Form 5

Plan Teach Reflect Cycle

Track 1 Teachers submit to Administrator in portfolio
Distinguished teachers plan thoughtful lessons that reflect student learning and include all the necessary components. This worksheet
provides a process and documentation towards effective lesson planning and instruction.
Teacher:

Lynn Catanus

Grade Level(s):
Year in Track I:

School:

Subject(s):
1

Social Studies

McCracken
Date: 1/23/2015

Lesson Concept/Subject: Ancient Egypt: Geography

Common Core State Standards/National Standards Addressed:
Understand world geography and the effects of geography on world history.
Learning Objectives (develop clear, measurable objectives to guide what will be taught):
Students will be able to list at least 3 effects of geography on ancient Egypts culture with 100% accuracy.
Description of Lesson (include strategies, materials/resources used, homework assigned and step-by-step instructions):
1. Prior to the lesson, the students took a formative for Chapter 2, Section 1 (Egypt).
2. At the start of the lesson, the students will be introduced to a Web Quest activity. They will work independently on this activity.
a. The Web Quest will begin with general questions about Egypts geography and its impact on society. These questions will serve
as a formative assessment for the students so that I can have an idea of how much background knowledge the students have.
b. The Web Quest will then help introduce Egypts geography by guiding the students through an inquiry-based learning activity.
The Web Quest will provide students with instructions for searching for images and facts online, and links to video clips and
websites where students can discover information about Egypts geography.
3. We will have a whole class discussion on the information that the students found. We will then read the first 4 paragraphs under A
River Valley and Its People from Chapter 2, Section 1 of The World History: The Human Experience, The Early Ages textbook to
confirm the students Web Quest findings.
4. Next, I will introduce the Think-Tac-Toe activity. I learned about this activity at a session from the last Institute Day. The purpose of
this activity is to provide a variety of activities for students and giving the students choice by allowing them to pick 3 activities.
However, the 3 selected activities must be in a row, similar to how one would win a game of Tic-Tac-Toe. Each activity represents a
different level of thinking from Blooms Taxonomy. No matter what the students choose as their 3 activities, having them select 3 in a
row will allow them to engage in a variety of thinking skills. The activities and the level of thinking from Blooms Taxonomy are briefly
listed below (the actual project description can be found as an artifact on my online portfolio).

Think-Tac-Toe for Egypts Geography:

(Analysis)
Compare and contrast the Nile River versus
the Tigris or the Euphrates River using a
Venn Diagram.

(Application)
Write a journal entry listing 8 ways that
Egypts geography (landforms, water,
climate, etc.) affects your daily life.

(Comprehension)
Create a 30 second advertisement for
papyrus including researched information.

(Evaluate)
Research gods and goddesses. Then,
analyze how geography affected Egyptian
beliefs.

(Knowledge)
Hand draw a map of Egypt and label 16
landforms or bodies of water.

(Synthesize)
Create a magazine article on how to adjust
to the Nile including researched information.

(Synthesize)
Write a journal entry as if youre an explorer
traveling through Egypts natural barriers to
trade. Include researched information.

(Evaluate)
Make an argument for whether Lower Egypt
or Upper Egypt is a better land to build a
city by creating a campaign commercial.

(Application)
Create a How to Build a Pyramid pamphlet
from researched information.

5. The students will have several days in class to work on these activities.
6. At the end of the work days, the students will turn in their 3 assignments. The students will then reflect on how geography impacted
the ancient Egyptians by writing a short-answer reflection. This will be submitted as homework as another formative.
7. At the end of the unit, the students will be assessed on how Egypts geography impacted the early Egyptians on the summative for the
chapter. This will be a short-answer question on the summative.
Is this lesson for an introduction or review lesson?: This lesson is an introduction.
How are the students being assessed (formal or informal)?:
*please attach any assessment used
The students will be assessed in 3 ways.
First, the students will be answering questions (What is the significance of the Nile River to the ancient Egyptians? What natural barriers does
Egypt have? How did this impact the development of Egypts society?) at the start of the lesson as a formative to assess what background
information they already know.
After the Think-Tac-Toe activities, the students will be assessed again with a short-answer question: Name 3 ways that geography affected
Ancient Egyptians. Think about how geography impacted Egypt in a variety of ways (trade, politics, religion, etc.). This homework assignment
will assess the students formatively.
Finally, the students will be assessed at the end of the unit. On the summative test, the students will be asked to answer the following
question with a short-answer: Besides the fact that the Nile provided fertile soil, food, and water, list AND explain 2 ways in which geography
impacted ancient Egypt.
Modifications (how will you change the lesson and/or delivery to meet the needs of your students?):
Based on the Chapter 2, Section 1 formative assessment, students who fell in the Tier 3 category may choose any of 3 activities listed on the
Think-Tac-Toe.
Extensions (how will you change the lesson and/or delivery to meet the needs of your students?):
Based on the Chapter 2, Section 1 formative assessment, students who fell in the Tier 1 category may choose any 3 activities listed on the
Think-Tac-Toe except for the hand-drawn map and the papyrus advertisement.

Reflection
Some questions to consider when reflecting:
1.

Were the standards met?

Yes, I believe the standards of the lesson were met.
For this lesson, students were required to understand world geography and the effects of geography on world history. Initially,
students understood that the Nile provided fertile soil and gave the ancient Egyptians food to eat. However, after the lesson, the
students were able to address a variety of ways in which Egypts geography impacted society. For example, in the summative,
many students mentioned how Egypts deserts and the Niles cataracts provided natural barriers, which helped Egypt develop its
rich culture. Students also mentioned geographys impact on Egypts religion and daily life.

2.

Was the assessment successful?

I believe the multiple formative assessments and the summative assessment were successful.
The students were given a formative assessment on Egypt at the start of the unit. The data from this summative allowed me to
make modifications and extensions for the Think-Tac-Toe activity. The students were also given questions to consider at the start of
the introductory Web Quest activity on Egypts geography.
After the students completed the Think-Tac-Toe activities, the students were given a short-answer question on how Egypts
geography impacted society in a variety of ways. This was also a formative assessment. I compared the students answers to this
question with the students answers to the question prior to the Web Quest activity and saw growth in the quality of their answers.
Finally, in the summative assessment, students gave fantastic answers about how Egypts geography impacted society aside from
good soil and food.

3.

Was your delivery of the lesson successful?

I believe the delivery of the lesson was successful.
The students were very engaged during the Web Quest activity. They worked diligently in following the slideshow of instructions
and were very quick when it came to finding information on the web. I felt the activity was appropriate for the age group as
students tend to enjoy inquiry-based learning and exploring technology. It was also a great way to present information that was
different from simply reading the textbook. When we did read the textbook, the students were able to make connections since they
had already researched the information. I think it was important for the students to see the information in the textbook come alive
with the information they had searched online.
I also believe the Think-Tac-Toe activity went well. The students were so creative in what they produced and they seemed to enjoy
the variety of assignments that they could choose from. During Parent/Teacher conferences, a parent even thanked me for being
creative with the projects that I assign in class. Her son shared that he enjoyed the Think-Tac-Toe activity because it gave the

students a variety of choices.

4.

Did you reach the needs of all your students?

This was my first time developing a Think-Tac-Toe activity for my students. I believe the activities could have been more
challenging for my Tier 1 students. The Tier 1 students naturally put forth great effort when it came to the research components of
certain activities, but I believe I could push the rigor even higher for them.
I felt the activities met the needs for all Tier 2 and 3 students. All in all, students showed growth from the formatives to the
summative assessment, so I am mostly happy with the assignment.

5.

What worked well?

The Web Quest worked well as an introductory activity. Preparing the activity was quick and it allowed for the students to take
ownership of their learning. As mentioned earlier, it also helped make the textbook come alive.
I believe the Think-Tac-Toe was also a successful activity. Even though the activities covered topics such as religion, agriculture, and
pyramids, the students were able to see how each of those topics related to Egypts geography. In addition, the students were
engaged during the activities.

6.

What did not work well?

It would have been helpful to have examples of each activity so that I could model what high quality work looks like. There were
some students who neglected the research component of the activities and were too focused on the creative component of the
activities. For example, one of the activities asked for students to research information on the papyrus plant and then create a 30second advertisement for papyrus. One student developed a funny and creative advertisement, but there was no factual
information about the papyrus plant. Besides modeling expectations for each activity, I could also provide graphic organizers to
ensure that students are following the steps of first researching information, and then organizing the information for their project.

7.

What should be changed in the lesson to be more effective?

As mentioned earlier, providing examples of each activity and modeling the expectations would be helpful next time. Providing
graphic organizers would also be helpful. Finally, it would be helpful for students to reflect on the activities they completed by
asking them how each of their activities contributed to their understanding of how geography impacted the early Egyptians. The
students were able to reflect with a general question, but it may have been more useful for them to understand how their specific
activities connected with the essential question of the lesson.

8.

Did any positive unintended learning occur, if yes what?

Some of the students had learned about the program, lucidpress.com, and wanted to use the program as part of their magazine
article on the Nile or pamphlet on the pyramids. The students continually impress me with their knowledge of technology. The
students are also excellent peer teachers for one another, as they taught one another how to use lucidpress.com.