Civics and Government Lesson
What?
Opening
Our lesson began with an opening activity. The students and teachers participated in a game called "Spiderweb Questions." Miss Ames began with a small ball of white yarn. She started by asking me, "Miss Rose, what is your favorite school subject?" while she tossed the yarn to me, holding the beginning of the string. I answered the question with science, and we continued around the circle until we got through all seven students. The students had fun and created unique questions to get to know one another. Miss Ames then reviewed the expectations for our group meetings with the students.
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| Spiderweb Questions |
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| Visual Schedule |
USA vs. Egyptian Rights
After our introduction, Miss Ames engaged the students in a collaborative discussion. She asked the students to activate their prior knowledge by taking a moment to think about what they know about voting and freedoms in the USA. She used these particular words to guide students' thinking towards the voting process and freedoms of speech, protest, and press. Miss Ames wrote these items on a mini-poster for students to refer to later. Then she discussed how the Egyptians also had the right to vote at eighteen, but that citizens were forced to vote and did not have the freedom of protest or press. These were also recorded on a mini-poster.
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| USA vs. Egyptian Rights |
Voting Activity
Next, the students engaged in a voting activity. The students had the task of voting for a candy to represent the USA and one to represent Egypt. When voting in the USA, students had four options for the candy: Snickers, Twix, Starbursts, and Sour Patch Kids. Students created "booths" by putting their portfolios up so no one could see their votes. Each student took a moment to read all the choices and decide without discussing them with their peers. Once they voted, they brought their ballot to Miss Rose.
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| USA Voting Ballot |
Afterward, students voted for the candy to represent Egypt. Students again created booths using their portfolios and were not allowed to discuss with their peers. Students quickly made their votes and brought me their ballots.
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| Egyptian Voting Ballot |
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| Egyptian and USA Voting Ballots |
Egypt Portfolios
After participating in the voting activity, the students added another section to their Egypt Portfolios. The students were required to finish a writing prompt. They had to share which form of government they would rather live under and two reasons why. During this time, Miss Ames and Miss Rose walked around and helped students spell and formulate their thoughts. Many of the students were able to do it independently and successfully.
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| Student working on Egypt Portfolio. |
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| Student Sample 1 |
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| Student Sample 2 |
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| Student Sample 3 |
Blooket
As a summative assessment, the students participated in Blooket. Blooket is an online website where students can answer academic questions in a fun and creative way. The students can answer the questions at their own pace and attempt to answer a question multiple times. It presents information in a gamified way, which engages and motivates students to complete the task and master the content. The students enjoyed this part of the lesson while providing Miss Ames and Miss Rose with evidence of learning the content.
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| Blooket Question |
So What?
Blooket revealed that four out of seven students met the learning objective. The learning objective required that students be able to compare and contrast voting and rights between the USA and Egypt with 85% accuracy. Half of the students were able to do this with ease, but three of our students were below the learning objective. They completed the Blooket with 74%, 76% and 78% accuracy. Although these are not the objective scores, they are close to the objective. These students could have benefitted from further explanation of the differences. Blooket was also causing stress for some students due to a hacking feature on our chosen theme. Two of the students who scored lower on the summative assessment were students who were taken out of the classroom for extra help, which could have affected their comprehension. The other student who scored lower was quickly frustrated by the game and would have benefitted from another option to share her knowledge.
The students enjoy and look forward to adding to their portfolios each week. Though they are a lot of prep work, the portfolios are worth the time. They provide a way for the teacher to assess students' learning while allowing the student to create a final product. It is encouraging for us as educators to see the students excited to learn and apply their knowledge. Portfolios can be used for multiple subjects and are an easy way to get students interested in learning and take pride in their work.
During the voting activity, students were quickly able to make the connections that we intended. Our goal was for students to understand the difference between the USA and Egyptian governments, even though they are both republics. During voting, the students observed that the USA ballot had four options while the Egyptian ballot had one choice. They needed clarification on how it still counted as voting if only one option was available. Miss Ames explained that it counted as a vote because they followed the election process. Each citizen was provided a ballot with the choices, and they made their choice in private. Afterward, the ballots are counted, and the choice that is selected the most wins. Even though the ballots do not provide many options, the citizens still followed the process and technically voted for the selection. The students were flabbergasted by this knowledge and quickly took to writing their opinions in their portfolios. The students were able to draw these connections rapidly due to the experiential learning that was provided. Voting can be an abstract idea to many students, or they may have a simplified outlook. This activity provided the students with multiple perspectives on voting and how some votes are not fair.
Now What?
We will be including Blooket in our future lessons. The students were excited, engaged, and motivated to participate in Blooket. The students were answering questions quickly and efficiently while having fun. One thing we need to provide in the future is more behavior guidelines while completing a Blooket. The students' volume fluctuated due to the excitement of the game. They also became frustrated with each other due to a hacking feature. In the future, we will use a different theme and ensure they have limited opportunities to affect each other's game. Students must have fun, but we must do so responsibly and respectfully.
One of our students struggles with dealing with frustration. As educators, we must provide guidance and support for these students when working with peers or as a small group. One thing we can do to help is stand by when she is participating in collaborative work. This allows the teacher to listen for a situation that may arise among the students while assessing the student's progress in dealing with frustration. We should also provide frequent brain and movement breaks. This will help all our students release built-up energy and allow our other students to take a break from any stress. It is easier to solve issues after we have taken a moment to assess the situation and construct a solution.
We have a rambunctious group who is eager to learn. We must utilize and focus their energy on the tasks at hand. The students are often eager to discuss and participate. This can lead to interrupting and side conversations, which prevent the students from processing all the information the teacher shares. We must allow frequent movement breaks and include hands-on and minds-on activities. This group of students will particularly benefit from group work since they are eager to interact with each other and create academic products. As educators, we must provide these opportunities for students to enhance their skills and knowledge.
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