Title: The Living Civilizations
Grade Focus: Grade 5-9
Subject: History/ Social Studies/ ICT/ Computer
Technology Integration Activities: Web Search, creating and editing digital images, creating and editing videos, online interactive posters, online mapping/tours, Digital photography.
Recommended Time to Completion: 24 weeks (2 semesters/ 1 school year) [1 hour per week + outdoor activities]
Introduction:
In the past allot of civilizations flourished one after the other and sometimes together. These civilizations contributed to the technological and cultural development of our modern life. The students will research and live the life that the citizens of these civilizations lived.
Prerequisite Experience:
§ Internet search (Tutorial)
§ Web search (Tutorial)
§ Web browser (IE tutorial/ Firefox tutorialÞ)
§ Imaging (Tutorial)
§ Online picture editing (Tutorial) (Picnik)
§ Video production (Tutorial)
§ Windows Video Maker (Tutorials: 1, 2)
§ Audacity usage (Tutorial: 1/2/3) (Download)
§ Youtube, Vimeo usage (YouTube tutorial/Vimeo tutorial)
§ Online interactive poster (Tutorial) (Glogster)
§ Google Maps (Tutorial)
§ Social Networking (Tutorial) (Facebook)
Teacher Prep Time: Extensive. However, the time spent in learning these skills will put teacher ahead of his fellow teachers and will bring him closer to technologies that students already use. In other words, each hour you spend learning and practicing these technologies will make you much faster and more productive not just in teaching but in using technology in every part of your life.
Project:
Students will have to choose between two projects. The first is to create a video about their chosen civilization that shows some of its characteristics such as cloths, traditions, religion, entertainment, food, history, and important locations. The second is to show the same characteristics through using digital photographs. Then students from all groups will create a Google Maps tour for their videos/photos. And finally, they will create a Glogster interactive poster that displays their projects.
Engage (4 weeks)
1. Teacher will start by asking students about their favorite civilization, and why the like it?
2. Then after getting their feedback, the teacher will ask them to watch the BBC series “What the Ancients Did for Us” which describes the achievements and culture of the following civilizations: Islamic, Greek, Roman, Mesopotamian, Indian, Aztecs, Mayan, Briton, Egyptians, and Chinese.
Explore (4 weeks)
1. Create Groups according to the number of students. However, each group should consist of 2-5 students. And each group will choose a name.
2. Each group will choose a civilization and will start researching the following: cloths, traditions, religion, entertainment, food, history, and important locations. The groups will use the following resources (Additional resources discovered by the group will be shared through a Facebook group for the whole class):
· What the Tudors Did for Us
· What the Stuarts Did for Us
· What the Victorians Did for Us
· What the Industrial Revolution Did for Us
· What the Ancients Did for Us
· Open University: What the Ancients Did for Us
· Cooking in ancient civilizations
· Empires: history, culture and recipes.
· Ancient fashion
· Ancient civilizations
· List of links about ancient civilizations
· List of links about ancient civilizations for kids
· Ancient civilizations for kids
· The British Museum: Interactive civilizations
· Antique Roman Dishes - Collection
· Ancient cooking recipes
· 1001 Muslim inventions
· What the Ancients Did for Us (Videos)
Teacher should request a written permission from parents regarding the online activities of their children, in addition to requiring their supervision for home online activities.
Explain (4 weeks)
1. Students will use the forum in their Facebook group to answer the following questions:
· What are the most important events that your civilization experienced?
· What kind of clothes your civilization had for: Men, Women, children, soldiers, and religious leaders?
· What are the favorite games played by the citizens of your civilization?
· What kinds of entertainment your citizens practiced?
· What kind of food your citizens liked?
· What are the main cultural and religious ideas your citizens embraced? And what are their main God/Gods (If applicable)?
· Who are the famous persons in your civilization?
· What inventions or achievements your civilization had?
· What are the famous cities of your civilization?
· What are the main traditions of your civilization?
Elaborate (12 weeks)
1. Project 1: Choose one of the following:
§ Video: “This is My Civilization.” Create a video about your civilization. Then it will be uploaded to an online video service like YouTube or to Facebook group Videos.
§ Photos: “This is My Civilization.” Create photos about your civilization. Edit the photos using Picnik.com, and then upload it to Facebook group photo album.
2. Project 2: Create a Google Maps tour for your civilization project that shows locations of important cities, events, and sites.
3. Project 3: Create an interactive online poster (Glog) on Glogster to display pictures, videos and information about your civilization.
§ Make sure you look at the rubric for each project guidelines.
§ Students could wear the cloths of their civilization during this phase if they wish.
§ Please abide by copyright laws while creating your project.
Evaluate (Ongoing)
The evaluation of the lesson projects and tasks will be done using rubrics that keeps students focused on their project results and the skills they acquire and not on grades. And because evaluation is an ongoing process that helps students in staying on the right track, they should check the rubrics frequently while working on the projects and tasks.
Web Search (Explore section, 2)
Teacher Name: ______Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Variety of Sources / Four or more search tools were used. / Three search tools were used. / Two search tools were used. / One search tool was used.
Relevance of Links / Links found are strongly relevant to the research topic. / Links found are mildly relevant to the research topic. / Links found are poorly relevant to the research topic. / Links found are not relevant to the research topic.
Amount of Sources Discovered / Four or more new sources discovered. / Three new sources discovered. / Two new sources discovered. / One new source discovered.
Time Taken to Accomplish Search / Less than 6 hours. / Less than 12 hours. / Less than 24 hours. / More than 24 hours.
Facebook forum debate (Explain section)
Teacher Name: ______Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Information / All information presented in the debate was clear, accurate and thorough. / Most information presented in the debate was clear, accurate and thorough. / Most information presented in the debate was clear and accurate, but was not usually thorough. / Information had several inaccuracies OR was usually not clear.
Use of Facts/Statistics / Every major point was well supported with several relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. / Every major point was adequately supported with relevant facts, statistics and/or examples. / Every major point was supported with facts, statistics and/or examples, but the relevance of some was questionable. / Every point was not supported.
Organization / All arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion. / Most arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) and organized in a tight, logical fashion. / All arguments were clearly tied to an idea (premise) but the organization was sometimes not clear or logical. / Arguments were not clearly tied to an idea (premise).
Understanding of Topic / The team clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented their information forcefully and convincingly. / The team clearly understood the topic in-depth and presented their information with ease. / The team seemed to understand the main points of the topic and presented those with ease. / The team did not show an adequate understanding of the topic.
Time / 1-2 Weeks / 3 Weeks / 4 Weeks / More than 4 Weeks
Percentage of Questions Answered / 100% / 75% / 50% / Less than 50%
Video Documentary (Elaborate section, 1, choice 1)
Teacher Name: ______Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Script / Script was well written, logical and creative. / Script was well written and logical. / Script was used to guide shooting. / No script at all was used.
Video Quality / Video was original, creative, and unique. / Video was completed, and contained all required items. Editing was not done as well as it should have been. Idea was not engaging or unique. Some poor camera work. / Video was made but contained little evidence of a theme, had little editing, and did not engage the audience. Too much zooming, panning, shakiness. / Video was not completed.
Camera angles/
lighting/transitions / The variety of camera angles, lighting, transitions, and additional elements contribute to the style. The video flowed smoothly / With a bit more editing and better clips selection, use of transition, etc. video would be excellent. / Video was nothing more than a series of clips joined together. Could have been created by turning the camera off and on. / There was no video.
Time / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3 weeks / More than 3 weeks
Facebook Photo Pool (Elaborate section, 1, choice 2)
Teacher Name: ______Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Relevancy / All photos are relevant. / Most photos are relevant. / Half of the photos are relevant. / Less than half of the photos are relevant.
Number of Photos uploaded and shared / More than 100. / 75-100. / 51-74. / 50 or less.
Photos quality / Excellent / Good / Low / Poor
Tagging / All photos have tags. / Most photos have tags. / Half of the photos have tags. / Less than half of the photos have tags.
Description / All photos have description. / Most photos have description. / Half of the photos have description. / Less than half of the photos have description.
Time / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3 weeks / More than 3 weeks
Google Maps tour (Elaborate section, 2)
Teacher Name: ______Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Information & Location Accuracy / No errors. / 1-2 errors. / 3-4 errors. / 5 or more errors.
Relevancy / All items are relevant. / Most items are relevant. / Half of the items are relevant. / Less than half of the items are relevant.
Number of Videos on The Tour / 7 or more. / 4-6 / 1-3 / None
Number of Photos on The Tour / 7 or more. / 4-6 / 1-3 / None
Description / All items have description. / Most items have description. / Half of the items have description. / Less than half of the items have description.
Time / 1 week / 2 weeks / 3 weeks / More than 3 weeks
Glogster poster (Elaborate section, 3)
Teacher Name: ______Student Name: ______
CATEGORY / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1
Design Quality / Excellent / Very Good / Good / Basic
Multimedia Usage / Excellent / Very Good / Good / Basic or N/A
Quality of Information / Excellent / Very Good / Good / Basic
Spelling & Grammar / No mistakes / 1-2 mistakes / 3-4 mistakes / More than 4 mistakes
Extend (Ongoing)
1. Students will use Facebook group to share their information, videos, pictures, and experiences with their friends under the parent’s supervision (At home).
2. Students will Show their civilizations in a school exhibition. They will wear the cloths of their civilization and might provide samples of its food, songs, or games during the exhibition.
3. Students will exhibit their projects at district exhibition in order to inspire other students from different types of schools within the district.
Standards
· The lessons are matched with State, Provincial and/or national standards. It is primarily for the information of the teacher and should provide the information necessary to incorporate the lesson into the local board, district or school curriculum.
v NETS for Students 2007: 1a, 1b, 1c, 2a, 2b, 2c, 2d, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d, 4b, 4c, 5a, 5b, 5c, 5d, 6a, 6b, 6d.
v Alberta ICT curriculum: http://education.alberta.ca/media/453069/pofs.pdf
o ICT: C1, C2, C3, C4, C5, C6, C7.
v Egyptian national curriculum:
o Computer: Primary 6: Units 1 & 2, Preparatory 2: Chapter 2, 3, 4, and 5
o Social Studies: Primary 4: 1st semester-Unit 4, 2nd semester-Unit 1 & 4, Primary 5: 1st semester-Unit 2. Preparatory 2: 1st semester-Units 4, 5, and 6, 2nd semester- Unit 2. Secondary 1: Units 1, 2, and 3. Secondary 3: Unit 1