Related Lessons: Emperor’s Advisory, Digital Story Telling
Introduction:
This unit is designed for a 7th grade Social Studies core. It is designed to cover the four universal elements of culture (beliefs, economics, government & social customs) and explore the influence interacting with other civilizations can have on one’s own culture. Students will achieve these goals through collaborative problem-based research and digital story telling. This unit will take two to three weeks to complete. With the first week and half focused on researching Ancient China and discussing findings with teammates. The final week of the project will focus on the creation of a digital story. As Vicki Davis explains, “Teachers are not just teachers. We connectors. Our job is to connect our students to other people around the world, other resources around the world, other cultures around the world” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a). This section of the unit will focus on the use of collaborative tools within the problem based learning unit. Specifically, students will be using Diigo and Google Apps to collect and share information. It’s important for students to learn to collaborate while in school. As Diana Laufenberg explains, “Working with other people is often times the most rewarding and the most challenging parts of the job. Figuring out and working through those problems while you’re learning and while you’re still in a safe school environment is incredibly important. To help model those behaviors, to deal with those bumps in the road. To try to find some coping strategies for students that don’t work well in groups, but find them a way to productively work through those problems while they’re still here instead of when they are trying to be successful in their profession or their work space” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009b)
GOALS
Content Standards: (Bergeson, 2005a,b)
SS 2.2.2 ECONOMICS: I can explain how the forces of supply and demand affect trade and culture.
SS 4.2.2 SOCIAL CUSTOMS: I can identify and explain how social customs influence cultural development
SS 1.3.1b INTERACTING: I can analyze and explain how societies are impacted by interacting with one another.
SS 4.2.3a PRODUCE CHANGE: I can explain how important events, individuals, and movements have shaped history and changed cultures.
SS 5.2.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: I can create and use research questions to guide inquiry of a historical event.
SS 5.2.2 VALIDITY OF SOURCES: I can analyze the validity, reliability, and credibility of information from a variety of primary and secondary sources.
Read 3.1.1a SELECTING RESOURCES: I can select appropriate sources from library, web-based, and internet materials for a specific task.
Read 3.1.1b USING RESOURCES: I can effectively use information from various sources to investigate a topic.
ISTE NETS-S § Creativity and innovation § Communication and collaboration § Research and information fluency § Critical thinking, problem-solving, & decision-making Instructional Objective(s): § Students will be able to weigh the positive and negative consequences of cross-cultural interaction. § Students will be able to use online tools to support their collaborations on their Problem Based Learning project.
|| Action Plan
|| Working in small groups, students will respond to the following scenario: Your team has just been appointed as the new advisors to the Emperor of China. Specifically, you’ll be focusing on areas of economic development, foreign relations, and cultural preservation. Certain elite members of society are encouraging the Emperor to open up trade with civilizations to the west. He’s asked you to research the positive and negative implications of this idea. Would China prosper from trade with civilizations in the Middle East and Europe? Would it impact the safety and well being of Chinese citizens? What impact would interacting with outsiders have on your culture?
Using prior knowledge about the other civilizations we’ve studied, each group will focus on the consequences of interacting with a different ‘western’ civilization (Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Medieval Europe).
1. Creating Diigo Groups- In previous units, students have already used and become familiar with Diigo. To take their understanding of Diigo to the next level students will create their own work groups in Diigo. If students are going to be independent learners, they need to be able to do this own their own in the future. This unit falls at the end of our year, this seems like an appropriate time to turn over this responsibility.
2. Collecting Resources- Using their inquiry questions to guide their research, students will conduct research and save their sources to Diigo.
3. Evaluating Sources- Students will use the highlighter and post-it note features of Diigo to evaluate their sources. Students learned how to evaluate the validity, reliability and usefulness of sources in a previous unit. So other than a brief review, no direct instruction will be necessary. However, this unit will provide me the opportunity monitor and assess whether or not those skills took root.
4. Compiling Information- After students have independently collected and evaluated information they will need to share their findings and agree on the most useful information as a group. They will use Diigo to share their resources and Google Apps to compile the best information.
5. Compare & Contrast- After collecting research about Ancient China, groups will create venn diagrams (via collaborative mind mapping software like Webspiration) to compare and contrast their knowledge of Ancient China with their prior knowledge of their ‘western’ civilization.
6. Predicting & Inferring Consequences- Using these venn diagram, groups will need to begin to think creatively as they predict and infer the positive and negative consequences of cultural interaction between Ancient China and their ‘western’ civilization.
7. Publication of Projects- Final projects (digital stories) will be published to in our Moodle to allow other groups to view and comment on the work of other groups.
|| Use of Technology || Students will use technology at many stages of this unit. Specifically during the PBL process, students will use the Internet to conduct research and share their findings via collaborative tools like Diigo and Google Apps. They will practice creative thinking through the use of collaborative mind mapping software and they will begin to formulate their conclusions in shared Google App documents.
|| Student Grouping & Accommodations || Students will be grouped heterogeneously. Lower students will be supported with more guidance in finding appropriate resources (for a few special ed. and ELL students, resources will be directly handed to them). Students will higher skill levels will challenged by directing them towards resources with higher reading levels and more complex content.
|| MONITOR/ ASSESSMENT || I will become a member of all of their online collaborative groups. This will allow me to monitor student growth by assessing their content and notes in their Diigo accounts and their contributions to their Google Apps documents. This approach will also allow me to drop in guiding questions and make suggestions without having to much of a presence in their group.
|| MANAGEMENT OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS || Students will begin much of their work in the computer labs at school. This will ensure that students get started on the right foot and will allow me to help them problem-solve any issues that arise. However, they will also have to complete a lot of their research at home. As Vicki Davis notes, asynchronistic online collaboration allows students to connect and contribute to projects anytime, anywhere. This especially helps the students who are not especially creative during our 45 minutes class time, but who might find their muse in the evening or even late at night. An asynchronistic format also supports students who need more time to process information and think through their responses (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a).
|| EVALUATE AND EXTEND ||
Lesson reflections and notes: None at this time.
Conclusion:
Collaboration tools like wikis, blogs, Google Apps and networking sites are already changing the way are world works. Nearly everyone’s on Facebook. You can learn just about anything on YouTube. The internet is now distributing multimedia more than text. Even the president of our country harnessed social networking in his election campaign. If we’re going to prepare our students to successful function in this type of society, it’s time we incorporated collaborative technologies into our curriculum. In many ways, we’re only just beginning to see the future of education. As a future focused teacher, I have no choice but to begin to implement collaborative units like this.
References: Bergeson, T. (2005a). Reading K-10 Grade Level Expectations: A New Level of Specificity. Olympia, WA: OSPI. Bergeson, T. (2005b). Social Studies K-10 Grade Level Expectations: A New Level of Specificity. Olympia, WA: OSPI. Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Program Two. Spotlight on technology: problem-based learning, part 1. [Motion picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author. Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Program Two. Spotlight on technology: problem-based learning, part 2. [Motion picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author. Add Rubric
Aaron, I love your ideas! As a 7th grade social studies teacher as well, I find myself envious of your creativity and ability to develop interesting, thought-provoking lessons for your students. I was just curious where you got the 4 elements of culture from? What I teach is similar to you, but I go over 8 major elements (History, Arts, Daily Life, Social Groups, Economy, Government, Religion, and Language), and in fact most of mine can probaly fall under yours as well. I was just curious, thanks for sharing your ideas, they are pretty cool! Brian
Lesson GAME Plan
|| Lesson Title: Collaborative ToolsIntroduction:
This unit is designed for a 7th grade Social Studies core. It is designed to cover the four universal elements of culture (beliefs, economics, government & social customs) and explore the influence interacting with other civilizations can have on one’s own culture. Students will achieve these goals through collaborative problem-based research and digital story telling. This unit will take two to three weeks to complete. With the first week and half focused on researching Ancient China and discussing findings with teammates. The final week of the project will focus on the creation of a digital story.As Vicki Davis explains, “Teachers are not just teachers. We connectors. Our job is to connect our students to other people around the world, other resources around the world, other cultures around the world” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a). This section of the unit will focus on the use of collaborative tools within the problem based learning unit. Specifically, students will be using Diigo and Google Apps to collect and share information. It’s important for students to learn to collaborate while in school. As Diana Laufenberg explains,
“Working with other people is often times the most rewarding and the most challenging parts of the job. Figuring out and working through those problems while you’re learning and while you’re still in a safe school environment is incredibly important. To help model those behaviors, to deal with those bumps in the road. To try to find some coping strategies for students that don’t work well in groups, but find them a way to productively work through those problems while they’re still here instead of when they are trying to be successful in their profession or their work space” (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009b)
- SS 2.2.2 ECONOMICS: I can explain how the forces of supply and demand affect trade and culture.
- SS 4.2.2 SOCIAL CUSTOMS: I can identify and explain how social customs influence cultural development
- SS 1.3.1b INTERACTING: I can analyze and explain how societies are impacted by interacting with one another.
- SS 4.2.3a PRODUCE CHANGE: I can explain how important events, individuals, and movements have shaped history and changed cultures.
- SS 5.2.1 RESEARCH QUESTIONS: I can create and use research questions to guide inquiry of a historical event.
- SS 5.2.2 VALIDITY OF SOURCES: I can analyze the validity, reliability, and credibility of information from a variety of primary and secondary sources.
- Read 3.1.1a SELECTING RESOURCES: I can select appropriate sources from library, web-based, and internet materials for a specific task.
- Read 3.1.1b USING RESOURCES: I can effectively use information from various sources to investigate a topic.
ISTE NETS-S§ Creativity and innovation
§ Communication and collaboration
§ Research and information fluency
§ Critical thinking, problem-solving, & decision-making
Instructional Objective(s):
§ Students will be able to weigh the positive and negative consequences of cross-cultural interaction.
§ Students will be able to use online tools to support their collaborations on their Problem Based Learning project.
|| Action Plan
||
Working in small groups, students will respond to the following scenario:
Your team has just been appointed as the new advisors to the Emperor of China. Specifically, you’ll be focusing on areas of economic development, foreign relations, and cultural preservation. Certain elite members of society are encouraging the Emperor to open up trade with civilizations to the west. He’s asked you to research the positive and negative implications of this idea. Would China prosper from trade with civilizations in the Middle East and Europe? Would it impact the safety and well being of Chinese citizens? What impact would interacting with outsiders have on your culture?
Using prior knowledge about the other civilizations we’ve studied, each group will focus on the consequences of interacting with a different ‘western’ civilization (Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Medieval Europe).
1. Creating Diigo Groups- In previous units, students have already used and become familiar with Diigo. To take their understanding of Diigo to the next level students will create their own work groups in Diigo. If students are going to be independent learners, they need to be able to do this own their own in the future. This unit falls at the end of our year, this seems like an appropriate time to turn over this responsibility.
2. Collecting Resources- Using their inquiry questions to guide their research, students will conduct research and save their sources to Diigo.
3. Evaluating Sources- Students will use the highlighter and post-it note features of Diigo to evaluate their sources. Students learned how to evaluate the validity, reliability and usefulness of sources in a previous unit. So other than a brief review, no direct instruction will be necessary. However, this unit will provide me the opportunity monitor and assess whether or not those skills took root.
4. Compiling Information- After students have independently collected and evaluated information they will need to share their findings and agree on the most useful information as a group. They will use Diigo to share their resources and Google Apps to compile the best information.
5. Compare & Contrast- After collecting research about Ancient China, groups will create venn diagrams (via collaborative mind mapping software like Webspiration) to compare and contrast their knowledge of Ancient China with their prior knowledge of their ‘western’ civilization.
6. Predicting & Inferring Consequences- Using these venn diagram, groups will need to begin to think creatively as they predict and infer the positive and negative consequences of cultural interaction between Ancient China and their ‘western’ civilization.
7. Publication of Projects- Final projects (digital stories) will be published to in our Moodle to allow other groups to view and comment on the work of other groups.
|| Use of Technology ||
Students will use technology at many stages of this unit. Specifically during the PBL process, students will use the Internet to conduct research and share their findings via collaborative tools like Diigo and Google Apps. They will practice creative thinking through the use of collaborative mind mapping software and they will begin to formulate their conclusions in shared Google App documents.
|| Student Grouping & Accommodations ||
Students will be grouped heterogeneously. Lower students will be supported with more guidance in finding appropriate resources (for a few special ed. and ELL students, resources will be directly handed to them). Students will higher skill levels will challenged by directing them towards resources with higher reading levels and more complex content.
|| MONITOR/ ASSESSMENT ||
I will become a member of all of their online collaborative groups. This will allow me to monitor student growth by assessing their content and notes in their Diigo accounts and their contributions to their Google Apps documents. This approach will also allow me to drop in guiding questions and make suggestions without having to much of a presence in their group.
|| MANAGEMENT OF LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS ||
Students will begin much of their work in the computer labs at school. This will ensure that students get started on the right foot and will allow me to help them problem-solve any issues that arise. However, they will also have to complete a lot of their research at home. As Vicki Davis notes, asynchronistic online collaboration allows students to connect and contribute to projects anytime, anywhere. This especially helps the students who are not especially creative during our 45 minutes class time, but who might find their muse in the evening or even late at night. An asynchronistic format also supports students who need more time to process information and think through their responses (Laureate Education, Inc., 2009a).
|| EVALUATE AND EXTEND ||
Lesson reflections and notes:
None at this time.
Conclusion:
Collaboration tools like wikis, blogs, Google Apps and networking sites are already changing the way are world works. Nearly everyone’s on Facebook. You can learn just about anything on YouTube. The internet is now distributing multimedia more than text. Even the president of our country harnessed social networking in his election campaign. If we’re going to prepare our students to successful function in this type of society, it’s time we incorporated collaborative technologies into our curriculum. In many ways, we’re only just beginning to see the future of education. As a future focused teacher, I have no choice but to begin to implement collaborative units like this.References:
Bergeson, T. (2005a). Reading K-10 Grade Level Expectations: A New Level of Specificity. Olympia, WA: OSPI.
Bergeson, T. (2005b). Social Studies K-10 Grade Level Expectations: A New Level of Specificity. Olympia, WA: OSPI.
Cennamo, K., Ross, J. & Ertmer, P. (2009). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A standards-based approach. (Laureate Education, Inc., Custom ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009a). Program Two. Spotlight on technology: problem-based learning, part 1. [Motion picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009b). Program Two. Spotlight on technology: problem-based learning, part 2. [Motion picture]. Integrating Technology Across the Content Areas. Baltimore: Author.
Add Rubric
Aaron,
I love your ideas! As a 7th grade social studies teacher as well, I find myself envious of your creativity and ability to develop interesting, thought-provoking lessons for your students. I was just curious where you got the 4 elements of culture from? What I teach is similar to you, but I go over 8 major elements (History, Arts, Daily Life, Social Groups, Economy, Government, Religion, and Language), and in fact most of mine can probaly fall under yours as well. I was just curious, thanks for sharing your ideas, they are pretty cool!
Brian