each student, within a group, will be given a job title and a list of questions that must be answered by the particular student they are assigned to (of course the particular student will receive help from his or her teammates). Library and classroom computers will be used throughout the entire lesson, and a different job titled person, from each group, will be at the computer each day of class. For example, group #1 (consisting of four individuals) will have these assigned job titles:

 

  1. Historian
  2. Archaeologist
  3. Reporter
  4. Theologist

 

These job titles make up the H.A.R.T. teams. On the first day of the lesson plan, the "Historian" of group number one will be at the computer. This individual will have a list of questions that can be researched through the computer program and answered. The "Historian's" fellow members must assist their teammate in answering the pre-assembled questions, because there is a quiz on each teammate's questions at the end of the week. On the following day, it would be the "Archaeologist's" turn to sit at the computer and receive assistance from his or her team members.

 

After each team member has researched their particular parts, the team will then sit down in a cooperative learning classroom setting, and begin to create a four to five page paper or report on the history, cultures, languages and religions of the African continent.

  

DEMONSTRATION WEEK:

 

Before the lesson begins, students will watch a demonstration of the software and will be instructed to take notes. A reference sheet that shows the various icons used within the program will be handed out to the students. At the end of the week, a quiz on how to use the software will be given. This quiz will consist of simple questions that can be answered without actually having the computer on hand for each student. The students will then be broken down into groups of four and will be randomly assigned job titles.

 

OBJECTIVES OF THE LESSON:

 

  1. The students will learn cooperation and teamwork
  2. The students will be able to use a piece of educational software
  3. The students will learn how to research a variety of given topics within the program
  4. The students will learn the meanings of the four given job titles (students will be given information that pertains to the job descriptions of the job titles used)
  5. The students will create a report that demonstrates the information they found within their respective topics
  6. The students will share, as a group, what they have learned with the rest of their class

 

MATERIALS:

 

Teacher needs:

 Software: Eyewitness-History of the World

 Copies of the software reference page with icons and their descriptions

 Copies of the questions/assignments that will be given to the students

 Availability of the needed computers

Student needs:

 Notebook, pens and/or pencils

 

Beginning the lesson:

 

Explain to the students what will be studied over the next few weeks. Give the students a brief overview of the topics, and tell them that they will become historians, archaeologists, reporters and theologians that will uncover information in the coming weeks.

 

 Activities:

  1. Breakdown the students into groups of four (the teacher should do this).
  2. Put the four titles on 3 X 4 cards and have the students from each group pick one from a semi-covered box or basket. Continue this process until every member of every group has a title.
  3. Hand out the 10 to 20 question assignment sheets for the "Historians" of each group (the following day-one would hand out the assignment sheets to the "Archaeologists").

 

The students are given the remainder of the period to research the questions using the software provided. The teacher monitors the progress of the groups and provides assistance as needed.

 

Evaluations:

 Evaluations are completed on the weekly quiz days, on the group reports, and on the final exam (optional). All three of these tasks will be used to evaluate each student for a letter grade.

 

Week two of the lesson plan:

 

After each team member has researched their particular parts, the team would then sit down in a cooperative learning classroom setting, and begin to create a four to five page paper or report on the history, cultures, languages and religions of the African continent.

 

Week three of the lesson plan:

 Each team will choose a particular person, culture, country or religion that has to do with the African continent, and do a presentation on it. This presentation can be no longer than 8 to 10 minutes in length.

 

Table of Contents for Software Evaluations | Table of Contents for Lesson Plans | Evaluation of Eyewitness History