This learning experience was designed to teach the students about the different religious and spiritual beliefs of the Ancient Greeks. Ancient Greece is a unit within the sixth grade social studies curriculum, which focuses on ancient civilizations. The students in this class tend to do better on projects versus quizzes and tests and many of the students are very artistic. This is why I wanted to create a project in which students could apply their knowledge of a group of people and use their artistic ability to create something to represent those people. Many of the students stated, “The shields were fun to make.”
Unfortunately, I was unable to teach day three of this learning experience due to an illness. My cooperating teacher informed me that the lesson went well, but I would have liked to teach the lesson. Therefore, I am not exactly sure how the lesson was implemented. I did leave plans for my cooperating teacher to follow, but again, I am not positive if she followed them exactly.
I believe that I did meet my teaching objectives and the students met the learning objectives. The majority of the students were able to read and research about their assigned city-state and choose pictures to represent the customs, traditions, and religious and spiritual beliefs of the city-state and create a shield. Also, the majority of the students were able to write a paragraph describing their shield. While some students struggled to put their ideas in writing, the majority of the students received a passing grade.
I was not surprised by the lack of prior information regarding Ancient Greece. We had read an article on the Olympics prior to the start of this unit which is why the students knew that the Ancient Greeks started the Olympics. I was surprised, however, by the final results. I expected a few of the students to struggle more than they did with writing the paragraph. I did expect certain students to be more creative with their shield, but then realized that they struggle with symbols and what symbols can represent.
This learning experience encompasses many components that prepare students for life outside of school. First of all, this learning experience required students to learn about people from a different culture. Since our country is becoming more diverse, students need to be aware of different cultures and beliefs. This is especially important to these students, since their area is not very diverse; they are not exposed to many different types of people or different cultures. Succeeding in today’s world requires people to be aware of different cultures, ideas, and beliefs.
This learning experience incorporates independent reading and writing. Students need to be able to read and comprehend the material in order to complete the project. Being able to read and comprehend what is read are extremely important in and outside of school. Students must be able to read and comprehend what they have read in order to succeed in many aspects of life. In order to take the SATs, go to college, and have a career, students must be able to read and comprehend what they have read. Many of the students in this class struggle with reading and/or comprehension.
This learning experience also provided students with the opportunity to practice writing skills, which we just recently reviewed, and practice typing. The students have difficulty writing mechanically and grammatically correct sentences and writing sentences with varied structure. The more practice the students have writing, the better their writing will become. Writing is essential in and outside of school. Students must be able to write in the real world in order to get a job, attend college, etc. The students also struggle with using the computer, especially typing. In our technological society, being able to type is a necessity.
This learning experience does not include some of the commercially made teaching aids listed in the resources section. I did not make copies of the following commercially made teaching aids: lesson quizzes and re-teaching activities. However, the study guides include the same questions on the lesson quizzes but in a different format. For example, if a lesson quiz has multiple choice questions, the study guide has fill-in-the-blank questions.
Overall, I believe this learning experience proved to be beneficial for the students and myself. The students did learn a lot about individual city-states in Ancient Greece and were able to apply that information to the rest of the unit. This was evident when we read a lesson on Sparta and Athens. The students were already aware of the tense relationship between the two main city states and their locations. The students were also able to practice the writing skills we recently reviewed in ELA (compound/complex sentences, correct punctuation and capitalization) and typing skills.
If I were to complete this learning experience again, I would change several things. I would have the student’s research information on the Ancient Greek city-states in the library. I would also give the students more time to write a more well-developed and descriptive paragraph. I would also take time to describe and discuss symbols and provide examples; this would be especially beneficial to the students with Asperger’s Syndrome.
The peer review session on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 provided me with warm and cool comments to improve my learning experience. After presenting my learning experience to four of my peers and a Buffalo Public School Teacher I noted the areas of my learning experience that required improvement. My peer review group provided me with many supportive warm comments and encouraging cool comments to improve my learning experience. They gave me suggestions on how to incorporate more technology into the lesson and adding a presentation rubric to the assessment plan. One member of my group asked me, “Were students able to work cooperatively in groups?” If I were to teach this lesson again, I would allow students to work in partners or groups to create a more in depth research paper or poster on a city-state. After completing the peer review process, I am fully aware of the benefits of gaining perspectives and ideas from fellow educators.