Co-constructed Ancient Civilizations Success Criteria
For my March 2012 practicum, I was in a grade 5 classroom, at a school in North York. A large portion of my practicum was spent teaching a Social Studies, Ancient Civilizations inquiry unit. The unit began with a read aloud, followed by a class on defining what an ancient civilization is. We then completed toy theatre (with a compare and contrast). Mapping lessons and research methods lessons followed, before finally "selling" the students different civilizations they could study. This led to a research paper and their culminating task.
Essentially, I trekked to two different public libraries and tried to determine which civilizations contained enough resources for students to be able to effectively research in class (as computer time was limited). The civilizations they could choose from included: Inca, Maya, Aztec, Mesopotamian, Ancient India/Indus Valley, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. When 'selling' the civilizations, I pitched them to students, by using facts that might entice them and ignite their curiosity. Students chose the three civilizations they were most interested in. Six groups were formed, based on student interest, and how well my associate teacher and I felt certain students would work together.
The culminating task was to pretend that a time machine exists, that will take you to any time and place in history. Students were to design a travel advertisement/guide that would entice people to come to their civilization.
Students will generally perform up to a higher standard when expectations are clear and resonate with them. In order to get students into a travel advertisement/guide mindset, I chose three travel videos that I felt most reflected what I was looking for. As a minds on, students were given a few 'think abouts', for example 'think about the purpose, think about the audience, think about what you hear and see, think about how the advertisers make customers want to come'. They were then given a piece of scrap paper to make notes on, and we watched portions of three different videos. The video below, was one of the three shown, and is most reflective of the success criteria I hoped students would arrive at.
The final success criteria looked like this:
For the fifth point, we discussed as a class what would be a fair amount of time. I wanted students to have enough space to be able to creatively express themselves as they wished, and most members of the class agreed that this amount of time was fair. The time constraints were not included on the final rubric, however every other point was. The descriptive language component was not an element that students arrived to on their own, despite a considerable amount of prompting. After I added this component to the success criteria, we had a discussion about what descriptive language means. If I use this element as a component of success criteria in the future, I will probably include what descriptive language means, in brackets.
One point not included in this success criteria, is how much everyone is expected to talk. Since some students are more comfortable speaking than others, I wanted to allow students a bit of leeway in deciding how much each student was to say. Excepting the ELLs, students were told that they need to say at least one paragraph; however I also encouraged them to, "think about how many words are necessary to communicate your message, make customers knowledgeable, interested and really excited to go."
Before preparing their final advertisement, students had self-selected a two topics to research and had written their names on a chart. One copy of the chart was given to me, and one copy stayed in their folder. They then completed research on their topics and wrote a report about one of them. During their first class working on their advertisement, they completed a jigsaw with their group. Each member of the group had 2 minutes to explain what they learned, to their group members. They then came together as a group and completed their graphic organizer, before writing their individual parts.
Even with the success criteria in place, graphic organizers, group roles, and the use of index cards, some students were initially struggling with putting together an advertisement. I modelled an advertisement, using Toronto as an example and we discussed how their advertisement would look different. This helped students considerably.
When the groups performed their advertisements, they were filmed (all students had brought in their photography permission forms). I then had students rewatch the videos, while completing a compare and contrast chart.
My experience in co-constructing Social Studies Success Criteria relates to the Ontario College of Teachers' Standard of Professional Practice. This unit began with an inquiry based culminating task in mind and lessons were geared towards that end. Students were generally excited about learning / researching and were engaged with the material, however, the unit demanded for flexibility by interpreting student responses and adapting to suit their needs. This was my first experience in co-constructing success criteria. Through the process of creating the success criteria (with examples for guidance) and then by modelling what is expected, students were able to better perform with the expectations in mind.
The compare and contrast aspect of this unit did not emerge until the end, and depended on students providing a presentation that was information rich. It was for this reason, that I chose an advertisement, as it enabled students to be creative while providing the structure and information necessary for the compare and contrast. If this unit were done, by first teaching one civilization explicitly, the choice board might have been an option as a culminating task (or as a means for students to be engaged in different activities throughout). Students would still be learning, however they would be engaged in the activities they find most interesting, and those which appeal to their strengths.
Students were engaged in the unit, and the final advertisement worked out well. Oftentimes it was a challenge having to teach different concepts, while ensuring that enough information existed in the resources present in the classroom. Students did, however, respond well to this more inquiry based method of teaching Social Studies - Ancient Civilizations.
Essentially, I trekked to two different public libraries and tried to determine which civilizations contained enough resources for students to be able to effectively research in class (as computer time was limited). The civilizations they could choose from included: Inca, Maya, Aztec, Mesopotamian, Ancient India/Indus Valley, Ancient China, Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome and Ancient Egypt. When 'selling' the civilizations, I pitched them to students, by using facts that might entice them and ignite their curiosity. Students chose the three civilizations they were most interested in. Six groups were formed, based on student interest, and how well my associate teacher and I felt certain students would work together.
The culminating task was to pretend that a time machine exists, that will take you to any time and place in history. Students were to design a travel advertisement/guide that would entice people to come to their civilization.
Students will generally perform up to a higher standard when expectations are clear and resonate with them. In order to get students into a travel advertisement/guide mindset, I chose three travel videos that I felt most reflected what I was looking for. As a minds on, students were given a few 'think abouts', for example 'think about the purpose, think about the audience, think about what you hear and see, think about how the advertisers make customers want to come'. They were then given a piece of scrap paper to make notes on, and we watched portions of three different videos. The video below, was one of the three shown, and is most reflective of the success criteria I hoped students would arrive at.
The final success criteria looked like this:
1. Use a loud, clear voice
2. Include facts about your civilization (cultural/lifestyle facts, attractions, what they built, where it's located, interesting facts)
3. Convince/persuade people to come by using many visuals (pictures, maps, model or cultural civilization clothes)
4. Speak with expression
5. 3-10 minutes
6. Use descriptive language.
For the fifth point, we discussed as a class what would be a fair amount of time. I wanted students to have enough space to be able to creatively express themselves as they wished, and most members of the class agreed that this amount of time was fair. The time constraints were not included on the final rubric, however every other point was. The descriptive language component was not an element that students arrived to on their own, despite a considerable amount of prompting. After I added this component to the success criteria, we had a discussion about what descriptive language means. If I use this element as a component of success criteria in the future, I will probably include what descriptive language means, in brackets.
One point not included in this success criteria, is how much everyone is expected to talk. Since some students are more comfortable speaking than others, I wanted to allow students a bit of leeway in deciding how much each student was to say. Excepting the ELLs, students were told that they need to say at least one paragraph; however I also encouraged them to, "think about how many words are necessary to communicate your message, make customers knowledgeable, interested and really excited to go."
Before preparing their final advertisement, students had self-selected a two topics to research and had written their names on a chart. One copy of the chart was given to me, and one copy stayed in their folder. They then completed research on their topics and wrote a report about one of them. During their first class working on their advertisement, they completed a jigsaw with their group. Each member of the group had 2 minutes to explain what they learned, to their group members. They then came together as a group and completed their graphic organizer, before writing their individual parts.
Even with the success criteria in place, graphic organizers, group roles, and the use of index cards, some students were initially struggling with putting together an advertisement. I modelled an advertisement, using Toronto as an example and we discussed how their advertisement would look different. This helped students considerably.
When the groups performed their advertisements, they were filmed (all students had brought in their photography permission forms). I then had students rewatch the videos, while completing a compare and contrast chart.
My experience in co-constructing Social Studies Success Criteria relates to the Ontario College of Teachers' Standard of Professional Practice. This unit began with an inquiry based culminating task in mind and lessons were geared towards that end. Students were generally excited about learning / researching and were engaged with the material, however, the unit demanded for flexibility by interpreting student responses and adapting to suit their needs. This was my first experience in co-constructing success criteria. Through the process of creating the success criteria (with examples for guidance) and then by modelling what is expected, students were able to better perform with the expectations in mind.
The compare and contrast aspect of this unit did not emerge until the end, and depended on students providing a presentation that was information rich. It was for this reason, that I chose an advertisement, as it enabled students to be creative while providing the structure and information necessary for the compare and contrast. If this unit were done, by first teaching one civilization explicitly, the choice board might have been an option as a culminating task (or as a means for students to be engaged in different activities throughout). Students would still be learning, however they would be engaged in the activities they find most interesting, and those which appeal to their strengths.
Students were engaged in the unit, and the final advertisement worked out well. Oftentimes it was a challenge having to teach different concepts, while ensuring that enough information existed in the resources present in the classroom. Students did, however, respond well to this more inquiry based method of teaching Social Studies - Ancient Civilizations.
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